County farm facts

Lafayette County, Wisconsin

Sales through Sep 30, 2026

Sold for
$9,652/ac
Middle of 34 bare farmland sales of 20+ acres, Oct 2024 to Sep 2026. Middle half $8,105 to $11,487. Two windows: this covers 24 months; the recorded-sales median further down covers the last 12 months, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026: 22 sales, $9,138 an acre. Every sale behind both.

Newest sales town, not parcel

Rent$240/ac NASS 2026, county average
Nearest bid
Rain

Recorded prices. Not an appraisal. No adjustments. A recorded price is what the state's transfer record says was paid once the sale closed, auction or private; never an asking price.

Sales: Wisconsin Department of Revenue, electronic real estate transfer returns, farm and forest classes. Rent: USDA NASS.

Lafayette County, WI: non-irrigated cash rent $240 an acre (2026); land and buildings $7,655 an acre in the 2022 census; corn 14-yr trend 238.2 bu/ac. Bids, weather, crops, land and programs for one county. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 55065. Figures as of Oct 19, 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

217.9 bu

Corn yield, all practices, 2025: the highest of 18 published years since 2008.

USDA NASS county yields, 2025

As of Oct 16, cash rent in Lafayette County runs $240 an acre for 2026, up 5.7% from $227 in 2016 and 2nd highest of 68 in Wisconsin, where the median is $136. The census value of land and buildings was $7,655 an acre in 2022, up 28.1% from $5,977 in 2017. Corn here trends at 238.2 bu for 2026, highest of 39 in the state.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$240/ac
2026 county average
WI median $136 · 2nd highest of 68
Land and buildings
$7,655/ac
2022: operators' own estimate of what land and buildings were worth · WI farm real estate 2026: $6,700 (land and buildings, state survey)
WI median $5,565 · 17th highest of 68
Rent as % of land value
3.07%
$235 dry rent ÷ $7,655 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 14-yr trend (projected 2026)
238.2 bu/ac
all practices trend · 2025 county yield 217.9 · 2021-25 average 214.2 (all practices)
WI median 177.4 · highest of 39
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$1.88
2016–2025, closed crop years
WI median $5.09 · lowest of 65
Farmland rented
41%
2022 census, rented from others
WI median 33% · 13th highest of 68
Median sale price, bare land, 20+ acres
$9,138/ac
22 recorded bare farmland sales, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026; sales dated through Sep 30, 2026
Open on the map Compare Wisconsin cash rent by county

Grain and prices within 50 miles

Corn bid
Soybean bid
Corn basis
Soybean basis
Corn futures
Soybean futures
Class III milk futures
Feeder cattle futures
Live cattle futures
Lean hog futures
Hay, Wisconsin 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.

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

Cash bids by town near the middle of Lafayette County: Shullsburg (7 mi), Belmont (11 mi), Warren, IL (14 mi).

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

Straight-line miles from the middle of Lafayette 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 Lafayette County, Wisconsin

Drought, year by year

2000200520102015202020250250

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, 2000–202553 of 1,357 weeks4% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201225 weeks
Last five full years, 2021–202511 weeks
2026 so far0 weekshalf the county or more in D2, 40 weekly maps
July average of daily lows, 2017–202661.4 °F1991–2020 normal 61.0 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.11 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September, usual26.2 in1991–2020 county normal, NOAA; the 2017–2026 seasons averaged 26.7 in
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.5 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail
Last spring freeze, first fall freezeApr 27, Oct 14middle dates 1996–2025, NOAA county-average daily low of 32 °F or colder
Frost-free days168middle of 1996–2025
Corn growing degree days, May to September2,596middle of 1996–2025; 2016–2025 averaged 2,654

Crops

Corn harvested
Soybeans harvested

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024158.0217.9median 195.8

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

14-yr trend (projected 2026)238.2 bu/acall practices county yields, 14 years, R² 0.50; the figure rent per bushel uses
2025 county yield217.9 bu/acall practices
2021-25 average214.2 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Median, 2008–2025195.8 bu/ac18 published years
Lowest published year2012: 77.6 bu/ac40% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+4.3 bu/ac a year±2.4 (95% interval)

Land rent, value, sales

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$2502010201520202025$162$240 dry

Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey.

