Farmland Atlas · county record

Ford County, Kansas

Ford County, KS: non-irrigated cash rent $47 an acre (2026); land and buildings $1,718 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 180.0 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 20057. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

Open on the map Compare Printable sheet
Cash rent, non-irrigated
$47/ac
2026 county average
KS median $58 · tied for 25th lowest of 102
Cash rent, irrigated
$169/ac
2026 county average
KS median $159 · tied for 11th highest of 28
Land and buildings
$1,718/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
KS median $2,272 · 20th lowest of 104
Corn yield, 2009–2022 median
180.0 bu/ac
9 published years · irrigated and dryland combined
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$8.84
2016–2025, closed crop years
KS median $12.59 · 24th lowest of 104
Farmland rented
58%
2022 census, rented from others
KS median 54% · 29th highest of 104

Cash rent

$0$50$100$1502010201520202025$27$47 dry$100$169 irrigated

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$47/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+46.9%nominal, $32 to $47
Irrigated, 2026$169/ac
Pasture, 2026$16/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$1,718/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,218/ac
Census 2017$1,547/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+11.1%+2.1% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 17% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

20092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022199.0163.9142.5148.9177.0185.0202.7213.5180.0median 180.0

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

Median, 2009–2022180.0 bu/ac9 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Lowest published year2011: 142.5 bu/ac79% of median

Crop insurance record

19952000200520102015202020251.604.150.101.00: 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$8.84
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.64claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.81$202.8 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium10 of 31
Worst year2002ratio 4.15
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 70% · hail 13% · freeze 7%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250530

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, 2000–2025287 of 1,357 weeks21% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201353 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202577 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202666.3 °F1991–2020 normal 66.0 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.13 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September16.9 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 113% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger5.8 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202217%
Drained by tile, 2022none reported
Farmed no-till, 202226% of cropland138,978 ac
Cover crops, 20222% of cropland10,925 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202146683,95329,096

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

CRP enrolled, 202529,096 ac8.8% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20287,814 ac27% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$37/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Active irrigation water rights (Kansas)1,386
Median priority year1974
Solar and wind operating, 20250 MW solar · 1,180.8 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 2022177,981+17.9% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202258%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Ford County$47$169$1,718—$8.84
Clark County$38—$1,288—$16.85
Edwards County$41$167$1,957161.4$9.32
Gray County$50$154$1,985189.0$10.89
Hodgeman County$38$88 2023$1,488—$15.86
Kiowa County$39$144 2025$1,601—$8.25
Meade County$46—$2,227—$6.60
Median next door$40$161 2 co.$1,779175.2 2 co.$10.11

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. Ford 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/ford-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.

← Finney CountyAll Kansas countiesFranklin County →