Farmland Atlas · county record

Hand County, South Dakota

Hand County, SD: non-irrigated cash rent $108 an acre (2026); land and buildings $2,875 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 135.0 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 46059. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Hand County sits at $108 per acre in 2026, unchanged from 2016. Land value rose 39.8 percent from 2017 to 2022, 6.9 percent a year, putting cash rent at 3.62 percent of land value. Drought has covered at least 50 percent of the county in severe conditions or worse for 96 of 1357 weeks from 2000-2025, with 2004 the worst year at 19 weeks; excess moisture and flood, not heat, drive the largest share of indemnities at 44 percent. Wind operates at 225 MW; solar operating and proposed capacity are both 0 MW.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$108/ac
2026 county average
SD median $112 · 28th lowest of 63
Land and buildings
$2,875/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
SD median $3,173 · 32nd lowest of 66
Rent as % of land value
3.62%
$104 dry rent ÷ $2,875 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2008–2024 median
135.0 bu/ac
recent level 2020–2024: 144.5
SD median 151.5 · 11th lowest of 33
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$7.74
2016–2025, closed crop years
SD median $11.31 · 16th lowest of 65
Farmland rented
51%
2022 census, rented from others
SD median 46% · 19th highest of 66

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$100$1202010201520202025$41$108 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$108/ac
Change 2016 to 20260.0%nominal, $108 to $108
Pasture, 2026$46/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.75$108 ÷ 144.5 bu, county yield 2020–2024

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$2,875/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,908/ac
Census 2017$2,056/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+39.8%+6.9% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20223.62%$104 ÷ $2,875; cropland 65% of land in farms

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024117.0159.8150.3median 135.0

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

Median, 2008–2024135.0 bu/ac17 published years
Recent level, 2020–2024144.5 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2012: 95.7 bu/ac71% of median
Trend, 2008–2024+1.9 bu/ac a year±1.6 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

199019952000200520102015202020250.373.460.031.00: 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$7.74
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.45claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.52$275.7 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium7 of 32
Worst year2002ratio 3.46
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 44% · heat and drought 35% · hail 8%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250190

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, 2000–202596 of 1,357 weeks7% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200419 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202518 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202660.9 °F1991–2020 normal 60.0 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.20 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September17.4 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 102% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger2.9 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, 20221% of cropland4,130 ac
Farmed no-till, 202261% of cropland363,248 ac
Cover crops, 20221% of cropland3,508 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202111040,679

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

CRP enrolled, 202540,679 ac6.9% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20284,373 ac11% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$64/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 20250 MW solar · 225 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202291,822−9.9% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202251%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Hand County$108—$2,875135.0$7.74
Beadle County$140$220$3,820137.7$10.40
Buffalo County$75 2025—$1,941—$12.20
Faulk County$112—$3,320—$10.39
Hyde County$92—$2,117—$10.12
Jerauld County$105—$2,678127.6$11.64
Spink County$139$179 2025$4,245155.8$7.29
Median next door$112$220 1 co.$2,999137.7$10.40

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. Hand 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/hand-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.