Farmland Atlas · county record

Brown County, Wisconsin

Brown County, WI: non-irrigated cash rent $213 an acre (2026); land and buildings $9,088 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 153.0 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 55009. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Brown County averages $213 per acre for 2026, up 17.7 percent from 2016. Land and buildings were valued at $9,088 per acre in 2022, up 7 percent from 2017, 1.4 percent a year. Drought itself stays rare: severe drought or worse held for 6 of 1357 weeks from 2000-2025, with only 1 week in 2021-2025. Irrigation covers 1 percent of harvested cropland, and July nights have warmed 0.54 F per decade since 1976.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$213/ac
2026 county average
WI median $139 · 9th highest of 67
Land and buildings
$9,088/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
WI median $5,565 · 4th highest of 68
Rent as % of land value
2.31%
$210 dry rent ÷ $9,088 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
153.0 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 174.8
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$8.27
2016–2025, closed crop years
WI median $5.09 · 7th highest of 65
Farmland rented
45%
2022 census, rented from others
WI median 33% · 7th highest of 68

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$2002010201520202025$93$213 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$213/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+17.7%nominal, $181 to $213
Pasture, 2026$55/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$1.22$213 ÷ 174.8 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$9,088/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$5,425/ac
Census 2017$8,495/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+7.0%+1.4% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20222.31%$210 ÷ $9,088; cropland 87% of land in farms

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024114.0190.2median 153.0

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

Median, 2008–2025153.0 bu/ac14 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025174.8 bu/ac4 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2008: 114.0 bu/ac75% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+3.5 bu/ac a year±0.9 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

19941999200420092014201920240.662.930.201.00: 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$8.27
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.59claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.78$92.7 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium8 of 32
Worst year2004ratio 2.93
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 44% · freeze 27% · heat and drought 23%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

200020052010201520202025050

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, 2000–20256 of 1,357 weeks0% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks20055 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20251 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202660.4 °F1991–2020 normal 59.0 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.54 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September21.3 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 108% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.9 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, 202221% of cropland32,130 ac
Farmed no-till, 202219% of cropland29,936 ac
Cover crops, 202213% of cropland19,656 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202105,893873

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

CRP enrolled, 2025873 ac0.6% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028185 ac21% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$224/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Irrigation wells on record18Wisconsin DNR high-capacity wells (active sources)
Median well depth243 ft
Solar and wind operating, 20250 MW solar · 20 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 2022130,566+4.1% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202245%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Brown County$213$9,088—$8.27
Calumet County$187$8,232155.8$5.09
Kewaunee County$228$7,465—$5.57
Manitowoc County$199$7,751159.8$4.36
Oconto County$154$5,367148.1$7.10
Outagamie County$161$7,559157.8$7.09
Shawano County$142$5,983152.6$5.86
Median next door$174$7,512155.8$5.72

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. Brown County, Wisconsin. 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/wisconsin/brown-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.