County farm facts

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; corn 14-yr trend 161.0 bu/ac. Bids, weather, crops, land and programs for one county. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 46129. Figures as of Nov 8, 2026; the rows marked with a date load the newest reading when the page opens.

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Stands out against its own record

$105

Non-irrigated cash rent, 2026: the highest of 17 surveys since 2008; up 21% from $87 in 2016.

USDA NASS Cash Rents Survey, 2026

166.2 bu

Corn yield, all practices, 2025: the highest of 14 published years since 2008.

USDA NASS county yields, 2025

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: operators' own estimate of what land and buildings were worth · SD farm real estate 2026: $3,100 (land and buildings, state survey)
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, 14-yr trend (projected 2026)
161.0 bu/ac
all practices trend · 2025 county yield 166.2 (all practices)
SD median 147.8 · 5th highest of 20
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
Open on the map Compare South Dakota cash rent by county

Walworth County has seen heat and drought claims grow sharply since 2000. These made up 8 percent of crop insurance indemnities in 1989-1999 but jumped to 84 percent in 2000-2009, then settled to 66 percent in 2020-2025. The county paid out $99.3 million in indemnities over 1989-2025, with a loss ratio of 0.49. Corn yield has climbed 2.5 bushels per acre a year from 2008-2025, with a median of 125.6 bushels. Cash rent is $105 per acre in 2026, up 21.4 percent from 2016.

Grain and prices within 50 miles

Corn bid
Soybean bid
Corn basis
Soybean basis
Corn futures
Soybean futures
Hay, South Dakota price received

Bids are posted elevator prices within 50 miles of the county middle, or of your own field or saved place in this county when this device has one (each row says which), best and nearest, never a buyer's name. Not a contract; call before you haul. Livestock lines show where the 2022 Census counts 1,000 head or more: milk for milk cows, feeder cattle for beef cows, live cattle for cattle on feed, hogs for hogs, hay for all cattle.

South Dakota cash bids by town · Bids from your own ZIP or farm, in Fast Facts

Cash bids by town near the middle of Walworth County: Selby (4 mi), Java (10 mi), Bowdle (18 mi).

Nearby buyers within 50 miles: 2 ethanol plants
Loading the list.

Straight-line miles from the middle of Walworth County to each buyer’s town point (the middle of its town, not the gate), rounded. Capacity as published. Where the buyers are, not what they pay. Lists from Renewable Fuels Association, EIA, read Oct 28, 2026.

Weather and the season

Rain since Jan 1
Drought this week
Hail, last 30 days

Rain so far this year in Walworth County, South Dakota

Drought, year by year

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 full years, 2021–202545 weeks
2026 so far0 weekshalf the county or more in D2, 40 weekly maps
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 September, usual15.0 in1991–2020 county normal, NOAA; the 2017–2026 seasons averaged 15.9 in
Days with hail 1 inch or larger2.3 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail
Last spring freeze, first fall freezeMay 10, Oct 7middle dates 1996–2025, NOAA county-average daily low of 32 °F or colder
Frost-free days152middle of 1996–2025
Corn growing degree days, May to September2,456middle of 1996–2025; 2016–2025 averaged 2,501

Crops

Corn harvested
Soybeans harvested

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.

14-yr trend (projected 2026)161.0 bu/acall practices county yields, 10 years, R² 0.39; the figure rent per bushel uses
2025 county yield166.2 bu/acall practices
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)

Land rent, value, sales

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.

Every published South Dakota county rate, side by side: South Dakota cash rent by county.

Non-irrigated, 2026$105/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+21.4%nominal, $87 to $105
Pasture, 2026$34/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.65$105 ÷ 161.0 bu, 14-yr trend (projected 2026), all practices
Rent as a share of corn gross, 202515.4%$98 non-irrigated rent 2025 ÷ (166.2 bu, 2025 county yield, all practices × $3.80 South Dakota price received); the county reports no irrigated corn; the 2025 price is preliminary

Share of gross is a past year, all observed: that year's rent, that year's county corn yield of the same practice and the state price received, USDA NASS. Rent per bushel uses this year's rent over the 14-yr trend. The calculator below starts from that trend and lets you put in your own yield and price.

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
South Dakota cropland, 2026 state survey$4,770/ac+3.5% from 2025 · USDA NASS Land Values, state average
South Dakota farm real estate, 2026$3,100/acland and buildings, state average
South Dakota pasture, 2026$1,400/acstate average

The census value is this county's, from 2022. The survey figures are the South Dakota average for 2026, from the USDA NASS Land Values report. NASS publishes that survey by state, not by county, so this page does not scale one into the other.

Auction results

  • Oct 28, 2026: 558 acres, $2,019,500 total sold.
    • Tract 1: $829,500, $5,250/acre, as reported
    • Tract 2: $262,000, $3,275/acre, as reported
    • Tract 3: $928,000, $2,900/acre, as reported
    Wieman auction page

Results reported by Wieman Land & Auction. Not recorded transfers; not every sale is listed. Figures as published by the auction firm.

Programs and risk

ARC or PLC sign-up

Benchmarks, payments and the choice for each crop: ARC or PLC in Walworth County.

Insuring pasture or hay? PRF rainfall insurance for pasture and hay in Walworth County: its grids, county values and record are on the county PRF page.

Crop insurance record

200120062011201620215.020.101.00: claims equal premium

Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 2001 with at least $1,000,000 of premium; a year under that has no bar and no ratio. 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 25crop years 2001–2025 with a loss ratio
Worst year2002ratio 5.02, of the 25 crop years with at least $1,000,000 of premium
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 62% · excess moisture 18% · hail 12%share of dollars paid

Conservation Reserve Program

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 FY2027–20293,594 ac6% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$51/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

What farms here look like

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20221%
Farmed no-till, 202273% of cropland203,574 ac
Cover crops, 20221% of cropland2,730 ac
Cattle and calves, 202231,201−25.6% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202246%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

USDA Census of Agriculture 2022, except wells (state well register) and power (EIA Form 860).

Watch this county

Get an email when the published figures for Walworth County, South Dakota change. Usually once or twice a year. You confirm by email first, and every email has a one-tap stop. AGSIST, PO Box 243, Chetek, WI 54728.

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yield, medianClaims per $100
Walworth County$105$2,513n/a$7.13
Campbell County$80$2,316112.4$9.66
Corson County$51$1,33886.0$13.21
Dewey County$47$1,109n/a$17.10
Edmunds County$112$3,025n/a$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. A rent from an older survey year carries its year and stays out of the median; one more than three survey years old shows n/a. The corn median here needs 15 published years, so a county with fewer shows n/a even where its own page gives a median.

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Cite this page

AGSIST Farmland Atlas. Walworth County, South Dakota. Figures as of Nov 8, 2026, 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. Rent ranks count every county with a published rent in the same survey year, within the state (the same counties as the state rent page); other ranks count counties with 10,000 acres or more in farms. 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.

This product uses the NASS API but is not endorsed or certified by NASS. Averages, trends, ranks and estimates are calculations by AGSIST.

Rent: USDA NASS Cash Rents Survey, county. Land value: Census of Agriculture, operators' estimate of land and buildings. Yield: NASS county corn yields. The headline trend, the one rent per bushel uses, is fitted here over the published years in the 15 years ending this year; the yearly trend card uses 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. Claims paid per $100 of coverage: claims divided by liability (the insured value), times 100, same source. 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 missing figure is named with its reason (in a table it reads n/a).