County farm facts

Ellis County, Kansas

Ellis County, KS: non-irrigated cash rent $43 an acre (2025); land and buildings $1,713 an acre in the 2022 census; crop insurance loss ratio 0.88 since 1989. Bids, weather, crops, land and programs for one county. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 20051. Figures as of Oct 19, 2026; the rows marked with a date load the newest reading when the page opens.

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As of Oct 16, cash rent in Ellis County runs $43 an acre for 2025, up 14.9% from $37 in 2014. The census value of land and buildings was $1,713 an acre in 2022, up 27.0% from $1,349 in 2017. That sits 19th lowest of 104 in Kansas, below the state median of $2,272. In 2022, 52% of the farmland was rented.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$43/ac
2025 county average
too few 2025 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$1,713/ac
2022: operators' own estimate of what land and buildings were worth · KS farm real estate 2026: $3,200 (land and buildings, state survey)
KS median $2,272 · 19th lowest of 104
Rent as % of land value
2.19%
$38 dry rent ÷ $1,713 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield
n/a
fewer than 8 published county corn yields
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$14.50
2016–2025, closed crop years
KS median $12.59 · 39th highest of 104
Farmland rented
52%
2022 census, rented from others
KS median 54% · 44th lowest of 104
Open on the map Compare Kansas cash rent by county

Grain and prices within 50 miles

Corn bid
Soybean bid
Corn basis
Soybean basis
Corn futures
Soybean futures
Live cattle futures
Lean hog futures
Hay, Kansas price received

Bids are posted elevator prices within 50 miles of the county middle, or of your own field or saved place in this county when this device has one (each row says which), best and nearest, never a buyer's name. Not a contract; call before you haul. Livestock lines show where the 2022 Census counts 1,000 head or more: milk for milk cows, feeder cattle for beef cows, live cattle for cattle on feed, hogs for hogs, hay for all cattle.

Kansas cash bids by town · Bids from your own ZIP or farm, in Fast Facts

Cash bids by town near the middle of Ellis County: Russell (25 mi), Brownell (30 mi), Wakeeney (31 mi).

Nearby buyers within 50 miles: 1 ethanol plant, 3 rail shuttle loaders
Loading the list.

Straight-line miles from the middle of Ellis County to each buyer’s town point (the middle of its town, not the gate), rounded. Capacity as published. Where the buyers are, not what they pay. Lists from Renewable Fuels Association, EIA, Kansas Dept. of Revenue, read Oct 28, 2026.

Weather and the season

Rain since Jan 1
Drought this week
Hail, last 30 days

Rain so far this year in Ellis County, Kansas

Drought, year by year

2000200520102015202020253520

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, 2000–2025244 of 1,357 weeks18% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks202352 weeks
Last five full years, 2021–202591 weeks
2026 so far6 weekshalf the county or more in D2, 40 weekly maps
July average of daily lows, 2017–202665.7 °F1991–2020 normal 65.8 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976−0.06 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September, usual18.7 in1991–2020 county normal, NOAA; the 2017–2026 seasons averaged 18.9 in
Days with hail 1 inch or larger4.3 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail
Last spring freeze, first fall freezeApr 17, Oct 23middle dates 1996–2025, NOAA county-average daily low of 32 °F or colder
Frost-free days186middle of 1996–2025
Corn growing degree days, May to September3,248middle of 1996–2025; 2016–2025 averaged 3,255

Crops

Corn harvested
Soybeans harvested

Corn yield

County corn yieldFewer than 8 published county corn yields

Land rent, value, sales

Cash rent

$0$10$20$30$402010201520202025$32$43 dry

Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey.

Every published Kansas county rate, side by side: Kansas cash rent by county.

Non-irrigated, 2025$43/ac
Change 2014 to 2025+14.9%nominal, $37 to $43
Pasture, 2026$20/ac
Rent as a share of corn gross, 20119.7%$32 non-irrigated rent 2011 ÷ (51.6 bu, 2011 county yield, dryland × $6.28 Kansas price received)

Share of gross is a past year, all observed: that year's rent, that year's county corn yield of the same practice and the state price received, USDA NASS. Rent per bushel is withheld here: it needs the county trend, and the trend is withheld (see the corn yield section). The calculator below takes your own yield and price.

