Farmland Atlas · county record

Faulk County, South Dakota

Faulk County, SD: non-irrigated cash rent $112 an acre (2026); land and buildings $3,320 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 126.2 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 46049. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Faulk County averages $112 per acre in 2026, up 14.9 percent from 2016. The census value of land and buildings stood at $3,320 per acre in 2022, after a 30.3 percent rise from 2017 to 2022, 5.4 percent a year. Heat and drought caused 42 percent of indemnities paid from 1989-2025, with the share at 6 percent in 1989-1999, 75 percent in 2000-2009, 37 percent in 2010-2019, and 35 percent in 2020-2025. No solar or wind capacity operates or is proposed in this county.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$112/ac
2026 county average
SD median $112 · tied for 31st lowest of 63
Land and buildings
$3,320/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
SD median $3,173 · 33rd highest of 66
Rent as % of land value
2.92%
$97 dry rent ÷ $3,320 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2008–2022 median
126.2 bu/ac
14 published years
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$10.39
2016–2025, closed crop years
SD median $11.31 · 26th lowest of 65
Farmland rented
52%
2022 census, rented from others
SD median 46% · 14th highest of 66

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$100$1202010201520202025$50$112 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$112/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+14.9%nominal, $98 to $112
Pasture, 2026$47/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$3,320/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,945/ac
Census 2017$2,547/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+30.3%+5.4% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20222.92%$97 ÷ $3,320; cropland 64% of land in farms

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022153.0158.8134.2median 126.2

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

Median, 2008–2022126.2 bu/ac14 published years
Lowest published year2021: 92.6 bu/ac73% of median
Trend, 2008–2022−0.9 bu/ac a year±2.8 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

19952000200520102015202020251.953.450.081.00: 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$10.39
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.71claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.68$258.0 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium11 of 31
Worst year2006ratio 3.45
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 42% · excess moisture 40% · freeze 7%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250319

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, 2000–2025114 of 1,357 weeks8% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks202131 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202540 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202660.4 °F1991–2020 normal 59.1 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.35 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September16.1 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 105% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.9 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, 2022under 1% of cropland1,090 ac
Farmed no-till, 202278% of cropland315,593 ac
Cover crops, 20222% of cropland8,498 ac
19861991199620012006201120162021027,17511,024

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

CRP enrolled, 202511,024 ac2.8% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20281,863 ac17% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$82/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Cattle and calves, 202251,884+4.1% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202252%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Faulk County$112—$3,320—$10.39
Brown County$166$200$4,295154.7$11.29
Edmunds County$112—$3,025—$12.47
Hand County$108—$2,875135.0$7.74
Hyde County$92—$2,117—$10.12
Potter County$111—$2,861121.3$10.24
Spink County$139$179 2025$4,245155.8$7.29
Median next door$112$200 1 co.$2,950144.9$10.18

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. Faulk 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/faulk-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.