County farm facts

Nicholas County, Kentucky

Nicholas County, KY: non-irrigated cash rent $120 an acre (2025); land and buildings $4,706 an acre in the 2022 census. Bids, weather, crops, land and programs for one county. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 21181. Figures as of Oct 19, 2026; the rows marked with a date load the newest reading when the page opens.

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As of Oct 16, cropland rent in Nicholas County runs $120 an acre for 2025, up 51.9% from $79 in 2013. The census value of land and buildings came in at $4,706 an acre in 2022, up 102.7% from $2,322 in 2017. That puts the county 49th highest of 114 in Kentucky, a bit above the state median of $4,449. Corn has held a median of 148.5 bu over 8 years of county yields from 2009 to 2022.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$120/ac
2025 county average
too few 2025 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$4,706/ac
2022: operators' own estimate of what land and buildings were worth · KY farm real estate 2026: $5,600 (land and buildings, state survey)
KY median $4,449 · 49th highest of 114
Rent as % of land value
n/a
not shown: NASS published no non-irrigated cash rent for this county in 2022
Corn yield
n/a
the county series ends in 2022; a trend is not projected 4 years past its last year
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$27.70
2016–2025, closed crop years
KY median $8.45 · 2nd highest of 86
Farmland rented
21%
2022 census, rented from others
KY median 25% · 41st lowest of 115
Open on the map Compare Kentucky cash rent by county

Grain and prices within 50 miles

Corn bid
Soybean bid
Corn basis
Soybean basis
Corn futures
Soybean futures
Feeder cattle futures
Hay, Kentucky price received

Bids are posted elevator prices within 50 miles of the county middle, or of your own field or saved place in this county when this device has one (each row says which), best and nearest, never a buyer's name. Not a contract; call before you haul. Livestock lines show where the 2022 Census counts 1,000 head or more: milk for milk cows, feeder cattle for beef cows, live cattle for cattle on feed, hogs for hogs, hay for all cattle.

Kentucky cash bids by town · Bids from your own ZIP or farm, in Fast Facts

Cash bids by town near the middle of Nicholas County: Winchester (25 mi), Georgetown, OH (37 mi).

Weather and the season

Rain since Jan 1
Drought this week
Hail, last 30 days

Rain so far this year in Kentucky, county by county

Drought, year by year

2000200520102015202020250190

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, 2000–202540 of 1,357 weeks3% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200719 weeks
Last five full years, 2021–20251 weeks
2026 so far0 weekshalf the county or more in D2, 40 weekly maps
July average of daily lows, 2017–202665.3 °F1991–2020 normal 64.2 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.38 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September, usual27.0 in1991–2020 county normal, NOAA; the 2017–2026 seasons averaged 28.6 in
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.1 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail
Last spring freeze, first fall freezeApr 11, Oct 28middle dates 1996–2025, NOAA county-average daily low of 32 °F or colder
Frost-free days198middle of 1996–2025
Corn growing degree days, May to September3,108middle of 1996–2025; 2016–2025 averaged 3,186

Crops

Corn harvested
Soybeans harvested

Corn yield

2009201120132015201720192021147.0126.5153.0157.0173.9150.0median 148.5

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

Median, 2009–2022148.5 bu/ac8 published years
Lowest published year2012: 30.1 bu/ac20% of median

Land rent, value, sales

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$100$1202010201520202025$67$120 dry

Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey.

Every published Kentucky county rate, side by side: Kentucky cash rent by county.

Non-irrigated, 2025$120/ac
Change 2013 to 2025+51.9%nominal, $79 to $120
Pasture, 2026$35/ac
Rent as a share of corn gross, 201239.9%$84 non-irrigated rent 2012 ÷ (30.1 bu, 2012 county yield, all practices × $6.96 Kentucky price received); the county reports no irrigated corn

Share of gross is a past year, all observed: that year's rent, that year's county corn yield of the same practice and the state price received, USDA NASS. Rent per bushel is withheld here: it needs the county trend, and the trend is withheld (see the corn yield section). The calculator below takes your own yield and price.

