Farmland Atlas · county record

Garden County, Nebraska

Garden County, NE: non-irrigated cash rent $44 an acre (2026); land and buildings $1,256 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 141.9 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 31069. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Garden County runs $44 per acre in 2026, up 22.2 percent from 2016. Irrigated ground rents at $189 per acre, and 86 percent of irrigation water comes from groundwater, drawn from 2,491 registered wells with a median depth of 155 feet. Corn yields have trended down 3.2 bushels per acre a year over 2008-2023, with a median of 141.9 and a low of 65.1 in 2020. Heat and drought's share of crop insurance indemnities has moved 2 percent in 1989-1999, 22 percent in 2000-2009, 31 percent in 2010-2019, and 75 percent in 2020-2025. Land value per the 2022 Census sits at $1,256 per acre, up 45 percent from 2017.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$44/ac
2026 county average
NE median $141 · 9th lowest of 80
Cash rent, irrigated
$189/ac
2026 county average
NE median $272 · 11th lowest of 78
Land and buildings
$1,256/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NE median $4,499 · 8th lowest of 93
Corn yield, 2008–2023 median
141.9 bu/ac
10 published years · irrigated and dryland combined
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$11.79
2016–2025, closed crop years
NE median $4.74 · 9th highest of 90
Farmland rented
40%
2022 census, rented from others
NE median 49% · 21st lowest of 93

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$2002010201520202025$29$44 dry$120$189 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$44/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+22.2%nominal, $36 to $44
Irrigated, 2026$189/ac
Pasture, 2026$15/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$1,256/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$611/ac
Census 2017$866/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+45.0%+7.7% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— NASS published no non-irrigated cash rent for this county in 2022

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022155.0155.8142.6144.6120.1116.3143.9109.565.1141.2median 141.9

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

Median, 2008–2023141.9 bu/ac10 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Lowest published year2020: 65.1 bu/ac46% of median
Trend, 2008–2023−3.2 bu/ac a year±3.7 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

200420092014201920240.542.670.501.00: 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$11.79
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.93claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.95$62.1 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium6 of 22
Worst year2022ratio 2.67
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 41% · hail 38% · freeze 8%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

200020052010201520202025125316

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, 2000–2025410 of 1,357 weeks30% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201353 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202572 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202659.8 °F1991–2020 normal 59.3 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.17 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September14.7 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 96% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger3.8 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, 2022none reported
Farmed no-till, 202224% of cropland38,128 ac
Cover crops, 20221% of cropland961 ac
198619911996200120062011201620211,18799,145

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

CRP enrolled, 202599,145 ac46.6% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028503 ac1% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$17/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Irrigation wells in use (Nebraska register)401
Median well depth155 ft
Cattle and calves, 202284,295+30.0% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202240%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Garden County$44$189$1,256—$11.79
Arthur County—$174 2025$1,091—$13.25
Cheyenne County$43$190$1,455—$13.56
Deuel County$45$172$2,003—$13.96
Grant County——$1,129——
Keith County$56$218$2,431158.0$6.41
Morrill County$40 2025$178$1,682165.1$5.82
Sheridan County$36$162$1,394151.4$8.72
Median next door$44$178$1,455158.0$10.99

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. Garden 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/garden-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.