Farmland Atlas · county record

Butler County, Kentucky

Butler County, KY: non-irrigated cash rent $144 an acre (2026); land and buildings $4,286 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 171.4 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 21031. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Butler County is $144 per acre, up 25.2 percent from 2016 to 2026. Land value in 2022 was $4,286 per acre, up 61.9 percent from 2017 to 2022.

Cash rent, non-irrigated

$144/ac

2026 county average
KY median $125 · 34th highest of 86

Land and buildings

$4,286/ac

2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
KY median $4,449 · 50th lowest of 114

Dry rent per bushel of corn

$0.78

$144 ÷ 185.5 bu, recent yield 2020–2024

Corn yield, 2008–2024 median

171.4 bu/ac

recent level 2020–2024: 185.5
KY median 161.4 · tied for 16th highest of 50

Claims paid per $100 of coverage

$6.42

2016–2025, closed crop years
KY median $8.45 · 26th lowest of 86

Farmland rented

26%

2022 census, rented from others
KY median 25% · 56th highest of 115

Cash rent

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$144/ac

Change 2016 to 2026+25.2%nominal, $115 to $144

Pasture, 2026$20/ac

Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.78$144 ÷ 185.5 bu, county yield 2020–2024

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$4,286/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price

Census 2012$2,023/ac

Census 2017$2,648/ac

Change 2017 to 2022+61.9%+10.1% a year, nominal

Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 45% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield

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

Median, 2008–2024171.4 bu/ac16 published years

Recent level, 2020–2024185.5 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped

Lowest published year2012: 105.3 bu/ac61% of median

Trend, 2008–2024+3.6 bu/ac a year±2.3 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

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$6.42

Loss ratio, 2016–20250.69claims ÷ total premium

Loss ratio, 1989–20250.76$23.4 million paid

Years claims exceeded premium4 of 15

Worst year2012ratio 2.13

Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 56% · heat and drought 33% · price decline (revenue policies) 4%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

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, 2000–202550 of 1,357 weeks4% of weeks

Year with the most D2+ weeks200716 weeks

Last five years, 2021–20259 weeks

July average of daily lows, 2017–202668.6 °F1991–2020 normal 67.2 °F

Trend in July lows since 1976+0.39 °F a decadeno clear direction

Rain, April to September26.9 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 110% of it

Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.9 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20220%

Drained by tile, 202232% of cropland25,017 ac

Farmed no-till, 202242% of cropland32,441 ac

Cover crops, 20222% of cropland1,895 ac

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

CRP enrolled, 20253,267 ac5% of harvested cropland + CRP

CRP expiring FY2026–20281,230 ac38% of enrolled acres

CRP average rental payment, FY2025$145/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

Cattle and calves, 202215,919+18.6% since 2017

Farmland rented from others, 202226%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

County	Dry rent	Land value	Corn yield	Claims per $100
Butler County	$144	$4,286	171.4	$6.42
Edmonson County	$118	$4,420	162.2	$10.07
Grayson County	$110	$3,703	149.8	$8.22
Logan County	$232	$6,404	178.6	$4.20
Muhlenberg County	$148	$4,571	—	$9.28
Ohio County	$168 2024	$3,919	180.0	$5.09
Warren County	$200	$5,899	177.3	$6.93
Median next door	$148	$4,496	177.3	$7.58

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, Kentucky. 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/kentucky/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.

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