Merrick County, Nebraska
Merrick County, NE: non-irrigated cash rent $121 an acre (2022); land and buildings $5,476 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 185.2 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 31121. Figures as of 2026-09-20.
Merrick County irrigates 82 percent of its harvested cropland, and all of that water comes from groundwater. There are 8087 registered wells, 5495 of them irrigation wells still active, with a median depth of 48 feet and a median static water level of 10 feet. Irrigated cash rent for 2026 is $272 per acre, against a non-irrigated cash rent of $121 per acre in 2022. Excess moisture and flood remains the largest indemnity cause overall, at 39 percent.
too few 2022 county surveys in the state to compare
NE median $272 · 39th highest of 78
NE median $4,499 · 37th highest of 93
NE median $4.74 · 22nd lowest of 90
NE median 49% · 25th highest of 93
Cash rent
Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey; nothing is drawn across it.
Land value
Corn yield
Bushels per acre, USDA NASS county yields, all practices. The dashed line is the median of the published years.
Crop insurance record
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.
Drought and weather
Weeks per year, U.S. Drought Monitor, with half the county or more in D2 (severe) drought or worse.
Land, water and programs
Acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, USDA FSA, by fiscal year.
Next door
| County | Dry rent | Irr. rent | Land value | Corn yield | Claims per $100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merrick County | — | $272 | $5,476 | — | $3.60 |
| Hall County | $130 2025 | $279 | $5,923 | 199.8 | $3.74 |
| Hamilton County | $174 | $304 | $8,963 | 212.9 | $2.33 |
| Howard County | $132 | $245 | $4,372 | 183.6 | $4.73 |
| Nance County | $204 | $271 | $4,829 | 178.1 | $8.25 |
| Platte County | $258 | $316 | $7,054 | 195.4 | $3.28 |
| Polk County | $187 | $324 | $7,708 | 190.3 | $2.86 |
| Median next door | $187 | $292 | $6,489 | 192.9 | $3.51 |
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. Merrick 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/merrick-countyEvery 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.