Farmland Atlas · county record

Barber County, Kansas

Barber County, KS: non-irrigated cash rent $43 an acre (2026); land and buildings $1,941 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 132.8 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 20007. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Barber County averages $43 per acre in 2026, up 17.8 percent from 2016. Only 6 percent of harvested cropland is irrigated, so the corn yield trend of 3.4 bushels per acre a year, on a median of 132.8 bushels per acre from 2009-2022, rides mostly on rainfall. Heat and drought has driven a growing share of crop insurance indemnities: 39 percent in 1989-1999, 40 percent in 2000-2009, 80 percent in 2010-2019, 91 percent in 2020-2025. The county spent 306 of 1357 weeks from 2000-2025 with at least 50 percent of its area in severe drought or worse, and 80 of those weeks fell in 2021-2025. Census land value reached $1,941 per acre in 2022, up 35.2 percent from 2017.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$43/ac
2026 county average
KS median $58 · 19th lowest of 102
Land and buildings
$1,941/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
KS median $2,272 · 35th lowest of 104
Rent as % of land value
—
not shown: cropland is 31% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland
Corn yield, 2009–2022 median
132.8 bu/ac
10 published years
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$17.11
2016–2025, closed crop years
KS median $12.59 · 29th highest of 104
Farmland rented
57%
2022 census, rented from others
KS median 54% · 30th highest of 104

Cash rent

$0$10$20$30$40$502010201520202025$38$43 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$43/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+17.8%nominal, $37 to $43
Pasture, 2026$15/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$1,941/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,215/ac
Census 2017$1,436/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+35.2%+6.2% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 31% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield

20092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022128.0128.1119.4100.2152.1137.6144.5124.8171.1178.8median 132.8

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

Median, 2009–2022132.8 bu/ac10 published years
Lowest published year2012: 100.2 bu/ac75% of median
Trend, 2009–2022+3.4 bu/ac a year±2.9 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

200420092014201920240.724.500.131.00: 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$17.11
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.98claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.12$91.2 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium8 of 22
Worst year2007ratio 4.50
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 74% · freeze 9% · excess moisture 6%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020252365

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, 2000–2025306 of 1,357 weeks23% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201136 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202580 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202668.5 °F1991–2020 normal 68.4 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.14 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September19.7 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 107% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger2.5 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20226%
Drained by tile, 2022under 1% of cropland778 ac
Farmed no-till, 202241% of cropland91,218 ac
Cover crops, 2022under 1% of cropland1,021 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202193527,1503,051

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

CRP enrolled, 20253,051 ac1.7% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028100 ac3% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$44/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Active irrigation water rights (Kansas)226
Median priority year1996
Solar and wind operating, 2025189 MW solar · 94 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202258,448−7.9% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202257%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Barber County$43—$1,941—$17.11
Comanche County$36$107 2025$1,550—$20.84
Harper County$47—$1,751—$17.38
Kingman County$48$144 2025$2,172136.0$13.41
Kiowa County$39$144 2025$1,601—$8.25
Pratt County$46$150$2,390160.7$11.14
Alfalfa County, OK$41—$1,964—$17.38
Woods County, OK$35—$1,550—$26.34
Median next door$41$150 1 co.$1,751148.4 2 co.$17.38

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. Barber County, Kansas. 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/kansas/barber-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.