Every published Wisconsin county rate, side by side: Wisconsin cash rent by county.

Non-irrigated, 2026$240/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+5.7%nominal, $227 to $240
Pasture, 2026$71/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$1.01$240 ÷ 238.2 bu, 14-yr trend (projected 2026), all practices
Rent as a share of corn gross, 202529.5%$260 non-irrigated rent 2025 ÷ (217.9 bu, 2025 county yield, all practices × $4.05 Wisconsin 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$7,655/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$4,895/ac
Census 2017$5,977/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+28.1%+5.1% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20223.07%$235 ÷ $7,655; cropland 76% of land in farms
Wisconsin cropland, 2026 state survey$7,600/ac+4.8% from 2025 · USDA NASS Land Values, state average
Wisconsin farm real estate, 2026$6,700/acland and buildings, state average
Wisconsin pasture, 2026$3,500/acstate average

The census value is this county's, from 2022. The survey figures are the Wisconsin 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.

Recorded farm sales

Sale counts and the median price buyers paid per acre in Lafayette County, from Wisconsin DOR Real Estate Transfer Returns (RETR) (Wisconsin Department of Revenue), load here.

What has farmland sold for in Lafayette County, Wisconsin?

22 recorded market sales of bare farmland (no buildings by the property class, no forest), 20 or more acres, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026, with a median of $9,138 an acre; the middle half of sales fell between $7,908 and $10,006 an acre. Sales are dated through Sep 30, 2026. These are counted deed records from Wisconsin DOR Real Estate Transfer Returns (RETR), not a model or an appraisal, and no buyer or seller is named.

Land sales: Recorded sales in Lafayette County, sale by sale.

Programs and risk

ARC or PLC sign-up

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

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

Crop insurance record

1996200120062011201620210.426.340.061.00: claims equal premium

Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 1996 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$1.88
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.22claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.70$186.2 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium4 of 29crop years with at least $1,000,000 of premium
Worst year2012ratio 6.34, of the 29 crop years with at least $1,000,000 of premium
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 33% · other 30% · area plans 22%share of dollars paid

Conservation Reserve Program

1986199119962001200620112016202148927,44012,359

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

CRP enrolled, 202512,359 ac5.3% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2027–2029955 ac8% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$289/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

What farms here look like

Harvested cropland irrigated, 2022under 1%
Drained by tile, 20225% of cropland10,849 ac
Farmed no-till, 202236% of cropland87,800 ac
Cover crops, 20224% of cropland10,476 ac
Irrigation wells on record5Wisconsin DNR high-capacity wells (active sources)
Median well depth447 ft
Solar and wind operating, 20250 MW solar · 98 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202289,618−16.6% since 2017
Milk cows, 202226,337head, Census of Agriculture
Beef cows, 202213,635head, Census of Agriculture
Cattle on feed, 202210,710head, Census of Agriculture
Hogs and pigs, 202214,610head, Census of Agriculture
Farmland rented from others, 202241%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 Lafayette County, Wisconsin 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 rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yield, medianClaims per $100
Lafayette County$240n/a$7,655195.8$1.88
Jo Daviess County, IL$255n/a$7,940190.1$2.54
Stephenson County, IL$251 2025n/a$9,230199.2$1.30
Grant County$247n/a$6,306190.7$1.96
Green County$223$235 2025$6,890185.2$2.88
Iowa County$196$277 2025$6,393186.9$2.42
Median next door$235n/a$6,890190.1$2.42

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. Lafayette County, Wisconsin. Figures as of Oct 19, 2026, from USDA NASS, USDA RMA, USDA FSA, the U.S. Drought Monitor and NOAA. https://agsist.com/farmland-atlas/wisconsin/lafayette-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).