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$1,713/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,332/ac
Census 2017$1,349/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+27.0%+4.9% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20222.19%$38 ÷ $1,713; cropland 58% of land in farms
Kansas cropland, 2026 state survey$3,540/ac+2.9% from 2025 · USDA NASS Land Values, state average
Kansas farm real estate, 2026$3,200/acland and buildings, state average
Kansas pasture, 2026$2,400/acstate average

The census value is this county's, from 2022. The survey figures are the Kansas average for 2026, from the USDA NASS Land Values report. NASS publishes that survey by state, not by county, so this page does not scale one into the other.

Land values, average of reported sales, K-State, 2025 (sales Oct 2024 to Sep 2025; not recorded sales on this site): non-irrigated cropland $2,697 an acre; pasture and hay $2,036. From 35 sales analyzed in the county, all land types. A county shows a land type only with more than three sales of it. K-State, 2025 Kansas Land Values Book.

Programs and risk

ARC or PLC sign-up

Benchmarks, payments and the choice for each crop: ARC or PLC in Ellis County.

Insuring pasture or hay? PRF rainfall insurance for pasture and hay in Ellis County: its grids, county values and record are on the county PRF page.

Crop insurance record

2000200520102015202020250.533.190.451.00: claims equal premium

Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 2000 with at least $1,000,000 of premium; a year under that has no bar and no ratio. 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$14.50
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.75claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.88$101.4 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium9 of 26crop years 2000–2025 with a loss ratio
Worst year2006ratio 3.19, of the 26 crop years with at least $1,000,000 of premium
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 77% · hail 9% · freeze 5%share of dollars paid

Conservation Reserve Program

1986199119962001200620112016202194734,22320,934

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

CRP enrolled, 202520,934 ac10.3% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2027–20292,112 ac10% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$40/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

What farms here look like

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20222%
Farmed no-till, 202228% of cropland93,084 ac
Cover crops, 20221% of cropland1,901 ac
Active irrigation water rights (Kansas)287
Median priority year1974
Solar and wind operating, 20250 MW solar · 204.5 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202230,180−5.9% since 2017
Cattle on feed, 20223,356head, Census of Agriculture
Hogs and pigs, 20221,026head, Census of Agriculture
Farmland rented from others, 202252%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

USDA Census of Agriculture 2022, except wells (state well register) and power (EIA Form 860).

Watch this county

Get an email when the published figures for Ellis County, Kansas change. Usually once or twice a year. You confirm by email first, and every email has a one-tap stop. AGSIST, PO Box 243, Chetek, WI 54728.

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueClaims per $100
Ellis County$43 2025$1,713$14.50
Ness County$42$1,424$19.39
Osborne County$58$1,710$17.86
Rooks County$49$1,521$18.02
Rush County$46$1,697$9.70
Russell County$42$1,856$15.83
Trego County$41$1,600$19.31
Median next door$44$1,649$17.94

Counties that share a stretch of boundary. A rent from an older survey year carries its year and stays out of the median; one more than three survey years old shows n/a.

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Cite this page

AGSIST Farmland Atlas. Ellis County, Kansas. Figures as of Oct 19, 2026, from USDA NASS, USDA RMA, USDA FSA, the U.S. Drought Monitor and NOAA. https://agsist.com/farmland-atlas/kansas/ellis-county
Every figure is a county average from the sources named below. Rent ranks count every county with a published rent in the same survey year, within the state (the same counties as the state rent page); other ranks count counties with 10,000 acres or more in farms. 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.

This product uses the NASS API but is not endorsed or certified by NASS. Averages, trends, ranks and estimates are calculations by AGSIST.

Rent: USDA NASS Cash Rents Survey, county. Land value: Census of Agriculture, operators' estimate of land and buildings. Yield: NASS county corn yields. The headline trend, the one rent per bushel uses, is fitted here over the published years in the 15 years ending this year; the yearly trend card uses 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. Claims paid per $100 of coverage: claims divided by liability (the insured value), times 100, same source. 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 missing figure is named with its reason (in a table it reads n/a).