Farmland Atlas · county record

Dakota County, Nebraska

Dakota County, NE: non-irrigated cash rent $264 an acre (2026); land and buildings $7,081 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 183.6 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 31043. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Dakota County is $264 per acre for 2026, down 2.6 percent from 2016. Irrigated cash rent is $322 per acre. Irrigation draws 99 percent from groundwater, with 174 irrigation wells active and a median static water level of 20 feet.

Cash rent, non-irrigated

$264/ac

2026 county average
NE median $141 · 4th highest of 80

Cash rent, irrigated

$322/ac

2026 county average
NE median $272 · 7th highest of 78

Land and buildings

$7,081/ac

2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NE median $4,499 · 19th highest of 93

Corn yield, 2008–2023 median

183.6 bu/ac

recent level 2019–2023: 193.7 · irrigated and dryland combined

Claims paid per $100 of coverage

$6.67

2016–2025, closed crop years
NE median $4.74 · 29th highest of 90

Farmland rented

73%

2022 census, rented from others
NE median 49% · highest of 93

Cash rent

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$264/ac

Change 2016 to 2026−2.6%nominal, $271 to $264

Irrigated, 2026$322/ac

Pasture, 2026$64/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$7,081/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price

Census 2012$4,799/ac

Census 2017$5,656/ac

Change 2017 to 2022+25.2%+4.6% a year, nominal

Dry rent ÷ census value— about 17% of cropland is irrigated (USGS 2015 irrigated acres over 2022 harvested cropland), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

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

Median, 2008–2023183.6 bu/ac12 published years, irrigated and dryland combined

Recent level, 2019–2023193.7 bu/ac4 published years, high and low dropped

Lowest published year2012: 91.7 bu/ac50% of median

Trend, 2008–2023+1.7 bu/ac a year±3.7 (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$6.67

Loss ratio, 2016–20250.82claims ÷ total premium

Loss ratio, 1989–20250.90$102.9 million paid

Years claims exceeded premium6 of 26

Worst year2012ratio 6.66

Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 65% · area plans 11% · excess moisture 10%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

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, 2000–2025201 of 1,357 weeks15% of weeks

Year with the most D2+ weeks202242 weeks

Last five years, 2021–202598 weeks

July average of daily lows, 2017–202664.0 °F1991–2020 normal 63.3 °F

Trend in July lows since 1976+0.18 °F a decadeno clear direction

Rain, April to September21.6 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 90% of it

Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.6 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 cropland843 ac

Farmed no-till, 202269% of cropland106,108 ac

Cover crops, 20221% of cropland1,405 ac

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

CRP enrolled, 20255,258 ac3.5% of harvested cropland + CRP

CRP expiring FY2026–20283,965 ac75% of enrolled acres

CRP average rental payment, FY2025$312/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

Irrigation wells in use (Nebraska register)174

Median well depth109 ft

Solar and wind operating, 20252.3 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860

Cattle and calves, 20225,998−11.0% since 2017

Farmland rented from others, 202273%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

County	Dry rent	Irr. rent	Land value	Corn yield	Claims per $100
Dakota County	$264	$322	$7,081	—	$6.67
Woodbury County, IA	$288	$248	$8,352	195.6	$5.35
Dixon County	$256	$343	$5,376	—	$3.83
Thurston County	$269	$345 2025	$7,255	—	$7.95
Union County, SD	$252	$269	$7,151	177.7	$6.98
Median next door	$263	$269	$7,203	186.7 2 co.	$6.17

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. Dakota 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/dakota-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.

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