Farmland Atlas · county record

Lake County, Indiana

Lake County, IN: non-irrigated cash rent $186 an acre (2026); land and buildings $7,916 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 167.4 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 18089. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Lake County, IN stands at $186 per acre in 2026, up 6.3 percent from 2016. Land value reached $7,916 per acre in 2022, a gain of 13.6 percent from 2017, with non-irrigated rent at 2.44 percent of that value.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$186/ac
2026 county average
IN median $217 · 22nd lowest of 89
Cash rent, irrigated
$242/ac
2017 county average
too few 2017 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$7,916/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
IN median $8,158 · 41st lowest of 89
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
167.4 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 200.7
IN median 178.1 · 18th lowest of 76
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$2.73
2016–2025, closed crop years
IN median $2.54 · 43rd highest of 92
Farmland rented
60%
2022 census, rented from others
IN median 51% · 21st highest of 92

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$2502010201520202025$114$186 dry$268$242 irrigated

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$186/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+6.3%nominal, $175 to $186
Irrigated, 2017$242/ac
Pasture, 2026$64/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.93$186 ÷ 200.7 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$7,916/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$5,673/ac
Census 2017$6,966/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+13.6%+2.6% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20222.44%$193 ÷ $7,916; cropland 90% of land in farms

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024165.0207.5205.4median 167.4

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

Median, 2008–2025167.4 bu/ac15 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025200.7 bu/ac4 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2015: 142.0 bu/ac85% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+2.9 bu/ac a year±1.3 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

200320082013201820230.612.900.011.00: 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$2.73
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.41claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.60$48.9 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium4 of 23
Worst year2019ratio 2.90
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 54% · price decline (revenue policies) 19% · heat and drought 18%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020253150

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, 2000–202543 of 1,357 weeks3% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200315 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20257 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202663.9 °F1991–2020 normal 63.2 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.18 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September24.3 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 93% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger2.0 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20224%
Drained by tile, 202227% of cropland29,608 ac
Farmed no-till, 202238% of cropland42,611 ac
Cover crops, 20227% of cropland7,973 ac
198619911996200120062011201620212181,9031,063

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

CRP enrolled, 20251,063 ac1% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028252 ac24% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$197/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 20256.5 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 20221,230−56.1% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202260%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Lake County$186—$7,916167.4$2.73
Cook County, IL$136—$18,054—$11.96
Kankakee County, IL$250$290$6,734174.3$2.24
Will County, IL$231—$10,259177.8$3.38
Jasper County$235$277$8,477174.2$1.60
Newton County$235—$8,765185.1$1.32
Porter County$195$306$9,579177.4$2.16
Median next door$233$290$9,172177.4$2.20

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. Lake County, Indiana. 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/indiana/lake-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.