Farmland Atlas · county record

Spencer County, Kentucky

Spencer County, KY: non-irrigated cash rent $122 an acre (2026); land and buildings $6,499 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 169.7 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 21215. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Spencer County runs $122 per acre in 2026, up 22 percent from 2016. Land value per the 2022 census sits at $6,499 per acre, with a 43.1 percent gain from 2017 to 2022. Cropland here is 0 percent irrigated, so yield rides on rain and heat. Corn yields trended up 3.1 bushels per acre a year across 2008-2025, median 169.7 bushels, though 2008 fell to 92. Heat and drought drove 54 percent of the $9.8 million in crop insurance indemnities since 1989, and that share rose to 70 percent in 2020-2025. July nightly lows average 67.3 F over 2017-2026 against a 65.9 F normal, with no clear trend direction since 1976. No solar or wind capacity operates or is proposed here.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$122/ac
2026 county average
KY median $125 · 43rd lowest of 86
Land and buildings
$6,499/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
KY median $4,449 · 14th highest of 114
Rent as % of land value
—
not shown: cropland is 48% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
169.7 bu/ac
14 published years
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$8.01
2016–2025, closed crop years
KY median $8.45 · 41st lowest of 86
Farmland rented
17%
2022 census, rented from others
KY median 25% · 28th lowest of 115

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$100$120$1402010201520202025$81$122 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$122/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+22.0%nominal, $100 to $122
Pasture, 2024$37/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$6,499/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$3,134/ac
Census 2017$4,542/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+43.1%+7.4% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 48% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022202492.0184.0151.5median 169.7

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

Median, 2008–2025169.7 bu/ac14 published years
Lowest published year2008: 92.0 bu/ac54% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+3.1 bu/ac a year±3.4 (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$8.01
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.76claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.79$9.8 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 54% · excess moisture 30% · other 10%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250130

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, 2000–202533 of 1,357 weeks2% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200713 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20256 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202667.3 °F1991–2020 normal 65.9 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.34 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September27.2 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 106% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.7 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, 20228% of cropland2,320 ac
Farmed no-till, 202234% of cropland9,610 ac
Cover crops, 20228% of cropland2,175 ac
19861991199620012006201120162021543880

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

CRP enrolled, 20250 ac
Cattle and calves, 20228,311−37.2% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202217%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Spencer County$122$6,499—$8.01
Anderson County$73$5,426——
Bullitt County$83$7,883141.9$10.14
Jefferson County$53 2025$13,280—$8.42
Nelson County$180$5,930—$7.00
Shelby County$166$7,994168.2$6.14
Median next door$125$7,883155.1 2 co.$7.71

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. Spencer 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/spencer-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.