Farmland Atlas · county record

Le Sueur County, Minnesota

Le Sueur County, MN: non-irrigated cash rent $258 an acre (2026); land and buildings $7,494 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 185.0 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 27079. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Le Sueur County averages $258 per acre in 2026, up 11.7 percent from 2016. Land value per the 2022 Census sits at $7,494 per acre, with rent equal to 2.98 percent of that value. Excess moisture and flood is the largest cause of crop insurance indemnities over 1989-2025, at 39 percent of $98.9 million paid out. Heat and drought's share of indemnities moved from 8 percent in 1989-1999 to 46 percent in 2000-2009, 20 percent in 2010-2019, and 30 percent in 2020-2025. Drought weeks were fewer in 2021-2025, at 22, than in the worst year, 2012, at 31.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$258/ac
2026 county average
MN median $189 · tied for 14th highest of 81
Land and buildings
$7,494/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
MN median $6,372 · 30th highest of 84
Rent as % of land value
2.98%
$223 dry rent ÷ $7,494 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
185.0 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 202.6
MN median 180.7 · 24th highest of 64
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$3.43
2016–2025, closed crop years
MN median $4.92 · 8th lowest of 82
Farmland rented
50%
2022 census, rented from others
MN median 47% · 34th highest of 84

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$2502010201520202025$156$258 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$258/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+11.7%nominal, $231 to $258
Pasture, 2025$50/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$1.27$258 ÷ 202.6 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$7,494/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$5,548/ac
Census 2017$6,175/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+21.4%+3.9% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20222.98%$223 ÷ $7,494; cropland 88% of land in farms

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024167.0217.1median 185.0

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

Median, 2008–2025185.0 bu/ac17 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025202.6 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2014: 148.1 bu/ac80% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+2.1 bu/ac a year±1.8 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

1998200320082013201820230.094.050.051.00: 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$3.43
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.60claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.72$98.9 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium6 of 28
Worst year2014ratio 4.05
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 39% · heat and drought 27% · price decline (revenue policies) 16%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250310

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, 2000–2025115 of 1,357 weeks9% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201231 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202522 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202662.3 °F1991–2020 normal 61.8 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.24 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September24.5 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 98% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.4 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 2022— NASS suppressed the irrigated acres to protect individual farms
Drained by tile, 202267% of cropland120,625 ac
Farmed no-till, 20225% of cropland9,443 ac
Cover crops, 20223% of cropland5,489 ac
198619911996200120062011201620211,37331,15118,709

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

CRP enrolled, 202518,709 ac10.5% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20284,110 ac22% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$268/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Irrigation wells on record17Minnesota County Well Index (MDH and Minnesota Geological Survey)
Median well depth290 ft
Solar and wind operating, 202523 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202211,800−10.4% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202250%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Le Sueur County$258—$7,494185.0$3.43
Blue Earth County$252—$7,755187.4$4.14
Nicollet County$275—$8,617192.1$2.87
Rice County$276$350$8,330188.3$4.54
Scott County$236—$9,547189.0$4.49
Sibley County$278—$8,265187.1$5.43
Waseca County$263—$8,825191.7$3.94
Median next door$269$350 1 co.$8,474188.7$4.32

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. Le Sueur County, Minnesota. 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/minnesota/le-sueur-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.