Farmland Atlas · county record

Dewey County, South Dakota

Dewey County, SD: non-irrigated cash rent $47 an acre (2026); land and buildings $1,109 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 82.8 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 46041. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Cash rent, non-irrigated
$47/ac
2026 county average
SD median $112 · 13th lowest of 63
Land and buildings
$1,109/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
SD median $3,173 · 4th lowest of 66
Rent as % of land value
—
not shown: cropland is 17% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland
Corn yield, 2008–2024 median
82.8 bu/ac
8 published years
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$17.10
2016–2025, closed crop years
SD median $11.31 · 13th highest of 65
Farmland rented
46%
2022 census, rented from others
SD median 46% · 32nd lowest of 66

Cash rent

$0$10$20$30$40$502010201520202025$22$47 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$47/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+34.3%nominal, $35 to $47
Pasture, 2026$12/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$1,109/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$573/ac
Census 2017$970/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+14.3%+2.7% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 17% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022202478.091.081.277.546.991.284.4102.1median 82.8

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

Median, 2008–202482.8 bu/ac8 published years
Lowest published year2012: 46.9 bu/ac57% of median

Crop insurance record

200320082013201820231.873.960.201.00: 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$17.10
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.84claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.78$80.7 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium6 of 23
Worst year2006ratio 3.96
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 57% · hail 15% · excess moisture 13%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250458

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, 2000–2025246 of 1,357 weeks18% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200345 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202562 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202660.7 °F1991–2020 normal 59.6 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.20 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September14.3 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 108% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger3.2 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 2022— NASS suppressed the irrigated acres to protect individual farms
Drained by tile, 2022none reported
Farmed no-till, 202230% of cropland59,602 ac
Cover crops, 2022under 1% of cropland602 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202156983,319

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

CRP enrolled, 202583,319 ac34.5% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028330 ac0% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$14/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Cattle and calves, 202271,834+11.6% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202246%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Dewey County$47$1,109—$17.10
Corson County$51$1,33886.0$13.21
Potter County$111$2,861121.3$10.24
Stanley County$49$1,135—$19.48
Sully County$97$2,501123.9$11.12
Walworth County$105$2,513—$7.13
Ziebach County$46 2025$1,145—$20.01
Median next door$97$1,920121.3$12.17

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. Dewey County, South Dakota. 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/south-dakota/dewey-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.