Farmland Atlas · county record

McDonough County, Illinois

McDonough County, IL: non-irrigated cash rent $293 an acre (2026); land and buildings $9,948 an acre in the 2022 census; corn 14-yr trend 240.5 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 17109. Figures as of 2026-10-14.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$293/ac
2026 county average
IL median $254 · tied for 15th highest of 86
Land and buildings
$9,948/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth · IL cropland 2026: $10,200 (state survey)
IL median $8,638 · 25th highest of 91
Rent as % of land value
2.82%
$281 dry rent ÷ $9,948 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 14-yr trend (projected 2026)
240.5 bu/ac
all practices trend · 2023 county yield 224.2 · 2019-23 average 207.8 (all practices)
IL median 225.2 · 12th highest of 66
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$1.22
2016–2025, closed crop years
IL median $2.04 · tied for 24th lowest of 101
Farmland rented
59%
2022 census, rented from others
IL median 55% · 39th highest of 101
Open on the map Compare Printable sheet Illinois cash rent by county ARC or PLC for 2026 and 2027
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Get an email when the published figures for McDonough County, Illinois change. Usually once or twice a year. You confirm by email first, and every email has a one-tap stop. AGSIST, PO Box 243, Chetek, WI 54728.

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$250$3002010201520202025$195$293 dry

Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey.

Every published Illinois county rate, side by side: Illinois cash rent by county.

Non-irrigated, 2026$293/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+8.1%nominal, $271 to $293
Pasture, 2026$40/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$1.22$293 ÷ 240.5 bu, 14-yr trend (projected 2026), all practices

Insuring pasture or hay? See PRF rainfall insurance in McDonough County: its grids, county values and record.

Rent as a share of corn gross, 202331.3%$313 non-irrigated rent 2023 ÷ (224.2 bu, 2023 county yield, all practices × $4.46 Illinois price received); the county reports no irrigated corn

Share of gross is a past year, all observed: that year's rent, that year's county corn yield of the same practice and the state price received, USDA NASS. Rent per bushel uses this year's rent over the 14-yr trend. The calculator below starts from that trend and lets you put in your own yield and price.

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$9,948/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$7,027/ac
Census 2017$7,334/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+35.6%+6.3% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20222.82%$281 ÷ $9,948; cropland 83% of land in farms
Illinois cropland, 2026 state survey$10,200/ac+3.6% from 2025 · USDA NASS Land Values, state average
Illinois farm real estate, 2026$9,250/acland and buildings, state average
Illinois pasture, 2026$4,300/acstate average

The census value is this county's, from 2022. The survey figures are the Illinois average for 2026, from the USDA NASS Land Values report. NASS publishes that survey by state, not by county, so this page does not scale one into the other.

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022206.0228.9224.2median 198.1

Bushels per acre, USDA NASS county yields, all practices. The dashed line is the median of the published years.

14-yr trend (projected 2026)240.5 bu/acall practices county yields, 11 years, R² 0.38; the figure rent per bushel uses
2023 county yield224.2 bu/acall practices
2019-23 average207.8 bu/ac4 published years, high and low dropped
Median, 2008–2023198.1 bu/ac15 published years
Lowest published year2012: 139.0 bu/ac70% of median
Trend, 2008–2023+3.5 bu/ac a year±3.0 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

1996200120062011201620210.292.820.041.00: claims equal premium

Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 1989. Above the dashed line, the county's insurance book paid out more than it took in. 2026, still open, is left out.

Claims paid per $100 of coverage, 2016–2025$1.22
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.23claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.49$86.8 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium3 of 29
Worst year2012ratio 2.82
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 33% · excess moisture 32% · price decline (revenue policies) 13%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

200020052010201520202025142312

Weeks per year, U.S. Drought Monitor, with half the county or more in D2 (severe) drought or worse.

D2 or worse for half the county, 2000–202591 of 1,304 weeks7% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200523 weeks
Last five years, 2020–202516 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202665.7 °F1991–2020 normal 64.8 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.09 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September25.5 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 97% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.6 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Rain so far this year in Illinois, county by county

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 2022NASS suppressed the irrigated acres to protect individual farms
Drained by tile, 202254% of cropland123,899 ac
Farmed no-till, 202235% of cropland80,759 ac
Cover crops, 20222% of cropland4,952 ac
198619911996200120062011201620211527,6665,572

Acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, USDA FSA, by fiscal year.

CRP enrolled, 20255,572 ac2.4% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2027–20291,202 ac22% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$249/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 20258 MW solar · 150 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202210,196−38.6% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202259%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
McDonough County$293n/a$9,948198.1$1.22
Fulton County$263n/a$6,836193.1$1.78
Hancock County$284n/a$9,460202.2$1.40
Henderson County$292$220 2024$8,869199.2$1.67
Schuyler County$249n/a$6,519182.4$2.63
Warren County$281n/a$10,349n/a$0.76
Median next door$281n/a$8,869196.2$1.67

Counties that share a stretch of boundary. An older rent carries its year and stays out of the median.

Cite this page

AGSIST Farmland Atlas. McDonough County, Illinois. Figures as of 2026-10-14, from USDA NASS, USDA RMA, USDA FSA, the U.S. Drought Monitor and NOAA. https://agsist.com/farmland-atlas/illinois/mcdonough-county
Every figure is a county average from the sources named below. Rent ranks count every county with a published rent in the same survey year, within the state (the same counties as the state rent page); other ranks count counties with 10,000 acres or more in farms. Methods: how each figure is built. Downloads: all counties, CSV.
Sources, dates and arithmetic

"Figures as of" is the date this page's numbers last changed; it moves only when a figure on the page does. Source files and their retrieval dates are listed on the data page.

Rent: USDA NASS Cash Rents Survey, county. Land value: Census of Agriculture, operators' estimate of land and buildings. Yield: NASS county corn yields, trend fitted here over every published year since 2008. Loss ratio: claims (indemnity) divided by total premium, USDA RMA Summary of Business, 1989 on, open crop year left out. Drought: U.S. Drought Monitor, weeks with half the county or more in D2 or worse. July lows: NOAA nClimDiv county monthly minimum temperature. A dash means the record does not carry the figure or the source withheld it; the reason is printed beside it.