Farmland Atlas · county record

Adair County, Iowa

Adair County, IA: non-irrigated cash rent $237 an acre (2026); land and buildings $7,226 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 169.2 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 19001. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Adair County runs $237 per acre, up 21.5 percent from 2016 to 2026. Land carries a census value of $7,226 per acre, with that value up 38.2 percent from 2017 to 2022, or 6.7 percent a year. Corn yield trend runs 2.4 bushels per acre a year on published years 2008-2025, with a median of 169.2 bushels per acre and a worst year of 104.4 in 2012. Heat and drought's share of crop insurance indemnities has moved from 9 percent in 1989-1999 to 33 percent in 2000-2009 to 57 percent in 2010-2019 to 60 percent in 2020-2025. July nightly lows show no clear direction since 1976, at 0 F per decade. No cropland in the county was irrigated as of the 2022 census.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$237/ac
2026 county average
IA median $266 · 18th lowest of 99
Land and buildings
$7,226/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
IA median $9,410 · 17th lowest of 99
Rent as % of land value
2.88%
$208 dry rent ÷ $7,226 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
169.2 bu/ac
16 published years
IA median 190.1 · 12th lowest of 95
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$2.95
2016–2025, closed crop years
IA median $2.49 · 31st highest of 99
Farmland rented
40%
2022 census, rented from others
IA median 51% · 21st lowest of 99

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$2502010201520202025$144$237 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$237/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+21.5%nominal, $195 to $237
Pasture, 2026$81/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$7,226/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$4,679/ac
Census 2017$5,230/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+38.2%+6.7% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20222.88%$208 ÷ $7,226; cropland 79% of land in farms

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024169.0211.2187.0median 169.2

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

Median, 2008–2025169.2 bu/ac16 published years
Lowest published year2012: 104.4 bu/ac62% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+2.4 bu/ac a year±2.4 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

198919941999200420092014201920240.214.240.381.00: 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$2.95
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.47claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.75$116.1 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium6 of 31
Worst year2012ratio 4.24
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 53% · excess moisture 16% · price decline (revenue policies) 15%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

200020052010201520202025190

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, 2000–2025129 of 1,357 weeks10% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200019 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202532 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202663.4 °F1991–2020 normal 63.3 °F
Trend in July lows since 19760.00 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September26.3 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 89% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.8 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20220%
Drained by tile, 202256% of cropland155,069 ac
Farmed no-till, 202262% of cropland170,174 ac
Cover crops, 20223% of cropland6,756 ac
198619911996200120062011201620211,56029,65222,353

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

CRP enrolled, 202522,353 ac8.7% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20289,408 ac42% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$213/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 202525 MW solar · 1,109.4 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202233,911−28.4% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202240%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Adair County$237$7,226169.2$2.95
Adams County$232$6,476—$2.08
Cass County$259$8,221179.2$1.65
Guthrie County$248$8,494176.1$2.80
Madison County$221$7,700169.6$1.54
Union County$266$5,970154.8$3.64
Median next door$248$7,700172.9$2.08

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. Adair County, Iowa. 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/iowa/adair-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.