Farmland Atlas · county record

Nuckolls County, Nebraska

Nuckolls County, NE: non-irrigated cash rent $148 an acre (2026); land and buildings $5,127 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 166.5 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 31129. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Nuckolls County is $148 per acre in 2026, up 9.6 percent from 2016. Irrigated cash rent is $296 per acre, a premium of $148 per acre over non-irrigated, ratio 2. Land value is $5,127 per acre in 2022, up 42.9 percent from 2017.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$148/ac
2026 county average
NE median $141 · 38th highest of 80
Cash rent, irrigated
$296/ac
2026 county average
NE median $272 · 23rd highest of 78
Land and buildings
$5,127/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NE median $4,499 · 41st highest of 93
Corn yield, 2008–2024 median
166.5 bu/ac
15 published years · irrigated and dryland combined
NE median 179.3 · 20th lowest of 67
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$8.91
2016–2025, closed crop years
NE median $4.74 · 16th highest of 90
Farmland rented
58%
2022 census, rented from others
NE median 49% · 18th highest of 93

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$250$3002010201520202025$68$148 dry$166$296 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$148/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+9.6%nominal, $135 to $148
Irrigated, 2026$296/ac
Pasture, 2026$48/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$5,127/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$3,773/ac
Census 2017$3,588/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+42.9%+7.4% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 32% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024164.0188.2181.2median 166.5

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

Median, 2008–2024166.5 bu/ac15 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Lowest published year2012: 141.0 bu/ac85% of median
Trend, 2008–2024+1.8 bu/ac a year±1.2 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

2000200520102015202020253.697.670.481.00: 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$8.91
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.27claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.89$141.4 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium3 of 26
Worst year2023ratio 7.67
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 78% · hail 6% · price decline (revenue policies) 3%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202523350

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, 2000–2025200 of 1,357 weeks15% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks202335 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202549 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202665.0 °F1991–2020 normal 64.8 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976−0.01 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September20.8 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 96% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger2.2 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202232%
Drained by tile, 20222% of cropland3,463 ac
Farmed no-till, 202276% of cropland167,154 ac
Cover crops, 20222% of cropland3,960 ac
198619911996200120062011201620219213,876

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

CRP enrolled, 202513,876 ac6.3% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028758 ac6% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$43/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Irrigation wells in use (Nebraska register)938
Median well depth168 ft
Solar and wind operating, 20251 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202242,087−4.8% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202258%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Nuckolls County$148$296$5,127166.5$8.91
Jewell County, KS$83—$2,492—$9.65
Republic County, KS$100$237$3,259—$6.51
Clay County$157$320$6,744190.9$2.93
Fillmore County$174$314$7,359192.8$3.20
Thayer County$132$291$6,039183.5$4.42
Webster County$117$270$4,213158.0$7.43
Median next door$125$291$5,126187.2$5.47

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. Nuckolls 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/nuckolls-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.