Farmland Atlas · county record

Howell County, Missouri

Howell County, MO: non-irrigated cash rent $47 an acre (2026); land and buildings $2,894 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 29091. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Howell County averages $47 per acre in 2026, up 64.9 percent from 2016. Land value stood at $2,894 per acre in the 2022 Census, operator estimate, up 35 percent from 2017, a 6.2 percent annual pace. Heat and drought drove 96 percent of the county's $1.6 million in crop insurance indemnities across the 2015-2025 closed crop years, and that share rose from 87 percent in 2010-2019 to 97 percent in 2020-2025. The loss ratio over 2016-2025 was 0.98, close to break-even between premium and indemnity. July nights have warmed from a 66.1 F normal (1991-2020) to 68.1 F over 2017-2026, part of a 0.57 F per decade trend since 1976.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$47/ac
2026 county average
MO median $117 · tied for 22nd lowest of 109
Land and buildings
$2,894/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
MO median $4,459 · 12th lowest of 113
Rent as % of land value
—
not shown: NASS published no non-irrigated cash rent for this county in 2022
Corn yield, median
—
fewer than 8 published county corn yields
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$18.02
2016–2025, closed crop years
MO median $6.71 · 12th highest of 96
Farmland rented
21%
2022 census, rented from others
MO median 32% · 14th lowest of 114

Cash rent

$0$20$40$602010201520202025$32$47 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$47/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+64.9%nominal, $29 to $47
Pasture, 2026$30/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$2,894/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,883/ac
Census 2017$2,144/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+35.0%+6.2% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— NASS published no non-irrigated cash rent for this county in 2022

Corn yield

County corn yield— fewer than 8 published county corn yields

Crop insurance record

Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 2014. 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$18.02
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.98claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 2014–20250.93$1.6 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 2015–2025heat and drought 96% · excess moisture 4% · freeze 1%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020258173

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, 2000–202559 of 1,357 weeks4% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201217 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20259 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202668.1 °F1991–2020 normal 66.1 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.57 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September25.8 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 106% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger2.6 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, 2022under 1% of cropland96 ac
Farmed no-till, 20229% of cropland6,460 ac
Cover crops, 20222% of cropland1,560 ac
19861991199620012006201120162021034115

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

CRP enrolled, 202515 ac
CRP expiring FY2026–20280 ac
Solar and wind operating, 20258 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202294,425+21.0% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202221%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueClaims per $100
Howell County$47$2,894$18.02
Fulton County, AR$32$2,239—
Douglas County$32$2,936—
Oregon County$28$2,560—
Ozark County$32$2,762—
Shannon County$22 2025$2,396—
Texas County$57$3,220—
Median next door$32$2,661—

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. Howell 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/howell-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.