Farmland Atlas · county record

Jefferson County, Wisconsin

Jefferson County, WI: non-irrigated cash rent $197 an acre (2026); land and buildings $7,967 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 170.1 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 55055. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Jefferson County is $197 per acre in 2026, up 26.3 percent from 2016. Land value reached $7,967 per acre in 2022, up 29.5 percent from 2017, and cash rent is 2.1 percent of that value. Drought weeks stayed low: 46 of 1357 weeks from 2000-2025, with 12 from 2021-2025.

Cash rent, non-irrigated

$197/ac

2026 county average
WI median $139 · 13th highest of 67

Land and buildings

$7,967/ac

2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
WI median $5,565 · 13th highest of 68

Rent as % of land value

2.1%

$167 dry rent ÷ $7,967 land and buildings, both 2022

Corn yield, 2008–2025 median

170.1 bu/ac

recent level 2021–2025: 185.0
WI median 158.3 · 15th highest of 55

Claims paid per $100 of coverage

$2.37

2016–2025, closed crop years
WI median $5.09 · 8th lowest of 65

Farmland rented

37%

2022 census, rented from others
WI median 33% · 26th highest of 68

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$197/ac

Change 2016 to 2026+26.3%nominal, $156 to $197

Dry rent per bushel of corn$1.06$197 ÷ 185.0 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$7,967/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price

Census 2012$5,184/ac

Census 2017$6,154/ac

Change 2017 to 2022+29.5%+5.3% a year, nominal

Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20222.1%$167 ÷ $7,967; cropland 82% 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, 2008–2025170.1 bu/ac17 published years

Recent level, 2021–2025185.0 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped

Lowest published year2012: 114.5 bu/ac67% of median

Trend, 2008–2025+2.8 bu/ac a year±1.5 (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$2.37

Loss ratio, 2016–20250.29claims ÷ total premium

Loss ratio, 1989–20250.48$50.3 million paid

Years claims exceeded premium5 of 24

Worst year2008ratio 2.32

Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 50% · heat and drought 31% · price decline (revenue policies) 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, 2000–202546 of 1,357 weeks3% of weeks

Year with the most D2+ weeks201216 weeks

Last five years, 2021–202512 weeks

July average of daily lows, 2017–202661.7 °F1991–2020 normal 60.9 °F

Trend in July lows since 1976+0.19 °F a decadeno clear direction

Rain, April to September24.3 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 101% of it

Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.4 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, 202229% of cropland45,152 ac

Farmed no-till, 202226% of cropland41,426 ac

Cover crops, 20225% of cropland8,512 ac

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

CRP enrolled, 20251,172 ac0.8% of harvested cropland + CRP

CRP expiring FY2026–2028213 ac18% of enrolled acres

CRP average rental payment, FY2025$175/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

Irrigation wells on record71Wisconsin DNR high-capacity wells (active sources)

Median well depth415 ft

Solar and wind operating, 202588.3 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860

Cattle and calves, 202237,630−22.6% since 2017

Farmland rented from others, 202237%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

County	Dry rent	Irr. rent	Land value	Corn yield	Claims per $100
Jefferson County	$197	—	$7,967	170.1	$2.37
Dane County	$231	$225 2023	$9,427	185.8	$2.71
Dodge County	$212	—	$7,275	179.6	$3.00
Rock County	$223	$257 2025	$8,459	185.3	$1.95
Walworth County	$236	$230 2024	$8,759	179.8	$2.24
Waukesha County	$171	—	$8,589	169.6	$4.30
Median next door	$223	—	$8,589	179.8	$2.71

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. Jefferson 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/jefferson-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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