Farmland Atlas · county record

Defiance County, Ohio

Defiance County, OH: non-irrigated cash rent $177 an acre (2026); land and buildings $7,824 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 162.4 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 39039. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Defiance County runs $177 per acre in 2026, up 18.8 percent from 2014. Land and buildings carry a market value of $7,824 per acre, with a 36.4 percent gain from 2017 to 2022, 6.4 percent a year, and rent sits at 2.11 percent of that value. Irrigation covers 1 percent of harvested cropland, all from groundwater.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$177/ac
2026 county average
OH median $168 · 34th highest of 76
Land and buildings
$7,824/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
OH median $7,956 · 37th lowest of 87
Rent as % of land value
2.11%
$165 dry rent ÷ $7,824 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
162.4 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 179.9
OH median 169.9 · 23rd lowest of 69
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$6.41
2016–2025, closed crop years
OH median $4.69 · 20th highest of 83
Farmland rented
51%
2022 census, rented from others
OH median 37% · 23rd highest of 87

Cash rent

$0$50$100$1502010201520202025$99$177 dry

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$177/ac
Change 2014 to 2026+18.8%nominal, $149 to $177
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.98$177 ÷ 179.9 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$7,824/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$4,483/ac
Census 2017$5,736/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+36.4%+6.4% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20222.11%$165 ÷ $7,824; cropland 90% of land in farms

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024129.0190.2182.6median 162.4

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

Median, 2008–2025162.4 bu/ac18 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025179.9 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2012: 80.2 bu/ac49% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+2.9 bu/ac a year±2.3 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

200320082013201820230.464.620.441.00: 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$6.41
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.64claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.84$105.1 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium5 of 23
Worst year2019ratio 4.62
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 44% · heat and drought 30% · area plans 12%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020251115

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, 2000–202547 of 1,357 weeks4% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks202515 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202525 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202664.0 °F1991–2020 normal 62.4 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.31 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September22.0 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 98% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.4 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20221%
Drained by tile, 202246% of cropland85,604 ac
Farmed no-till, 202259% of cropland109,054 ac
Cover crops, 20229% of cropland16,474 ac
198619911996200120062011201620214017,9187,605

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

CRP enrolled, 20257,605 ac4.3% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20281,796 ac24% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$194/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Irrigation wells on record97Ohio DNR water well logs
Median well depth95 ft
Cattle and calves, 20228,125−14.5% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202251%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Defiance County$177$7,824162.4$6.41
Allen County, IN$219$7,803178.8$2.81
DeKalb County, IN$146$8,646162.1$4.21
Henry County$200 2025$7,859179.2$3.79
Paulding County$189$8,607165.0$4.50
Putnam County—$8,403173.8$2.90
Williams County$206$7,565167.3$5.61
Median next door$198$8,131170.6$4.00

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. Defiance County, Ohio. 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/ohio/defiance-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.