Farmland Atlas · county record

Thurston County, Nebraska

Thurston County, NE: non-irrigated cash rent $269 an acre (2026); land and buildings $7,255 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 177.7 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 31173. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent here runs $269 per acre in 2026, up 11.2 percent from 2016. Irrigated rent sits well above that at $345 per acre in 2025, though only 11 percent of harvested cropland carries irrigation, and 94 percent of that water comes from groundwater.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$269/ac
2026 county average
NE median $141 · tied for 2nd highest of 80
Cash rent, irrigated
$345/ac
2025 county average
too few 2025 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$7,255/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NE median $4,499 · 17th highest of 93
Corn yield, 2008–2022 median
177.7 bu/ac
12 published years · irrigated and dryland combined
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$7.95
2016–2025, closed crop years
NE median $4.74 · 21st highest of 90
Farmland rented
62%
2022 census, rented from others
NE median 49% · 9th highest of 93

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$250$300$3502010201520202025$141$269 dry$204$345 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$269/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+11.2%nominal, $242 to $269
Irrigated, 2025$345/ac
Pasture, 2026$61/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$7,255/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$5,049/ac
Census 2017$4,827/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+50.3%+8.5% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 11% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022163.0184.9174.1170.181.1185.5181.3191.1195.5168.8205.9121.4median 177.7

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

Median, 2008–2022177.7 bu/ac12 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Lowest published year2012: 81.1 bu/ac46% of median
Trend, 2008–2022+0.6 bu/ac a year±5.0 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

1996200120062011201620210.045.940.051.00: 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$7.95
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.09claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.92$140.0 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium4 of 30
Worst year2012ratio 5.94
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 82% · price decline (revenue policies) 6% · excess moisture 4%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202532510

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, 2000–2025195 of 1,357 weeks14% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks202351 weeks
Last five years, 2021–2025100 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202664.0 °F1991–2020 normal 63.3 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.10 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September22.0 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 92% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.0 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202211%
Drained by tile, 20224% of cropland5,731 ac
Farmed no-till, 202274% of cropland105,092 ac
Cover crops, 20224% of cropland5,221 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202179229,3905,966

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

CRP enrolled, 20255,966 ac4.2% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20281,650 ac28% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$244/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Irrigation wells in use (Nebraska register)156
Median well depth116 ft
Cattle and calves, 202237,338−9.6% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202262%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Thurston County$269$345 2025$7,255—$7.95
Monona County, IA$272$296$8,044176.8$4.33
Woodbury County, IA$288$248$8,352195.6$5.35
Burt County$252$276$7,150184.2$3.68
Cuming County$289$344$7,508193.2$5.73
Dakota County$264$322$7,081—$6.67
Dixon County$256$343$5,376—$3.83
Wayne County$269$331$7,558186.6$6.58
Median next door$269$322$7,508186.6$5.35

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. Thurston 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/thurston-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.