Farmland Atlas · county record

St. Louis County, Missouri

St. Louis County, MO: non-irrigated cash rent $142 an acre (2026); land and buildings $10,928 an acre in the 2022 census, flagged to read with care. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 29189. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent here runs $142 per acre, down 4.1 percent from 2016 to 2026. Crop insurance history is dominated by excess moisture and flood, at 86 percent of $11.4 million in indemnities 1989-2025, and the loss ratio over 2016-2025 was 0.65. Drought has been a small factor: 30 of 1357 weeks since 2000 saw severe drought or worse, with 4 such weeks in 2021-2025. Irrigation covers 3 percent of harvested cropland. Solar and wind operating capacity: 0 MW each, none proposed.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$142/ac
2026 county average
MO median $117 · tied for 43rd highest of 109
Land and buildings
$10,928/ac
2022 census · read with care: rose 151% from 2017 while next door rose a median 26%
Rent as % of land value
—
not shown: the 2022 census value rose 151% from 2017 while the 6 counties next door rose a median 26%; the census figure counts buildings and small residential farms, so this jump is not read as a change in cropland prices
Corn yield, 2008–2021 median
156.2 bu/ac
12 published years
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$10.11
2016–2025, closed crop years
MO median $6.71 · 26th highest of 96
Farmland rented
42%
2022 census, rented from others
MO median 32% · 24th highest of 114

Cash rent

$0$50$100$1502010201520202025$89$142 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$142/ac
Change 2016 to 2026−4.1%nominal, $148 to $142

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$10,928/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$4,128/ac
Census 2017$4,348/ac
Read with care— the 2022 census value rose 151% from 2017 while the 6 counties next door rose a median 26%. The census counts buildings and small residential farms, so the change since 2017, the rent-to-value ratio and the rank are withheld

Corn yield

20082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021138.0176.0159.5146.074.7158.1183.7150.7154.3146.8192.9170.5median 156.2

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

Median, 2008–2021156.2 bu/ac12 published years
Lowest published year2012: 74.7 bu/ac48% of median
Trend, 2008–2021+2.5 bu/ac a year±4.8 (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$10.11
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.65claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.81$11.4 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 86% · heat and drought 11% · freeze 2%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020252123

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, 2000–202530 of 1,357 weeks2% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201212 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20254 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202669.7 °F1991–2020 normal 68.5 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.30 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September24.9 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 105% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger4.0 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20223%
Drained by tile, 20226% of cropland928 ac
Farmed no-till, 202243% of cropland6,436 ac
Cover crops, 20228% of cropland1,191 ac
19861991199620012006201120162021101560

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

CRP enrolled, 20250 ac
Cattle and calves, 2022370+38.1% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202242%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
St. Louis County$142—$10,928—$10.11
Madison County, IL$249—$6,940181.9$2.18
Monroe County, IL$151$148$8,117156.8$5.80
St. Clair County, IL$243—$9,310162.0$3.46
Franklin County$70—$5,647151.1$7.69
Jefferson County$52—$5,915130.4$5.82
St. Charles County$157—$6,162165.9$7.00
St. Louis City—————
Median next door$154$148 1 co.$6,551159.4$5.81

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. St. Louis 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/st-louis-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.