Farmland Atlas · county record

Cooper County, Missouri

Cooper County, MO: non-irrigated cash rent $144 an acre (2026); land and buildings $5,376 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 141.1 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 29053. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Cooper County runs $144 per acre in 2026, up 50.8 percent from 2016. Land value came in at $5,376 per acre in 2022, up 64.5 percent from 2017, a pace of 10.5 percent a year. Cropland here is 1 percent irrigated, so yield rides on rain and heat. Corn yields have trended up 1 bushels per acre a year on published years 2008-2023, with a median of 141.1 bushels per acre and a low of 57.2 in 2012. Heat and drought's share of crop insurance indemnities has climbed across each decade listed: 54 percent in 1989-1999, 57 percent in 2000-2009, 69 percent in 2010-2019, 73 percent in 2020-2025. Solar and wind development, proposed or operating, is not present in this county.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$144/ac
2026 county average
MO median $117 · tied for 40th highest of 109
Land and buildings
$5,376/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
MO median $4,459 · 30th highest of 113
Rent as % of land value
1.77%
$95 dry rent ÷ $5,376 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2008–2023 median
141.1 bu/ac
10 published years
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$8.07
2016–2025, closed crop years
MO median $6.71 · 37th highest of 96
Farmland rented
37%
2022 census, rented from others
MO median 32% · 36th highest of 114

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$100$120$1402010201520202025$84$144 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$144/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+50.8%nominal, $96 to $144
Pasture, 2026$44/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$5,376/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$2,841/ac
Census 2017$3,268/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+64.5%+10.5% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20221.77%$95 ÷ $5,376; cropland 67% of land in farms

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022152.0150.0130.487.057.2173.8184.5163.8132.1105.0median 141.1

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

Median, 2008–2023141.1 bu/ac10 published years
Lowest published year2012: 57.2 bu/ac41% of median
Trend, 2008–2023+1.0 bu/ac a year±6.0 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

2000200520102015202020250.194.880.381.00: 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$8.07
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.60claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.81$116.7 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium7 of 26
Worst year2012ratio 4.88
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 68% · excess moisture 23% · price decline (revenue policies) 3%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020254350

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, 2000–2025103 of 1,357 weeks8% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks202335 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202552 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202668.4 °F1991–2020 normal 67.6 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.23 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September26.3 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 96% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.8 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20221%
Drained by tile, 20229% of cropland14,851 ac
Farmed no-till, 202241% of cropland71,779 ac
Cover crops, 202212% of cropland20,436 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202124018,5274,397

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

CRP enrolled, 20254,397 ac2.8% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20281,351 ac31% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$130/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Cattle and calves, 202249,333+15.0% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202237%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Cooper County$144—$5,376—$8.07
Boone County$143$179 2025$5,608136.3$6.18
Howard County$142$243 2025$3,853—$6.18
Moniteau County$85—$4,680—$8.27
Morgan County$65—$5,025136.2$10.54
Pettis County$149—$4,906133.7$6.20
Saline County$196—$6,325170.3$2.43
Median next door$143—$4,966136.3$6.19

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. Cooper County, Missouri. 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/missouri/cooper-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.