Sierra County, New Mexico
Sierra County, NM: irrigated cash rent $173 an acre (2025); land and buildings $406 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 35051. Figures as of 2026-09-20.
Irrigated cropland makes up 73 percent of harvested acres in Sierra County, with 53 percent of irrigation water drawn from groundwater as of 2015. July nightly lows averaged 64.9 F for 2017-2026, up from the 1991-2020 normal of 62.9 F, and the July nightly low trend since 1976 runs 0.86 F per decade, warming. Heat and drought caused 0 percent of crop insurance indemnities in 2010-2019 and 44 percent in 2020-2025. The county spent 455 of 1357 weeks in severe drought or worse from 2000-2025, with 158 of those weeks falling in 2021-2025 alone.
too few 2025 county surveys in the state to compare
NM median $784 · tied for 3rd lowest of 30
NM median 26% · 12th highest of 30
Cash rent
Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey; nothing is drawn across it.
Land value
Corn yield
Crop insurance record
Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 1996. Above the dashed line, the county's insurance book paid out more than it took in. 2026, still open, is left out.
Drought and weather
Weeks per year, U.S. Drought Monitor, with half the county or more in D2 (severe) drought or worse.
Land, water and programs
Acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, USDA FSA, by fiscal year.
Next door
| County | Irr. rent | Land value | Claims per $100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sierra County | $173 2025 | $406 | — |
| Catron County | — | $620 | — |
| Doña Ana County | $296 | $2,316 | $7.01 |
| Grant County | — | $575 | — |
| Lincoln County | — | $915 | — |
| Luna County | $248 | $796 | $20.46 |
| Otero County | — | $754 | $8.11 |
| Socorro County | $181 2024 | $768 | — |
| Median next door | $272 2 co. | $768 | $8.11 |
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. Sierra 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/sierra-countyEvery 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.