County farm facts

Red Willow County, Nebraska

Red Willow County, NE: non-irrigated cash rent $67 an acre (2026); land and buildings $2,366 an acre in the 2022 census. Bids, weather, crops, land and programs for one county. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 31145. Figures as of Oct 19, 2026; the rows marked with a date load the newest reading when the page opens.

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As of Oct 16, Red Willow County cash rent is $67 an acre for 2026, up 20.9% from $55 in 2016, and that sits 20th lowest of 80 against a state median of $141. Irrigated rent is $214 an acre in 2026. The census value of land and buildings was $2,366 an acre in 2022, up 21.5% from $1,947 in 2017, which ranks 30th lowest of 93. Corn made 153.0 bu in 2025, above the 141.8 bu median since 2008.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$67/ac
2026 county average
NE median $141 · 20th lowest of 80
Cash rent, irrigated
$214/ac
2026 county average
NE median $272 · 20th lowest of 78
Land and buildings
$2,366/ac
2022: operators' own estimate of what land and buildings were worth · NE farm real estate 2026: $4,400 (land and buildings, state survey)
NE median $4,499 · 30th lowest of 93
Corn yield, 2021-25 average
147.9 bu/ac
high and low dropped · 2025 county yield 153.0 · irrigated and dryland combined · rent-per-bushel trend withheld: fewer than 6 dryland county yields in the last 15 years, and the all-practice yield is not a substitute: county yield mixes irrigated and dryland acres
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$13.43
2016–2025, closed crop years
NE median $4.74 · 6th highest of 90
Farmland rented
57%
2022 census, rented from others
NE median 49% · 23rd highest of 93
Open on the map Compare Nebraska cash rent by county

Grain and prices within 50 miles

Corn bid
Soybean bid
Corn basis
Soybean basis
Corn futures
Soybean futures
Lean hog futures
Hay, Nebraska price received

Bids are posted elevator prices within 50 miles of the county middle, or of your own field or saved place in this county when this device has one (each row says which), best and nearest, never a buyer's name. Not a contract; call before you haul. Livestock lines show where the 2022 Census counts 1,000 head or more: milk for milk cows, feeder cattle for beef cows, live cattle for cattle on feed, hogs for hogs, hay for all cattle.

Nebraska cash bids by town · Bids from your own ZIP or farm, in Fast Facts

Cash bids by town near the middle of Red Willow County: Danbury (10 mi), Cambridge (18 mi), Culbertson (20 mi).

Nearby buyers within 50 miles: 2 ethanol plants
Loading the list.

Straight-line miles from the middle of Red Willow County to each buyer’s town point (the middle of its town, not the gate), rounded. Capacity as published. Where the buyers are, not what they pay. Lists from Renewable Fuels Association, EIA, read Oct 28, 2026.

Weather and the season

Rain since Jan 1
Drought this week
Hail, last 30 days

Rain so far this year in Red Willow County, Nebraska

Drought, year by year

200020052010201520202025205312

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, 2000–2025399 of 1,357 weeks29% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201353 weeks
Last five full years, 2021–202597 weeks
2026 so far25 weekshalf the county or more in D2, 40 weekly maps
July average of daily lows, 2017–202663.7 °F1991–2020 normal 62.8 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.31 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September, usual16.8 in1991–2020 county normal, NOAA; the 2017–2026 seasons averaged 15.7 in
Days with hail 1 inch or larger2.7 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail
Last spring freeze, first fall freezeApr 27, Oct 14middle dates 1996–2025, NOAA county-average daily low of 32 °F or colder
Frost-free days168middle of 1996–2025
Corn growing degree days, May to September3,011middle of 1996–2025; 2016–2025 averaged 3,051

Crops

Corn harvested
Soybeans harvested

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024158.9153.0median 141.8

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

Trend for rent per bushelFewer than 6 dryland county yields in the last 15 years, and the all-practice yield is not a substitute: county yield mixes irrigated and dryland acres
2025 county yield153.0 bu/acall practices
2021-25 average147.9 bu/ac4 published years, high and low dropped
Median, 2008–2025141.8 bu/ac15 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Lowest published year2013: 77.0 bu/ac54% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+1.1 bu/ac a year±2.3 (95% interval)

Land rent, value, sales

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$2502010201520202025$43$67 dry$136$214 irrigated

Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey.

Every published Nebraska county rate, side by side: Nebraska cash rent by county.

