Farmland Atlas · county record

Walworth County, South Dakota

Walworth County, SD: non-irrigated cash rent $105 an acre (2026); land and buildings $2,513 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 125.6 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 46129. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Walworth County averages $105 per acre for 2026, up 21.4 percent from 2016. Corn yields trend up 2.5 bushels per acre a year over 2008-2025, with a median of 125.6 bushels per acre and a worst year of 101.1 in 2010. Heat and drought drove 62 percent of crop insurance indemnities from 1989-2025, with that share at 8 percent in 1989-1999, 84 percent in 2000-2009, 41 percent in 2010-2019, and 66 percent in 2020-2025. Drought weeks ran 148 of 1357 from 2000-2025, with 45 of those weeks falling in 2021-2025 alone. Solar and wind capacity, operating or proposed, are not present in this county.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$105/ac
2026 county average
SD median $112 · tied for 26th lowest of 63
Land and buildings
$2,513/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
SD median $3,173 · 27th lowest of 66
Rent as % of land value
3.76%
$95 dry rent ÷ $2,513 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
125.6 bu/ac
14 published years
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$7.13
2016–2025, closed crop years
SD median $11.31 · 12th lowest of 65
Farmland rented
46%
2022 census, rented from others
SD median 46% · 32nd highest of 66

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$1002010201520202025$42$105 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$105/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+21.4%nominal, $87 to $105
Pasture, 2026$34/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$2,513/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,481/ac
Census 2017$1,980/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+26.9%+4.9% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20223.76%$95 ÷ $2,513; cropland 63% of land in farms

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024125.0166.2median 125.6

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

Median, 2008–2025125.6 bu/ac14 published years
Lowest published year2010: 101.1 bu/ac81% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+2.5 bu/ac a year±1.7 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

200120062011201620210.375.020.101.00: 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$7.13
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.48claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.49$99.3 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium5 of 25
Worst year2002ratio 5.02
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 62% · excess moisture 18% · hail 12%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202503312

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, 2000–2025148 of 1,357 weeks11% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks202133 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202545 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202660.1 °F1991–2020 normal 58.9 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.27 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September15.0 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 108% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger2.3 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20221%
Farmed no-till, 202273% of cropland203,574 ac
Cover crops, 20221% of cropland2,730 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202120755,394

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

CRP enrolled, 202555,394 ac19.7% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20287,211 ac13% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$51/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Cattle and calves, 202231,201−25.6% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202246%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Walworth County$105$2,513—$7.13
Campbell County$80$2,316112.4$9.66
Corson County$51$1,33886.0$13.21
Dewey County$47$1,109—$17.10
Edmunds County$112$3,025—$12.47
McPherson County$100$2,389117.0$11.51
Potter County$111$2,861121.3$10.24
Median next door$90$2,353114.7$11.99

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. Walworth 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/walworth-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.