Farmland Atlas · county record

Wayne County, Illinois

Wayne County, IL: non-irrigated cash rent $176 an acre (2026); land and buildings $5,608 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 160.9 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 17191. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Wayne County stands at $176 per acre for 2026, up 28.5 percent from 2016. Land value from the 2022 census was $5,608 per acre, up 17.7 percent from 2017, or 3.3 percent a year. Corn yields have trended up 3.4 bushels per acre a year on published years 2008-2025, with a median of 160.9 bushels per acre and a worst year of 39.7 in 2012. Crop insurance indemnities across closed years 1989-2025 total $292.5 million, with excess moisture and flood the largest cause at 56 percent. Heat and drought's share of indemnities moved from 19 percent in 1989-1999, to 33 percent in 2000-2009, to 45 percent in 2010-2019, to 17 percent in 2020-2025. Solar and wind capacity are not present in this county.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$176/ac
2026 county average
IL median $254 · 17th lowest of 86
Land and buildings
$5,608/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
IL median $8,638 · 14th lowest of 91
Rent as % of land value
2.66%
$149 dry rent ÷ $5,608 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
160.9 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 183.5
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$7.82
2016–2025, closed crop years
IL median $2.04 · 9th highest of 101
Farmland rented
48%
2022 census, rented from others
IL median 55% · 31st lowest of 101

Cash rent

$0$50$100$1502010201520202025$107$176 dry

Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey; nothing is drawn across it.

Non-irrigated, 2026$176/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+28.5%nominal, $137 to $176
Pasture, 2025$44/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.96$176 ÷ 183.5 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$5,608/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$4,470/ac
Census 2017$4,764/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+17.7%+3.3% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20222.66%$149 ÷ $5,608; cropland 85% of land in farms

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024149.0189.0164.3median 160.9

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

Median, 2008–2025160.9 bu/ac14 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025183.5 bu/ac4 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2012: 39.7 bu/ac25% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+3.4 bu/ac a year±3.5 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

19952000200520102015202020250.984.561.361.00: 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$7.82
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.52claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.77$292.6 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium8 of 31
Worst year2012ratio 4.56
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 56% · heat and drought 36% · area plans 4%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250110

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, 2000–202525 of 1,357 weeks2% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201211 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20255 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202668.4 °F1991–2020 normal 67.1 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.41 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September25.9 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 103% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.5 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 2022— NASS suppressed the irrigated acres to protect individual farms
Drained by tile, 20226% of cropland14,612 ac
Farmed no-till, 202243% of cropland108,890 ac
Cover crops, 20224% of cropland11,108 ac
198619911996200120062011201620211,20255,07820,914

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

CRP enrolled, 202520,914 ac8.4% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20285,050 ac24% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$153/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Cattle and calves, 20229,346−31.4% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202248%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Wayne County$176—$5,608—$7.82
Clay County$197 2025—$6,235154.2$5.07
Edwards County$156—$5,893—$5.61
Hamilton County$138 2025—$5,788—$6.78
Jefferson County$136—$4,940139.0$6.46
Marion County$172—$6,108153.8$5.60
Richland County$196—$6,859147.7$3.56
White County$175$170 2025$5,590171.9$5.93
Median next door$172—$5,893153.8$5.61

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. Wayne County, Illinois. Figures as of 2026-09-20, from USDA NASS, USDA RMA, USDA FSA, the U.S. Drought Monitor and NOAA. https://agsist.com/farmland-atlas/illinois/wayne-county
Every figure is a county average from the sources named below. Ranks count counties with 10,000 acres or more in farms, in the same survey year for rent, within the state. 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.