Farmland Atlas · county record

Kossuth County, Iowa

Kossuth County, IA: non-irrigated cash rent $282 an acre (2026); land and buildings $10,771 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 190.7 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 19109. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Kossuth County runs $282 per acre in 2026, up 24.2 percent from 2016. Census land value stood at $10,771 per acre in 2022, up 36.5 percent from 2017 (6.4 percent a year), and 2022 rent equaled 2.5 percent of that value. Excess moisture and flood drove 51 percent of the $278.7 million in crop insurance indemnities paid across closed crop years 1989-2025, with the loss ratio at 0.71 over that span and 0.53 over 2016-2025. Weeks in severe drought or worse ran 38 across 2021-2025, against 132 of 1357 weeks for 2000-2025 and a worst year of 2012 at 41 weeks. Wind capacity operating in the county is 442 MW; solar operating is 0 MW.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$282/ac
2026 county average
IA median $266 · tied for 30th highest of 99
Cash rent, irrigated
$167/ac
2016 county average
too few 2016 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$10,771/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
IA median $9,410 · 15th highest of 99
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
190.7 bu/ac
16 published years
IA median 190.1 · tied for 43rd highest of 95
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$2.78
2016–2025, closed crop years
IA median $2.49 · 38th highest of 99
Farmland rented
56%
2022 census, rented from others
IA median 51% · 29th highest of 99

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$250$3002010201520202025$170$282 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$282/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+24.2%nominal, $227 to $282
Irrigated, 2016$167/ac
Pasture, 2024$49/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$10,771/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$7,608/ac
Census 2017$7,892/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+36.5%+6.4% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20222.5%$269 ÷ $10,771; cropland 96% of land in farms

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024171.0205.6204.6median 190.7

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

Median, 2008–2025190.7 bu/ac16 published years
Lowest published year2012: 164.6 bu/ac86% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+1.6 bu/ac a year±1.2 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

198919941999200420092014201920240.1410.420.621.00: 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$2.78
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.53claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.71$278.7 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium8 of 37
Worst year1993ratio 10.42
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 51% · price decline (revenue policies) 22% · heat and drought 12%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020253410

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, 2000–2025132 of 1,357 weeks10% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201241 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202538 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202662.6 °F1991–2020 normal 61.6 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.28 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September24.6 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 98% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.9 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, 202274% of cropland412,705 ac
Farmed no-till, 20225% of cropland29,454 ac
Cover crops, 20222% of cropland13,558 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202112130,33829,620

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

CRP enrolled, 202529,620 ac5.3% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–202814,629 ac49% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$293/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 20250 MW solar · 442 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202221,456−16.4% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202256%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Kossuth County$282—$10,771190.7$2.78
Emmet County$239—$9,410183.1$3.84
Hancock County$265$292$9,457194.8$2.99
Humboldt County$262—$10,740192.9$2.35
Palo Alto County$282$279$9,830185.2$3.17
Winnebago County$262—$9,707190.8$2.73
Faribault County, MN$254—$8,169188.2$4.01
Martin County, MN$280—$8,968188.0$4.71
Median next door$262$286 2 co.$9,457188.2$3.17

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. Kossuth 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/kossuth-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.