County farm facts

McLean County, Illinois

Sales through Oct 31, 2026

Sold for
$15,068/ac
Middle of 72 bare farmland sales of 20+ acres, Nov 2024 to Oct 2026. Middle half $13,705 to $17,000. Two windows: this covers 24 months; the recorded-sales median further down covers the last 12 months, Nov 2025 to Oct 2026: 27 sales, $15,000 an acre. Every sale behind both.

Newest sales town, not parcel

Rent$326/ac NASS 2026, county average
Nearest bid
Rain

Recorded prices. Not an appraisal. No adjustments. A recorded price is what the state's transfer record says was paid once the sale closed, auction or private; never an asking price.

Sales: Illinois Department of Revenue, MyDec transfer declarations (PTAX-203), farm parcels. Rent: USDA NASS.

McLean County, IL: non-irrigated cash rent $326 an acre (2026); land and buildings $7,074 an acre in the 2022 census, flagged to read with care. Bids, weather, crops, land and programs for one county. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 17113. Figures as of Oct 19, 2026; the rows marked with a date load the newest reading when the page opens.

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Stands out against its own record

$326

Non-irrigated cash rent, 2026: the highest of 15 surveys since 2008; up 20% from $272 in 2016.

USDA NASS Cash Rents Survey, 2026

As of Oct 14, cash rent in McLean County was $326 an acre in 2026, tied for 5th highest of 86 in Illinois against a state median of $254. That is up 19.9% from $272 in 2016. The corn trend projects 250.9 bu for 2026, 3rd highest of 66 in the state, and last year came in at 243.1 bu. In 2022, 69% of the farmland here was rented.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$326/ac
2026 county average
IL median $254 · tied for 5th highest of 86
Land and buildings
$7,074/ac
2022 census · read with care: fell 28% from 2017 while next door rose a median 27% · IL farm real estate 2026: $9,250 (land and buildings, state survey)
Dry rent per bushel of corn
$1.30
$326 ÷ 250.9 bu, 14-yr trend (projected 2026)
Corn yield, 14-yr trend (projected 2026)
250.9 bu/ac
all practices trend · 2025 county yield 243.1 · 2021-25 average 232.9 (all practices)
IL median 225.2 · 3rd highest of 66
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$0.49
2016–2025, closed crop years
IL median $2.04 · lowest of 101
Farmland rented
69%
2022 census, rented from others
IL median 55% · 11th highest of 101
Median sale price, bare land, 20+ acres
$15,000/ac
27 recorded bare farmland sales, Nov 2025 to Oct 2026; sales dated through Oct 31, 2026
Open on the map Compare Illinois cash rent by county

Grain and prices within 50 miles

Corn bid
Soybean bid
Corn basis
Soybean basis
Corn futures
Soybean futures
Live cattle futures
Lean hog futures
Hay, Illinois price received

Bids are posted elevator prices within 50 miles of the county middle, or of your own field or saved place in this county when this device has one (each row says which), best and nearest, never a buyer's name. Not a contract; call before you haul. Livestock lines show where the 2022 Census counts 1,000 head or more: milk for milk cows, feeder cattle for beef cows, live cattle for cattle on feed, hogs for hogs, hay for all cattle.

Illinois cash bids by town · Bids from your own ZIP or farm, in Fast Facts

Cash bids by town near the middle of McLean County: Downs (7 mi), Bloomington (7 mi), Heyworth (13 mi).

Nearby buyers within 50 miles: 6 ethanol plants, 4 oilseed crushers
Loading the list.

Straight-line miles from the middle of McLean County to each buyer’s town point (the middle of its town, not the gate), rounded. Capacity as published. Where the buyers are, not what they pay. Lists from Renewable Fuels Association, EIA, NOPA, read Oct 28, 2026.

Weather and the season

Rain since Jan 1
Drought this week
Hail, last 30 days

Rain so far this year in McLean County, Illinois

Drought, year by year

2000200520102015202020251113

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, 2000–202557 of 1,357 weeks4% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks202513 weeks
Last five full years, 2021–202518 weeks
2026 so far8 weekshalf the county or more in D2, 40 weekly maps
July average of daily lows, 2017–202664.5 °F1991–2020 normal 63.6 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.17 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September, usual23.4 in1991–2020 county normal, NOAA; the 2017–2026 seasons averaged 22.3 in
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.4 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail
Last spring freeze, first fall freezeApr 16, Oct 18middle dates 1996–2025, NOAA county-average daily low of 32 °F or colder
Frost-free days183middle of 1996–2025
Corn growing degree days, May to September2,994middle of 1996–2025; 2016–2025 averaged 3,093

Crops

Corn harvested
Soybeans harvested

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024190.0243.1median 203.2

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

14-yr trend (projected 2026)250.9 bu/acall practices county yields, 14 years, R² 0.46; the figure rent per bushel uses
2025 county yield243.1 bu/acall practices
2021-25 average232.9 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Median, 2008–2025203.2 bu/ac18 published years
Lowest published year2012: 109.5 bu/ac54% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+4.4 bu/ac a year±2.3 (95% interval)

