Farmland Atlas · county record

Butler County, Kansas

Butler County, KS: non-irrigated cash rent $54 an acre (2026); land and buildings $2,796 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 116.3 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 20015. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Butler County runs $54 per acre in 2026, up 16.1 percent from 2016. The county drew 42 weeks of severe drought or worse in 2023, within a stretch of 186 of 1357 weeks since 2000. Groundwater supplied 7 percent of irrigation water in 2015.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$54/ac
2026 county average
KS median $58 · 41st lowest of 102
Land and buildings
$2,796/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
KS median $2,272 · 28th highest of 104
Dry rent per bushel of corn
$0.48
$54 ÷ 113.6 bu, recent yield 2021–2025
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
116.3 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 113.6
KS median 116.7 · 18th lowest of 36
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$14.94
2016–2025, closed crop years
KS median $12.59 · 37th highest of 104
Farmland rented
43%
2022 census, rented from others
KS median 54% · 14th lowest of 104

Cash rent

$0$10$20$30$40$50$602010201520202025$42$54 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$54/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+16.1%nominal, $47 to $54
Pasture, 2026$28/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.48$54 ÷ 113.6 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$2,796/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,760/ac
Census 2017$2,268/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+23.3%+4.3% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 39% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024116.0132.9median 116.3

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

Median, 2008–2025116.3 bu/ac16 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025113.6 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2011: 26.3 bu/ac23% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+1.5 bu/ac a year±3.0 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

200220072012201720220.534.100.231.00: 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$14.94
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.90claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.94$142.2 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium5 of 24
Worst year2011ratio 4.10
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 79% · excess moisture 13% · freeze 3%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020252420

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, 2000–2025186 of 1,357 weeks14% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks202342 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202560 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202669.2 °F1991–2020 normal 68.5 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.18 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September26.0 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 100% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger5.2 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, 2022under 1% of cropland775 ac
Farmed no-till, 202238% of cropland121,066 ac
Cover crops, 20225% of cropland17,271 ac
198619911996200120062011201620213006,8113,221

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

CRP enrolled, 20253,221 ac1.1% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–202876 ac2% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$19/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Active irrigation water rights (Kansas)169
Median priority year1977
Solar and wind operating, 20252 MW solar · 150 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 2022135,567+12.6% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202243%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Butler County$54—$2,796116.3$14.94
Chase County$63—$2,385—$10.26
Cowley County$52—$2,281104.3$16.69
Elk County$51—$2,064—$20.52
Greenwood County$61—$2,180—$18.07
Harvey County$68$162 2025$3,859124.1$11.55
Marion County$56$102$2,80497.1$10.32
Sedgwick County$56$169$3,923129.9$11.74
Median next door$56$136 2 co.$2,385114.2$11.74

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. Butler 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/butler-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.