Non-irrigated, 2026$67/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+20.9%nominal, $55 to $67
Irrigated, 2026$214/ac
Pasture, 2026$21/ac
Rent as a share of corn gross, 201613.9%$55 non-irrigated rent 2016 ÷ (119.3 bu, 2016 county yield, dryland × $3.32 Nebraska price received)

Share of gross is a past year, all observed: that year's rent, that year's county corn yield of the same practice and the state price received, USDA NASS. Rent per bushel is withheld here: it needs the county trend, and the trend is withheld (see the corn yield section). The calculator below takes your own yield and price.

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$2,366/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,594/ac
Census 2017$1,947/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+21.5%+4.0% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census valueAbout 31% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything
Nebraska cropland, 2026 state survey$6,960/ac+2.4% from 2025 · USDA NASS Land Values, state average
Nebraska farm real estate, 2026$4,400/acland and buildings, state average
Nebraska pasture, 2026$1,590/acstate average

The census value is this county's, from 2022. The survey figures are the Nebraska average for 2026, from the USDA NASS Land Values report. NASS publishes that survey by state, not by county, so this page does not scale one into the other.

Newer local survey: Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Survey, 2026 final, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, released Jun 30, 2026: land values and cash rents by district and land class. Their numbers, on their page; this page does not copy them.

Programs and risk

ARC or PLC sign-up

Benchmarks, payments and the choice for each crop: ARC or PLC in Red Willow County.

Insuring pasture or hay? PRF rainfall insurance for pasture and hay in Red Willow County: its grids, county values and record are on the county PRF page.

Crop insurance record

1996200120062011201620210.514.060.811.00: claims equal premium

Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 1996 with at least $1,000,000 of premium; a year under that has no bar and no ratio. 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$13.43
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.92claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.18$242.5 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium11 of 30crop years 1996–2025 with a loss ratio
Worst year2002ratio 4.06, of the 30 crop years with at least $1,000,000 of premium
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 68% · hail 11% · irrigation failure 8%share of dollars paid

Conservation Reserve Program

198619911996200120062011201620215118,632

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

CRP enrolled, 202518,632 ac11.4% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2027–2029646 ac3% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$56/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

What farms here look like

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202231%
Farmed no-till, 202264% of cropland135,926 ac
Cover crops, 20221% of cropland1,476 ac
Irrigation wells in use (Nebraska register)1,033
Median well depth85 ft
Cattle and calves, 202253,015−18.6% since 2017
Hogs and pigs, 202227,812head, Census of Agriculture
Farmland rented from others, 202257%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

USDA Census of Agriculture 2022, except wells (state well register) and power (EIA Form 860).

Watch this county

Get an email when the published figures for Red Willow County, Nebraska change. Usually once or twice a year. You confirm by email first, and every email has a one-tap stop. AGSIST, PO Box 243, Chetek, WI 54728.

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yield, medianClaims per $100
Red Willow County$67$214$2,366141.8$13.43
Decatur County, KS$53n/a$1,805n/a$20.86
Rawlins County, KS$67$160 2025$1,81096.1$20.06
Frontier County$68$211$2,370136.0$9.24
Furnas County$88$235$2,895136.1$12.94
Hitchcock County$60$198$2,181n/a$18.62
Median next door$67$211$2,181136.0$18.62

Counties that share a stretch of boundary. A rent from an older survey year carries its year and stays out of the median; one more than three survey years old shows n/a. The corn median here needs 15 published years, so a county with fewer shows n/a even where its own page gives a median.

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Cite this page

AGSIST Farmland Atlas. Red Willow County, Nebraska. Figures as of Oct 19, 2026, from USDA NASS, USDA RMA, USDA FSA, the U.S. Drought Monitor and NOAA. https://agsist.com/farmland-atlas/nebraska/red-willow-county
Every figure is a county average from the sources named below. Rent ranks count every county with a published rent in the same survey year, within the state (the same counties as the state rent page); other ranks count counties with 10,000 acres or more in farms. 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.

This product uses the NASS API but is not endorsed or certified by NASS. Averages, trends, ranks and estimates are calculations by AGSIST.

Rent: USDA NASS Cash Rents Survey, county. Land value: Census of Agriculture, operators' estimate of land and buildings. Yield: NASS county corn yields. The headline trend, the one rent per bushel uses, is fitted here over the published years in the 15 years ending this year; the yearly trend card uses 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. Claims paid per $100 of coverage: claims divided by liability (the insured value), times 100, same source. 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 missing figure is named with its reason (in a table it reads n/a).