Land rent, value, sales

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$250$300$3502010201520202025$190$326 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$326/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+19.9%nominal, $272 to $326
Pasture, 2026$71/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$1.30$326 ÷ 250.9 bu, 14-yr trend (projected 2026), all practices
Rent as a share of corn gross, 202530.0%$303 non-irrigated rent 2025 ÷ (243.1 bu, 2025 county yield, all practices × $4.15 Illinois price received); the county reports no irrigated corn; the 2025 price is preliminary

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$7,074/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$8,180/ac
Census 2017$9,844/ac
Read with careThe 2022 census value fell 28% from 2017 while the 8 counties next door rose a median 27%. The census counts buildings and small residential farms, so the change since 2017, the rent-to-value ratio and the rank are withheld
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.

Recorded farm sales

Sale counts and the median price buyers paid per acre in McLean County, from Illinois PTAX-203 (MyDec) transfer declarations (Illinois Department of Revenue), load here.

What has farmland sold for in McLean County, Illinois?

27 recorded market sales of bare farmland (no buildings by the property class, no forest), 20 or more acres, Nov 2025 to Oct 2026, with a median of $15,000 an acre; the middle half of sales fell between $13,300 and $16,725 an acre. Sales are dated through Oct 31, 2026. These are counted deed records from Illinois PTAX-203 (MyDec) transfer declarations, not a model or an appraisal, and no buyer or seller is named.

Land sales: Recorded sales in McLean County, sale by sale.

Programs and risk

ARC or PLC sign-up

Benchmarks, payments and the choice for each crop: ARC or PLC in McLean County.

Insuring pasture or hay? PRF rainfall insurance for pasture and hay in McLean County: its grids, county values and record are on the county PRF page.

Crop insurance record

198919941999200420092014201920240.215.570.021.00: claims equal premium

Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 1989 with at least $1,000,000 of premium; a year under that has no bar and no ratio. 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$0.49
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.11claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.43$180.2 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium2 of 37crop years 1989–2025 with a loss ratio
Worst year2012ratio 5.57, of the 37 crop years with at least $1,000,000 of premium
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 66% · price decline (revenue policies) 13% · excess moisture 11%share of dollars paid

Conservation Reserve Program

1986199119962001200620112016202142611,933

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

CRP enrolled, 202511,933 ac2.1% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2027–20293,332 ac28% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$290/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

What farms here look like

Harvested cropland irrigated, 2022under 1%
Drained by tile, 202274% of cropland428,643 ac
Farmed no-till, 202226% of cropland152,167 ac
Cover crops, 20226% of cropland32,437 ac
Solar and wind operating, 20259.2 MW solar · 781.6 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202216,277−3.1% since 2017
Cattle on feed, 20223,404head, Census of Agriculture
Hogs and pigs, 2022141,996head, Census of Agriculture
Farmland rented from others, 202269%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

USDA Census of Agriculture 2022, except wells (state well register) and power (EIA Form 860).

Watch this county

Get an email when the published figures for McLean 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.

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yield, medianClaims per $100
McLean County$326n/a$7,074203.2$0.49
Champaign County$316n/a$7,187191.3$1.06
De Witt County$301n/a$11,261n/a$0.53
Ford County$294n/a$9,956186.7$1.11
Livingston County$278 2023n/a$10,108197.2$1.21
Logan County$326n/a$11,349209.5$0.96
Piatt County$320 2025n/a$12,224214.8$0.58
Tazewell County$266$268$10,389205.2$0.90
Woodford County$290 2025n/a$10,987206.0$1.08
Median next door$301$268 1 co.$10,688205.2$1.01

Counties that share a stretch of boundary. A rent from an older survey year carries its year and stays out of the median; one more than three survey years old shows n/a. The corn median here needs 15 published years, so a county with fewer shows n/a even where its own page gives a median.

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Cite this page

AGSIST Farmland Atlas. McLean County, Illinois. Figures as of Oct 19, 2026, from USDA NASS, USDA RMA, USDA FSA, the U.S. Drought Monitor and NOAA. https://agsist.com/farmland-atlas/illinois/mclean-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.

This product uses the NASS API but is not endorsed or certified by NASS. Averages, trends, ranks and estimates are calculations by AGSIST.

Rent: USDA NASS Cash Rents Survey, county. Land value: Census of Agriculture, operators' estimate of land and buildings. Yield: NASS county corn yields. The headline trend, the one rent per bushel uses, is fitted here over the published years in the 15 years ending this year; the yearly trend card uses 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. Claims paid per $100 of coverage: claims divided by liability (the insured value), times 100, same source. 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 missing figure is named with its reason (in a table it reads n/a).