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$4,706/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$2,159/ac
Census 2017$2,322/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+102.7%+15.2% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census valueNASS published no non-irrigated cash rent for this county in 2022
Kentucky cropland, 2026 state survey$6,630/ac+2.8% from 2025 · USDA NASS Land Values, state average
Kentucky farm real estate, 2026$5,600/acland and buildings, state average
Kentucky pasture, 2026$4,050/acstate average

The census value is this county's, from 2022. The survey figures are the Kentucky average for 2026, from the USDA NASS Land Values report. NASS publishes that survey by state, not by county, so this page does not scale one into the other.

Programs and risk

ARC or PLC sign-up

Benchmarks, payments and the choice for each crop: ARC or PLC in Nicholas County.

Insuring pasture or hay? PRF rainfall insurance for pasture and hay in Nicholas County: its grids, county values and record are on the county PRF page.

Crop insurance record

20122.042.181.921.00: claims equal premium

Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 2012 with at least $1,000,000 of premium; a year under that has no bar and no ratio. 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$27.70
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.84claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.93$32.8 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 46% · heat and drought 38% · hail 9%share of dollars paid

Conservation Reserve Program

198619911996200120062011201620210310

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

CRP enrolled, 2025310 ac1.2% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2027–202931 ac10% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$22/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

What farms here look like

Harvested cropland irrigated, 2022NASS suppressed the irrigated acres to protect individual farms
Drained by tile, 2022under 1% of cropland116 ac
Farmed no-till, 202215% of cropland5,177 ac
Cover crops, 20223% of cropland1,015 ac
Cattle and calves, 202217,063−30.1% since 2017
Milk cows, 202263head, Census of Agriculture
Beef cows, 20228,470head, Census of Agriculture
Hogs and pigs, 202247head, Census of Agriculture
Farmland rented from others, 202221%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

USDA Census of Agriculture 2022, except wells (state well register) and power (EIA Form 860).

Watch this county

Get an email when the published figures for Nicholas County, Kentucky change. Usually once or twice a year. You confirm by email first, and every email has a one-tap stop. AGSIST, PO Box 243, Chetek, WI 54728.

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yield, medianClaims per $100
Nicholas County$120 2025$4,706n/a$27.70
Bath County$96 2023$3,111139.5$11.14
Bourbon County$105$7,039n/a$9.59
Fleming County$132$3,780139.6$13.94
Harrison County$101$4,169n/a$10.88
Robertson County$75 2025$3,643n/an/a
Median next door$105$3,780139.6 2 co.$11.01

Counties that share a stretch of boundary. A rent from an older survey year carries its year and stays out of the median; one more than three survey years old shows n/a. The corn median here needs 15 published years, so a county with fewer shows n/a even where its own page gives a median.

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Cite this page

AGSIST Farmland Atlas. Nicholas County, Kentucky. Figures as of Oct 19, 2026, from USDA NASS, USDA RMA, USDA FSA, the U.S. Drought Monitor and NOAA. https://agsist.com/farmland-atlas/kentucky/nicholas-county
Every figure is a county average from the sources named below. Rent ranks count every county with a published rent in the same survey year, within the state (the same counties as the state rent page); other ranks count counties with 10,000 acres or more in farms. 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.

This product uses the NASS API but is not endorsed or certified by NASS. Averages, trends, ranks and estimates are calculations by AGSIST.

Rent: USDA NASS Cash Rents Survey, county. Land value: Census of Agriculture, operators' estimate of land and buildings. Yield: NASS county corn yields. The headline trend, the one rent per bushel uses, is fitted here over the published years in the 15 years ending this year; the yearly trend card uses 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. Claims paid per $100 of coverage: claims divided by liability (the insured value), times 100, same source. 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 missing figure is named with its reason (in a table it reads n/a).