Farmland Atlas · county record

Greeley County, Nebraska

Greeley County, NE: non-irrigated cash rent $145 an acre (2026); land and buildings $4,034 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 185.4 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 31077. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Greeley County stands at $145 per acre in 2026, up 39.4 percent from 2016. Irrigated rent runs $267 per acre, and the irrigated multiple over non-irrigated has moved from 2.11 in 2008 to 1.84 in 2026, a falling trend. Irrigation covers 61 percent of harvested cropland, drawing 93 percent of its water from groundwater across 1,722 registered wells, 935 of them with no decommission date on record. Crop insurance indemnities from 1989-2025 total $60.0 million, with heat and drought the largest cause at 44 percent, and that share has moved from 15 percent in 1989-1999, to 45 percent in 2000-2009, 42 percent in 2010-2019, and 52 percent in 2020-2025. Census land value reached $4,034 per acre in 2022, up 36.1 percent from 2017.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$145/ac
2026 county average
NE median $141 · 39th highest of 80
Cash rent, irrigated
$267/ac
2026 county average
NE median $272 · 34th lowest of 78
Land and buildings
$4,034/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NE median $4,499 · 42nd lowest of 93
Corn yield, 2008–2023 median
185.4 bu/ac
recent level 2019–2023: 196.2 · irrigated and dryland combined
NE median 179.3 · 21st highest of 67
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$3.48
2016–2025, closed crop years
NE median $4.74 · 21st lowest of 90
Farmland rented
39%
2022 census, rented from others
NE median 49% · 18th lowest of 93

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$250$3002010201520202025$73$145 dry$154$267 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$145/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+39.4%nominal, $104 to $145
Irrigated, 2026$267/ac
Pasture, 2025$52/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$4,034/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$3,229/ac
Census 2017$2,965/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+36.1%+6.4% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 61% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022172.0222.6193.4median 185.4

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

Median, 2008–2023185.4 bu/ac16 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Recent level, 2019–2023196.2 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2011: 145.3 bu/ac78% of median
Trend, 2008–2023+2.6 bu/ac a year±1.6 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

2000200520102015202020251.600.781.00: 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$3.48
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.47claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.48$60.0 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium5 of 26
Worst year2000ratio 1.60
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 44% · hail 27% · wind 8%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

200020052010201520202025415

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, 2000–2025264 of 1,357 weeks20% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks202341 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202591 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202663.2 °F1991–2020 normal 62.3 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.24 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September20.0 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 102% 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, 202261%
Drained by tile, 2022none reported
Farmed no-till, 202261% of cropland49,360 ac
Cover crops, 202212% of cropland10,009 ac
198619911996200120062011201620211,30611,1752,928

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

CRP enrolled, 20252,928 ac4.2% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028455 ac16% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$101/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Irrigation wells in use (Nebraska register)935
Median well depth321 ft
Cattle and calves, 202239,680−43.0% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202239%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Greeley County$145$267$4,034185.4$3.48
Boone County$204$295$6,452—$2.79
Howard County$132$245$4,372183.6$4.73
Nance County$204$271$4,829178.1$8.25
Sherman County$134$299$3,905177.1$4.30
Valley County$132$302$3,037182.3$4.58
Wheeler County$88$262$2,116—$5.31
Median next door$133$283$4,139180.2$4.66

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. Greeley 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/greeley-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.