Farmland Atlas · county record

Frontier County, Nebraska

Frontier County, NE: non-irrigated cash rent $68 an acre (2026); land and buildings $2,370 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 136.0 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 31063. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Frontier County is $68 per acre for 2026, up 21.6 percent from 2016. Irrigated rent stands at $211 per acre, a multiple of 3.13 over non-irrigated land in 2026, compared to 2.82 in 2009, with no clear direction in that multiple over time. Groundwater supplies 99 percent of irrigation water, drawn from 1,495 registered wells, with a median depth of 299 feet and a median static water level of 165 feet at drilling. Heat and drought has driven crop insurance losses higher across each decade listed: 12 percent of indemnities in 1989-1999, 56 percent in 2000-2009, 75 percent in 2010-2019, and 85 percent in 2020-2025. Census land value reached $2,370 per acre in 2022, up 26.1 percent from 2017.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$68/ac
2026 county average
NE median $141 · 21st lowest of 80
Cash rent, irrigated
$211/ac
2026 county average
NE median $272 · 18th lowest of 78
Land and buildings
$2,370/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NE median $4,499 · 31st lowest of 93
Corn yield, 2008–2024 median
136.0 bu/ac
recent level 2020–2024: 137.7 · irrigated and dryland combined
NE median 179.3 · lowest of 67
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$9.24
2016–2025, closed crop years
NE median $4.74 · 15th highest of 90
Farmland rented
47%
2022 census, rented from others
NE median 49% · 41st lowest of 93

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$2002010201520202025$43$68 dry$124$211 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$68/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+21.6%nominal, $56 to $68
Irrigated, 2026$211/ac
Pasture, 2026$32/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$2,370/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,468/ac
Census 2017$1,879/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+26.1%+4.8% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 33% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024136.0162.4median 136.0

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

Median, 2008–2024136.0 bu/ac15 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Recent level, 2020–2024137.7 bu/ac4 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2013: 98.3 bu/ac72% of median
Trend, 2008–2024+0.5 bu/ac a year±2.0 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

1996200120062011201620212.273.360.501.00: 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$9.24
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.71claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.91$193.5 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium9 of 30
Worst year2002ratio 3.36
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 70% · hail 17% · price decline (revenue policies) 4%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202530538

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, 2000–2025401 of 1,357 weeks30% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201353 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202590 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202662.8 °F1991–2020 normal 62.1 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.22 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September17.0 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 101% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger3.7 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202233%
Drained by tile, 20221% of cropland1,857 ac
Farmed no-till, 202267% of cropland150,101 ac
Cover crops, 20221% of cropland3,217 ac
198619911996200120062011201620213827,656

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

CRP enrolled, 202527,656 ac13.2% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20281,220 ac4% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$43/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Irrigation wells in use (Nebraska register)724
Median well depth299 ft
Cattle and calves, 202250,877−9.5% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202247%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Frontier County$68$211$2,370136.0$9.24
Dawson County$128$273$4,897198.0$3.29
Furnas County$88$235$2,895136.1$12.94
Gosper County$98$280$4,514—$4.46
Hayes County$62$230$2,196147.7$10.80
Hitchcock County$60$198$2,181—$18.62
Lincoln County$66$263$2,340172.6$5.07
Red Willow County$67$214$2,366141.8$13.43
Median next door$67$235$2,366147.7$10.80

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. Frontier 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/frontier-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.