Farmland Atlas · county record

Stafford County, Kansas

Stafford County, KS: non-irrigated cash rent $48 an acre (2026); land and buildings $2,086 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 149.9 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 20185. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Stafford County runs $48 per acre in 2026, up 9.1 percent from 2016. Irrigated rent stands at $151 per acre, a multiple of 3.15 over non-irrigated land, against 2.56 in 2009, with no clear direction in that multiple over time. Heat and drought drove 62 percent of the county's $134.9 million in crop insurance indemnities since 1989, and that share has moved 15 percent, 27 percent, 71 percent, 79 percent across the four periods on record. Twenty percent of harvested cropland is irrigated, drawing entirely on groundwater as of 2015.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$48/ac
2026 county average
KS median $58 · 29th lowest of 102
Cash rent, irrigated
$151/ac
2026 county average
KS median $159 · 12th lowest of 28
Land and buildings
$2,086/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
KS median $2,272 · 44th lowest of 104
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
149.9 bu/ac
12 published years · irrigated and dryland combined
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$9.63
2016–2025, closed crop years
KS median $12.59 · 32nd lowest of 104
Farmland rented
51%
2022 census, rented from others
KS median 54% · 36th lowest of 104

Cash rent

$0$50$100$1502010201520202025$40$48 dry$101$151 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$48/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+9.1%nominal, $44 to $48
Irrigated, 2026$151/ac
Pasture, 2026$20/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$2,086/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,767/ac
Census 2017$1,803/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+15.7%+3.0% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 20% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024134.0162.0135.7125.2160.7138.5130.2157.0142.9193.6192.0178.3median 149.9

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

Median, 2008–2025149.9 bu/ac12 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Lowest published year2012: 125.2 bu/ac84% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+2.7 bu/ac a year±2.2 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

1996200120062011201620211.052.150.241.00: 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$9.63
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.86claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.87$134.9 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium10 of 27
Worst year2007ratio 2.15
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 62% · excess moisture 11% · freeze 10%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250520

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, 2000–2025258 of 1,357 weeks19% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks202352 weeks
Last five years, 2021–2025101 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202667.1 °F1991–2020 normal 67.1 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976−0.10 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September19.3 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 100% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger2.7 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202220%
Drained by tile, 2022none reported
Farmed no-till, 202231% of cropland95,528 ac
Cover crops, 20225% of cropland14,317 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202156449,21622,337

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

CRP enrolled, 202522,337 ac8.7% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20281,213 ac5% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$43/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Active irrigation water rights (Kansas)1,235
Median priority year1980
Cattle and calves, 202241,320−21.8% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202251%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Stafford County$48$151$2,086—$9.63
Barton County$45$135$1,821—$14.37
Edwards County$41$167$1,957161.4$9.32
Pawnee County$47$143 2023$1,931—$9.54
Pratt County$46$150$2,390160.7$11.14
Reno County$53$181$2,641—$12.08
Rice County$57$164$2,366—$12.49
Median next door$47$164$2,162161.1 2 co.$11.61

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. Stafford 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/stafford-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.