Farmland Atlas · county record

Madison County, Nebraska

Madison County, NE: non-irrigated cash rent $214 an acre (2026); land and buildings $7,527 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 182.3 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 31119. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Madison County runs $214 per acre in 2026, up 9.7 percent from 2016. Irrigated land rents at $292 per acre, and the irrigated multiple sits at 1.36 in 2026 against 1.34 in 2008, with no clear direction over that span. Irrigation matters here: 46 percent of harvested cropland is irrigated, drawing 100 percent of its water from groundwater, and the county holds 4,253 registered wells at a median depth of 223 feet. Heat and drought has taken a growing share of crop insurance indemnities across 1989-1999, 2000-2009, 2010-2019, and 2020-2025, moving from 29 percent to 40 percent to 58 percent to 70 percent. The county spent 122 weeks in severe drought or worse during 2021-2025, against 212 weeks total across 2000-2025.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$214/ac
2026 county average
NE median $141 · 19th highest of 80
Cash rent, irrigated
$292/ac
2026 county average
NE median $272 · 27th highest of 78
Land and buildings
$7,527/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NE median $4,499 · 10th highest of 93
Corn yield, 2008–2023 median
182.3 bu/ac
recent level 2019–2023: 188.2 · irrigated and dryland combined
NE median 179.3 · tied for 29th highest of 67
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$4.71
2016–2025, closed crop years
NE median $4.74 · 44th lowest of 90
Farmland rented
55%
2022 census, rented from others
NE median 49% · 26th highest of 93

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$250$300$3502010201520202025$119$214 dry$160$292 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$214/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+9.7%nominal, $195 to $214
Irrigated, 2026$292/ac
Pasture, 2026$57/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$7,527/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$4,817/ac
Census 2017$5,819/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+29.4%+5.3% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 46% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022150.0199.7175.0median 182.3

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

Median, 2008–2023182.3 bu/ac16 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Recent level, 2019–2023188.2 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2012: 112.6 bu/ac62% of median
Trend, 2008–2023+2.1 bu/ac a year±2.5 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

1996200120062011201620210.064.860.311.00: 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$4.71
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.65claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.73$147.3 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium6 of 29
Worst year2012ratio 4.86
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 59% · hail 14% · excess moisture 10%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

200020052010201520202025354422

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, 2000–2025212 of 1,357 weeks16% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks202244 weeks
Last five years, 2021–2025122 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202664.1 °F1991–2020 normal 63.1 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.20 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September20.5 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 93% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger2.4 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202246%
Drained by tile, 20223% of cropland6,639 ac
Farmed no-till, 202267% of cropland179,461 ac
Cover crops, 20224% of cropland11,062 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202137015,7606,277

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

CRP enrolled, 20256,277 ac2.5% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20283,339 ac53% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$206/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Irrigation wells in use (Nebraska register)1,230
Median well depth223 ft
Solar and wind operating, 202510.5 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202282,112+15.7% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202255%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Madison County$214$292$7,527182.3$4.71
Antelope County$173$320$5,999—$2.99
Boone County$204$295$6,452—$2.79
Pierce County$197$291$7,080179.3$4.59
Platte County$258$316$7,054195.4$3.28
Stanton County$252$312$7,551180.6$6.71
Median next door$204$312$7,054180.6$3.28

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. Madison 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/madison-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.