Farmland Atlas · county record

Quay County, New Mexico

Quay County, NM: non-irrigated cash rent $11 an acre (2026); land and buildings $783 an acre in the 2022 census; crop insurance loss ratio 1.39 since 1989. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 35037. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Cash rent, non-irrigated
$11/ac
2026 county average
NM median $19 · lowest of 3
Cash rent, irrigated
$62/ac
2026 county average
NM median $175 · lowest of 9
Land and buildings
$783/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NM median $784 · 15th lowest of 30
Corn yield, median
—
fewer than 8 published county corn yields
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$50.68
2016–2025, closed crop years
NM median $14.53 · highest of 12
Farmland rented
24%
2022 census, rented from others
NM median 26% · 10th lowest of 30

Cash rent

$0$50$100$1502010201520202025$11$11 dry$67$62 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$11/ac
Change 2014 to 2026−24.1%nominal, $15 to $11
Irrigated, 2026$62/ac
Pasture, 2026$5/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$783/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$335/ac
Census 2017$352/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+122.4%+17.3% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 11% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield

County corn yield— fewer than 8 published county corn yields

Crop insurance record

200320082013201820232.420.531.00: 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$50.68
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.41claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.39$108.9 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium15 of 23
Worst year2003ratio 2.42
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 50% · irrigation failure 33% · wind 4%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020255530

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, 2000–2025366 of 1,357 weeks27% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201353 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202586 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202665.3 °F1991–2020 normal 64.3 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.58 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September11.7 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 98% 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, 2022— NASS published no harvested cropland for this county
Farmed no-till, 20226% of cropland10,928 ac
Cover crops, 20222% of cropland4,700 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202115,544235,180

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

CRP enrolled, 2025235,180 ac
CRP expiring FY2026–20287,335 ac3% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$19/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 202525 MW solar · 356.4 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202241,764+2.9% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202224%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Quay County$11$62$783—$50.68
Curry County$28$81$763—$32.45
De Baca County—$194$385——
Guadalupe County—$122 2023$379——
Harding County——$447——
Roosevelt County$19$122$1,039—$50.33
San Miguel County——$836——
Union County——$852—$19.03
Deaf Smith County, TX$32$101$1,838173.2$24.10
Hartley County, TX$49$205$1,824—$17.73
Oldham County, TX$21—$1,053—$44.08
Median next door$28$122$844173.2 1 co.$28.28

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. Quay County, New Mexico. 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/new-mexico/quay-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.