Farmland Atlas · county record

Vernon County, Missouri

Vernon County, MO: non-irrigated cash rent $115 an acre (2026); land and buildings $4,000 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 114.3 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 29217. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Vernon County averages $115 per acre in 2026, up 37.7 percent from 2016. Land value carries at $4,000 per acre as of the 2022 census estimate, and rent runs at 2.27 percent of that value. Heat and drought's share of crop insurance indemnities has moved 30 percent in 1989-1999, 44 percent in 2000-2009, 55 percent in 2010-2019, and 69 percent in 2020-2025. Irrigation draws 100 percent from groundwater, and solar and wind capacity in the county are both 0 MW.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$115/ac
2026 county average
MO median $117 · 53rd lowest of 109
Land and buildings
$4,000/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
MO median $4,459 · 39th lowest of 113
Rent as % of land value
2.27%
$91 dry rent ÷ $4,000 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2008–2023 median
114.3 bu/ac
10 published years
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$19.27
2016–2025, closed crop years
MO median $6.71 · 11th highest of 96
Farmland rented
41%
2022 census, rented from others
MO median 32% · 27th highest of 114

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$100$1202010201520202025$56$115 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$115/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+37.7%nominal, $84 to $115
Pasture, 2026$38/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$4,000/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$2,156/ac
Census 2017$2,841/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+40.8%+7.1% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20222.27%$91 ÷ $4,000; cropland 64% of land in farms

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022119.0135.0122.967.793.5122.5147.5109.680.3104.7median 114.3

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

Median, 2008–2023114.3 bu/ac10 published years
Lowest published year2012: 67.7 bu/ac59% of median
Trend, 2008–2023−1.3 bu/ac a year±3.6 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

1999200420092014201920241.273.790.721.00: 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$19.27
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.10claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.16$225.4 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium12 of 27
Worst year2011ratio 3.79
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 60% · excess moisture 35% · price decline (revenue policies) 2%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250284

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, 2000–2025119 of 1,357 weeks9% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks202328 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202548 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202669.0 °F1991–2020 normal 68.8 °F
Trend in July lows since 19760.00 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September28.8 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 97% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.6 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, 20221% of cropland2,961 ac
Farmed no-till, 202221% of cropland66,512 ac
Cover crops, 20222% of cropland7,047 ac
198619911996200120062011201620217,02157,2383,106

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

CRP enrolled, 20253,106 ac1.2% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028464 ac15% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$67/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Cattle and calves, 202273,020−3.1% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202241%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Vernon County$115—$4,000—$19.27
Bourbon County, KS$64—$2,844109.0$14.02
Crawford County, KS$74—$3,097—$16.00
Linn County, KS$97—$3,041—$10.90
Barton County$83$170 2024$4,126148.7$14.23
Bates County$155—$4,006—$8.32
Cedar County$53—$3,763—$22.70
St. Clair County$109—$3,962—$16.83
Median next door$83—$3,763128.9 2 co.$14.23

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. Vernon 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/vernon-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.