Farmland Atlas · county record

Story County, Iowa

Story County, IA: non-irrigated cash rent $290 an acre (2026); land and buildings $10,914 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 188.7 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 19169. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Story County is $290 per acre in 2026, up 26.1 percent from 2016. Land value in 2022 is $10,914 per acre, up 15.3 percent from 2017 to 2022.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$290/ac
2026 county average
IA median $266 · tied for 18th highest of 99
Land and buildings
$10,914/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
IA median $9,410 · 13th highest of 99
Rent as % of land value
2.44%
$266 dry rent ÷ $10,914 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
188.7 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 207.5
IA median 190.1 · 39th lowest of 95
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$2.44
2016–2025, closed crop years
IA median $2.49 · 47th lowest of 99
Farmland rented
55%
2022 census, rented from others
IA median 51% · 35th highest of 99

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$250$3002010201520202025$177$290 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$290/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+26.1%nominal, $230 to $290
Pasture, 2026$64/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$1.40$290 ÷ 207.5 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$10,914/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$7,838/ac
Census 2017$9,467/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+15.3%+2.9% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20222.44%$266 ÷ $10,914; cropland 93% of land in farms

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024160.0215.5204.0median 188.7

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

Median, 2008–2025188.7 bu/ac18 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025207.5 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2013: 137.2 bu/ac73% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+3.1 bu/ac a year±1.7 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

198919941999200420092014201920240.225.900.641.00: 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$2.44
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.46claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.72$156.4 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium5 of 37
Worst year1993ratio 5.90
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 27% · heat and drought 26% · price decline (revenue policies) 23%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202513330

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+ weeks201333 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202534 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202664.0 °F1991–2020 normal 63.2 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.17 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September26.6 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 94% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger2.1 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, 202262% of cropland172,710 ac
Farmed no-till, 202215% of cropland40,446 ac
Cover crops, 20227% of cropland19,484 ac
198619911996200120062011201620219410,4558,914

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

CRP enrolled, 20258,914 ac3.3% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20283,149 ac35% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$276/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 20253.4 MW solar · 172.5 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202217,170+3.6% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202255%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Story County$290$10,914188.7$2.44
Boone County$263$10,746192.4$2.20
Hamilton County$301$11,157188.9$1.52
Hardin County$280$10,393193.2$2.67
Jasper County$264$8,750198.9$1.59
Marshall County$286$9,375203.1$3.73
Polk County$258$9,677186.6$2.07
Median next door$272$10,035192.8$2.14

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. Story 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/story-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.

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