Farmland Atlas · county record

Mellette County, South Dakota

Mellette County, SD: non-irrigated cash rent $50 an acre (2026); land and buildings $1,213 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 70.6 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 46095. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Median corn yield 2008-2024 is 70.6 bushels per acre, with the worst year, 2012, at 40. Solar and wind capacity are both 0 MW, operating and proposed.

Cash rent, non-irrigated

$50/ac

2026 county average
SD median $112 · 15th lowest of 63

Land and buildings

$1,213/ac

2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
SD median $3,173 · 10th lowest of 66

Rent as % of land value

—

not shown: cropland is 14% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield, 2008–2024 median

70.6 bu/ac

9 published years

Claims paid per $100 of coverage

$23.43

2016–2025, closed crop years
SD median $11.31 · 3rd highest of 65

Farmland rented

44%

2022 census, rented from others
SD median 46% · 24th lowest of 66

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.

Non-irrigated, 2026$50/ac

Change 2014 to 2026+76.8%nominal, $28 to $50

Pasture, 2026$21/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$1,213/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price

Census 2012$715/ac

Census 2017$965/ac

Change 2017 to 2022+25.7%+4.7% a year, nominal

Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 14% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield

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

Median, 2008–202470.6 bu/ac9 published years

Lowest published year2012: 40.0 bu/ac57% of median

Crop insurance record

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$23.43

Loss ratio, 2016–20251.08claims ÷ total premium

Loss ratio, 1989–20250.89$41.3 million paid

Years claims exceeded premium5 of 19

Worst year2021ratio 2.95

Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 63% · freeze 12% · excess moisture 9%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

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, 2000–2025233 of 1,357 weeks17% of weeks

Year with the most D2+ weeks200337 weeks

Last five years, 2021–202548 weeks

July average of daily lows, 2017–202662.2 °F1991–2020 normal 61.1 °F

Trend in July lows since 1976+0.29 °F a decadeno clear direction

Rain, April to September15.8 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 99% of it

Days with hail 1 inch or larger2.1 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20220%

Farmed no-till, 202223% of cropland27,385 ac

Cover crops, 20221% of cropland1,609 ac

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

CRP enrolled, 202510,146 ac9.7% of harvested cropland + CRP

CRP expiring FY2026–202848 ac1% of enrolled acres

CRP average rental payment, FY2025$14/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

Cattle and calves, 202264,598+1.2% since 2017

Farmland rented from others, 202244%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

County	Dry rent	Land value	Corn yield	Claims per $100
Mellette County	$50	$1,213	—	$23.43
Jackson County	$40	$1,148	—	$23.17
Jones County	$36	$1,596	—	$14.61
Lyman County	$102	$1,967	105.0	$11.86
Todd County	$45	$1,168	—	$12.49
Tripp County	$71	$2,124	106.7	$14.28
Median next door	$45	$1,596	105.9 2 co.	$14.28

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. Mellette 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/mellette-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.

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