Farmland Atlas · county record

Sheridan County, Nebraska

Sheridan County, NE: non-irrigated cash rent $36 an acre (2026); land and buildings $1,394 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 151.4 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 31161. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Sheridan County is $36 per acre in 2026, up 38.5 percent from 2016. Irrigated rent is $162 per acre, and 28 percent of harvested cropland is irrigated, drawing 94 percent of its water from groundwater. Corn yield has trended down 0.2 bushels per acre a year on published years 2008-2025, with a median of 151.4 bushels per acre and a worst year of 124.7 in 2024. Heat and drought's share of indemnities was 1 percent in 1989-1999, 24 percent in 2000-2009, 16 percent in 2010-2019, and 46 percent in 2020-2025. Census land value was $1,394 per acre in 2022, up 43.7 percent from 2017.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$36/ac
2026 county average
NE median $141 · 5th lowest of 80
Cash rent, irrigated
$162/ac
2026 county average
NE median $272 · 3rd lowest of 78
Land and buildings
$1,394/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NE median $4,499 · 12th lowest of 93
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
151.4 bu/ac
15 published years · irrigated and dryland combined
NE median 179.3 · 8th lowest of 67
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$8.72
2016–2025, closed crop years
NE median $4.74 · 17th highest of 90
Farmland rented
32%
2022 census, rented from others
NE median 49% · 10th lowest of 93

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$2002010201520202025$24$36 dry$115$162 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$36/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+38.5%nominal, $26 to $36
Irrigated, 2026$162/ac
Pasture, 2026$16/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$1,394/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$693/ac
Census 2017$970/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+43.7%+7.5% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 28% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024154.0169.3median 151.4

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

Median, 2008–2025151.4 bu/ac15 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Lowest published year2024: 124.7 bu/ac82% of median
Trend, 2008–2025−0.2 bu/ac a year±1.3 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

1996200120062011201620210.952.430.671.00: 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$8.72
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.65claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.79$86.8 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium5 of 29
Worst year2006ratio 2.43
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025hail 45% · heat and drought 25% · freeze 15%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202505220

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, 2000–2025309 of 1,357 weeks23% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200452 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202546 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202659.2 °F1991–2020 normal 58.2 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.35 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September14.6 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 97% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger6.7 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202228%
Drained by tile, 2022none reported
Farmed no-till, 202210% of cropland30,145 ac
Cover crops, 20224% of cropland11,020 ac
198619911996200120062011201620211,285193,007

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

CRP enrolled, 2025193,007 ac51.5% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028309 ac0% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$12/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Irrigation wells in use (Nebraska register)700
Median well depth240 ft
Cattle and calves, 2022105,776−12.7% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202232%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Sheridan County$36$162$1,394151.4$8.72
Box Butte County$38$203$2,034150.7$8.52
Cherry County—$176$1,224—$5.98
Dawes County$35$170$1,397—$20.30
Garden County$44$189$1,256—$11.79
Grant County——$1,129——
Morrill County$40 2025$178$1,682165.1$5.82
Oglala Lakota County, SD$34 2024—$871—$27.55
Median next door$38$178$1,256157.9 2 co.$10.16

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. Sheridan 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/sheridan-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.