Farmland Atlas · county record

Jefferson County, Kansas

Jefferson County, KS: non-irrigated cash rent $82 an acre (2026); land and buildings $3,906 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 146.1 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 20087. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Jefferson County averages $82 per acre in 2026, up 7.9 percent from 2016. Land value came in at $3,906 per acre in the 2022 census, rising 34.5 percent from 2017 to 2022, or 6.1 percent a year; cash rent equals 1.83 percent of that value. Corn yields have a fitted trend of 2.2 bushels per acre a year over 2008-2023, with a median of 146.1 bushels per acre and a worst year of 109.5 in 2010. Heat and drought drove 73 percent of $39.5 million in indemnities since 1989, and its share of losses moved 26 percent, 71 percent, 80 percent, 73 percent across the decades listed. Irrigation covers 4 percent of harvested cropland, with 91 percent of that water drawn from groundwater.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$82/ac
2026 county average
KS median $58 · 18th highest of 102
Land and buildings
$3,906/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
KS median $2,272 · 11th highest of 104
Rent as % of land value
1.83%
$72 dry rent ÷ $3,906 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2008–2023 median
146.1 bu/ac
recent level 2019–2023: 156.9
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$2.45
2016–2025, closed crop years
KS median $12.59 · 4th lowest of 104
Farmland rented
49%
2022 census, rented from others
KS median 54% · 29th lowest of 104

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$802010201520202025$45$82 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$82/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+7.9%nominal, $76 to $82
Pasture, 2026$32/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.52$82 ÷ 156.9 bu, county yield 2019–2023

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$3,906/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$2,238/ac
Census 2017$2,904/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+34.5%+6.1% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20221.83%$72 ÷ $3,906; cropland 57% of land in farms

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022140.0185.3median 146.1

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

Median, 2008–2023146.1 bu/ac14 published years
Recent level, 2019–2023156.9 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2010: 109.5 bu/ac75% of median
Trend, 2008–2023+2.2 bu/ac a year±2.2 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

200420092014201920240.064.210.031.00: 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$2.45
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.25claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.50$39.5 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium2 of 22
Worst year2012ratio 4.21
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 73% · excess moisture 16% · price decline (revenue policies) 6%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020254250

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, 2000–2025101 of 1,357 weeks7% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201225 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202516 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202668.6 °F1991–2020 normal 67.9 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.27 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September26.5 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 97% 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, 20224%
Drained by tile, 202214% of cropland14,584 ac
Farmed no-till, 202250% of cropland53,224 ac
Cover crops, 20224% of cropland4,467 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202163914,8412,211

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

CRP enrolled, 20252,211 ac2.3% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028267 ac12% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$73/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Active irrigation water rights (Kansas)198
Median priority year1997
Solar and wind operating, 20251 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202227,709−29.1% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202249%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Jefferson County$82—$3,906—$2.45
Atchison County$131—$4,435149.0$1.11
Douglas County$85$151 2025$4,700129.6$4.93
Jackson County$92—$3,276137.1$3.50
Leavenworth County$86—$5,077—$3.20
Shawnee County$71$201$4,003138.8$3.53
Median next door$86$201 1 co.$4,435138.0$3.50

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. Jefferson 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/jefferson-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.