Farmland Atlas · county record

Lancaster County, Nebraska

Lancaster County, NE: non-irrigated cash rent $190 an acre (2026); land and buildings $6,481 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 156.8 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 31109. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in 2026 runs $190 per acre, up 16.6 percent from 2016. Irrigated rent stands at $274 per acre, a multiple of 1.44 over non-irrigated, down from 1.63 in 2011, with no clear direction over that span. Most cropland here is dryland: only 7 percent of harvested acres carry irrigation, and 86 percent of that water comes from groundwater, drawn from wells with a median static water level of 66 feet at drilling.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$190/ac
2026 county average
NE median $141 · 26th highest of 80
Cash rent, irrigated
$274/ac
2026 county average
NE median $272 · tied for 36th highest of 78
Land and buildings
$6,481/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NE median $4,499 · 26th highest of 93
Corn yield, 2008–2024 median
156.8 bu/ac
recent level 2020–2024: 157.0
NE median 179.3 · 11th lowest of 67
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$5.03
2016–2025, closed crop years
NE median $4.74 · 42nd highest of 90
Farmland rented
47%
2022 census, rented from others
NE median 49% · 40th lowest of 93

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$250$3002010201520202025$104$190 dry$189$274 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$190/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+16.6%nominal, $163 to $190
Irrigated, 2026$274/ac
Pasture, 2026$53/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$1.21$190 ÷ 157.0 bu, county yield 2020–2024

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$6,481/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$4,580/ac
Census 2017$5,598/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+15.8%+3.0% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20222.81%$182 ÷ $6,481; cropland 86% of land in farms

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024140.0181.2164.5median 156.8

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

Median, 2008–2024156.8 bu/ac17 published years
Recent level, 2020–2024157.0 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2012: 81.3 bu/ac52% of median
Trend, 2008–2024+1.2 bu/ac a year±2.6 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

19952000200520102015202020252.473.720.111.00: 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$5.03
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.73claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.65$133.0 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium5 of 31
Worst year2012ratio 3.72
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 73% · price decline (revenue policies) 8% · excess moisture 6%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202542520

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, 2000–2025193 of 1,357 weeks14% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks202352 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202574 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202665.7 °F1991–2020 normal 65.6 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976−0.02 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September23.1 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 94% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger4.4 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20227%
Drained by tile, 202215% of cropland52,057 ac
Farmed no-till, 202274% of cropland262,150 ac
Cover crops, 20223% of cropland11,945 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202140629,9698,245

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

CRP enrolled, 20258,245 ac2.4% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20282,655 ac32% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$155/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Irrigation wells in use (Nebraska register)424
Median well depth175 ft
Solar and wind operating, 20255 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202224,796+13.6% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202247%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Lancaster County$190$274$6,481156.8$5.03
Butler County$226$324$6,462186.4$3.93
Cass County$226$304 2025$6,946176.6$2.54
Gage County$176$278$5,474151.7$3.47
Otoe County$186—$5,550157.9$2.92
Saline County$152$269$5,669163.7$5.01
Saunders County$223$284$7,483182.9$3.22
Seward County$205$311$7,516180.6$4.00
Median next door$205$284$6,462176.6$3.47

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. Lancaster 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/lancaster-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.