Farmland Atlas · county record

Potter County, South Dakota

Potter County, SD: non-irrigated cash rent $111 an acre (2026); land and buildings $2,861 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 121.3 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 46107. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Potter County averages $111 per acre for 2026, up 15.6 percent from 2016. The county logged 165 of 1357 weeks in severe drought or worse from 2000-2025, with 2021 the worst year at 33 weeks, and 45 such weeks came in 2021-2025 alone. Corn yield trend runs 1.7 bushels per acre a year over 2008-2025, against a median of 121.3 bushels per acre and a low of 93.3 in 2012. No solar or wind capacity operates or is proposed here.

Cash rent, non-irrigated

$111/ac

2026 county average
SD median $112 · 30th lowest of 63

Land and buildings

$2,861/ac

2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
SD median $3,173 · 31st lowest of 66

Rent as % of land value

3.53%

$101 dry rent ÷ $2,861 land and buildings, both 2022

Corn yield, 2008–2025 median

121.3 bu/ac

15 published years
SD median 151.5 · 6th lowest of 33

Claims paid per $100 of coverage

$10.24

2016–2025, closed crop years
SD median $11.31 · 25th lowest of 65

Farmland rented

50%

2022 census, rented from others
SD median 46% · 20th highest 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$111/ac

Change 2016 to 2026+15.6%nominal, $96 to $111

Pasture, 2026$43/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$2,861/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price

Census 2012$1,999/ac

Census 2017$2,114/ac

Change 2017 to 2022+35.3%+6.2% a year, nominal

Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20223.53%$101 ÷ $2,861; cropland 72% of land in farms

Corn yield

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

Median, 2008–2025121.3 bu/ac15 published years

Lowest published year2012: 93.3 bu/ac77% of median

Trend, 2008–2025+1.7 bu/ac a year±1.9 (95% interval)

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$10.24

Loss ratio, 2016–20250.72claims ÷ total premium

Loss ratio, 1989–20250.66$203.9 million paid

Years claims exceeded premium9 of 32

Worst year2002ratio 5.52

Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 55% · excess moisture 21% · hail 11%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, 2000–2025165 of 1,357 weeks12% of weeks

Year with the most D2+ weeks202133 weeks

Last five years, 2021–202545 weeks

July average of daily lows, 2017–202659.9 °F1991–2020 normal 58.8 °F

Trend in July lows since 1976+0.22 °F a decadeno clear direction

Rain, April to September15.1 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 106% of it

Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.7 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, 202271% of cropland279,066 ac

Cover crops, 2022under 1% of cropland935 ac

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

CRP enrolled, 202532,503 ac8.5% of harvested cropland + CRP

CRP expiring FY2026–20284,215 ac13% of enrolled acres

CRP average rental payment, FY2025$47/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

Cattle and calves, 202217,832−38.2% since 2017

Farmland rented from others, 202250%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

County	Dry rent	Land value	Corn yield	Claims per $100
Potter County	$111	$2,861	121.3	$10.24
Dewey County	$47	$1,109	—	$17.10
Edmunds County	$112	$3,025	—	$12.47
Faulk County	$112	$3,320	—	$10.39
Hyde County	$92	$2,117	—	$10.12
Sully County	$97	$2,501	123.9	$11.12
Walworth County	$105	$2,513	—	$7.13
Median next door	$101	$2,507	123.9 1 co.	$10.76

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. Potter 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/potter-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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