Farmland Atlas · county record

Perkins County, Nebraska

Perkins County, NE: non-irrigated cash rent $54 an acre (2026); land and buildings $2,196 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 137.2 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 31135. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Irrigated land rents for $212 per acre in 2026, non-irrigated for $54 per acre. Irrigation covers 42 percent of harvested cropland, and groundwater supplies 100 percent of it, drawn from 953 active wells with a median static water level of 155 feet. Land value sits at $2,196 per acre, up 2.6 percent from 2017 to 2022.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$54/ac
2026 county average
NE median $141 · 14th lowest of 80
Cash rent, irrigated
$212/ac
2026 county average
NE median $272 · 19th lowest of 78
Land and buildings
$2,196/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NE median $4,499 · tied for 27th lowest of 93
Corn yield, 2008–2021 median
137.2 bu/ac
14 published years · irrigated and dryland combined
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$10.73
2016–2025, closed crop years
NE median $4.74 · 13th highest of 90
Farmland rented
53%
2022 census, rented from others
NE median 49% · 34th highest of 93

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$2002010201520202025$34$54 dry$134$212 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$54/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+10.2%nominal, $49 to $54
Irrigated, 2026$212/ac
Pasture, 2026$26/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$2,196/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$2,271/ac
Census 2017$2,140/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+2.6%+0.5% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 42% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

20082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021148.0150.8136.9median 137.2

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

Median, 2008–2021137.2 bu/ac14 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Lowest published year2012: 112.2 bu/ac82% of median
Trend, 2008–2021−0.1 bu/ac a year±2.1 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

198919941999200420092014201920241.423.820.141.00: 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$10.73
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.99claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.89$283.4 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium12 of 37
Worst year2022ratio 3.82
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 62% · hail 27% · freeze 3%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202517532

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, 2000–2025407 of 1,357 weeks30% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201353 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202577 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202661.4 °F1991–2020 normal 60.9 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.11 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September15.6 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 91% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger3.5 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202242%
Drained by tile, 2022none reported
Farmed no-till, 202255% of cropland244,849 ac
Cover crops, 20222% of cropland7,584 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202118344,34338,993

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

CRP enrolled, 202538,993 ac12.2% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20282,463 ac6% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$32/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Irrigation wells in use (Nebraska register)953
Median well depth415 ft
Cattle and calves, 202235,653−1.0% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202253%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Perkins County$54$212$2,196—$10.73
Phillips County, CO$48$257$2,779138.4$13.16
Sedgwick County, CO$45$178$1,624—$11.16
Chase County$58$258$2,558173.3$7.26
Deuel County$45$172$2,003—$13.96
Hayes County$62$230$2,196147.7$10.80
Keith County$56$218$2,431158.0$6.41
Lincoln County$66$263$2,340172.6$5.07
Median next door$56$230$2,340158.0$10.80

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. Perkins 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/perkins-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.