Farmland Atlas · county record

Lewis County, Kentucky

Lewis County, KY: non-irrigated cash rent $91 an acre (2025); land and buildings $2,517 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 131.6 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 21135. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Lewis County is $91 per acre in 2025, up 28.2 percent from 2014. Corn yield trend runs 4 bushels per acre a year on published years 2008-2023, with a median of 131.6 bushels per acre and a worst year of 99.4 in 2012.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$91/ac
2025 county average
too few 2025 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$2,517/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
KY median $4,449 · 5th lowest of 114
Rent as % of land value
—
not shown: cropland is 25% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland
Corn yield, 2008–2023 median
131.6 bu/ac
13 published years
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$9.20
2016–2025, closed crop years
KY median $8.45 · 37th highest of 86
Farmland rented
10%
2022 census, rented from others
KY median 25% · 6th lowest of 115

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$1002010201520202025$39$91 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, 2025$91/ac
Change 2014 to 2025+28.2%nominal, $71 to $91
Pasture, 2026$39/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$2,517/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,469/ac
Census 2017$2,096/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+20.1%+3.7% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 25% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022105.0195.0162.5median 131.6

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

Median, 2008–2023131.6 bu/ac13 published years
Lowest published year2012: 99.4 bu/ac76% of median
Trend, 2008–2023+4.0 bu/ac a year±2.9 (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$9.20
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.85claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.17$9.7 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 49% · heat and drought 37% · hail 6%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250232

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, 2000–202548 of 1,357 weeks4% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200723 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20253 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202664.7 °F1991–2020 normal 63.5 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.40 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September25.5 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 109% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.3 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, 202213% of cropland4,076 ac
Farmed no-till, 202226% of cropland7,961 ac
Cover crops, 20223% of cropland948 ac
19861991199620012006201120162021181680

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

CRP enrolled, 20250 ac
Cattle and calves, 20229,373+1.3% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202210%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Lewis County$91 2025$2,517—$9.20
Carter County$28 2025$3,064——
Fleming County$132$3,780139.6$13.94
Greenup County$43$3,615—$15.41
Mason County$90$4,053146.6$10.42
Rowan County$43 2024$6,055—$20.21
Adams County, OH$136$5,254150.8$8.63
Scioto County, OH$107$4,857157.8$6.13
Median next door$107$4,053148.7$12.18

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. Lewis 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/lewis-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.