Farmland Atlas · county record

Custer County, Nebraska

Custer County, NE: non-irrigated cash rent $100 an acre (2026); land and buildings $2,892 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 176.6 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 31041. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Irrigation draws 93 percent of its water from groundwater, with 2322 irrigation wells not decommissioned and a median static water level of 79 feet. The county spent 318 of 1357 weeks in severe drought or worse from 2000-2025, with 100 of those weeks falling in 2021-2025.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$100/ac
2026 county average
NE median $141 · 27th lowest of 80
Cash rent, irrigated
$240/ac
2026 county average
NE median $272 · 26th lowest of 78
Land and buildings
$2,892/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NE median $4,499 · 37th lowest of 93
Corn yield, 2008–2024 median
176.6 bu/ac
15 published years · irrigated and dryland combined
NE median 179.3 · tied for 29th lowest of 67
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$4.00
2016–2025, closed crop years
NE median $4.74 · tied for 28th lowest of 90
Farmland rented
47%
2022 census, rented from others
NE median 49% · 42nd lowest of 93

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$2502010201520202025$52$100 dry$143$240 irrigated

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$100/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+30.9%nominal, $76 to $100
Irrigated, 2026$240/ac
Pasture, 2025$36/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$2,892/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,898/ac
Census 2017$2,475/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+16.8%+3.2% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 58% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024163.0206.9median 176.6

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

Median, 2008–2024176.6 bu/ac15 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Lowest published year2008: 163.0 bu/ac92% of median
Trend, 2008–2024+2.6 bu/ac a year±1.0 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

198919941999200420092014201920241.432.570.271.00: 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$4.00
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.57claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.59$192.1 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium6 of 37
Worst year2000ratio 2.57
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 46% · hail 35% · price decline (revenue policies) 6%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

200020052010201520202025333921

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, 2000–2025318 of 1,357 weeks23% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200339 weeks
Last five years, 2021–2025100 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202661.8 °F1991–2020 normal 60.9 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.09 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September18.7 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 103% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger7.7 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202258%
Drained by tile, 2022under 1% of cropland430 ac
Farmed no-till, 202239% of cropland224,954 ac
Cover crops, 20225% of cropland27,864 ac
198619911996200120062011201620211,16114,5173,152

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

CRP enrolled, 20253,152 ac0.6% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028883 ac28% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$68/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Irrigation wells in use (Nebraska register)2,322
Median well depth315 ft
Solar and wind operating, 20250 MW solar · 153 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 2022290,855−11.9% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202247%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Custer County$100$240$2,892176.6$4.00
Blaine County$39 2023$187 2025$1,317—$6.14
Buffalo County$138$271$4,857195.4$3.21
Dawson County$128$273$4,897198.0$3.29
Garfield County$90$233 2025$1,660184.8$6.83
Lincoln County$66$263$2,340172.6$5.07
Logan County$49$191$1,355170.2$5.07
Loup County$110$216$1,567—$4.47
Sherman County$134$299$3,905177.1$4.30
Valley County$132$302$3,037182.3$4.58
Median next door$119$271$2,340182.3$4.58

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. Custer County, Nebraska. 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/nebraska/custer-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.