Farmland Atlas · county record

Portage County, Wisconsin

Portage County, WI: non-irrigated cash rent $86 an acre (2026); land and buildings $4,888 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 155.2 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 55097. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Cash rent, non-irrigated
$86/ac
2026 county average
WI median $139 · 14th lowest of 67
Cash rent, irrigated
$276/ac
2026 county average
WI median $252 · 3rd highest of 11
Land and buildings
$4,888/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
WI median $5,565 · 21st lowest of 68
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
155.2 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 167.0 · irrigated and dryland combined
WI median 158.3 · 18th lowest of 55
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$7.99
2016–2025, closed crop years
WI median $5.09 · 9th highest of 65
Farmland rented
36%
2022 census, rented from others
WI median 33% · 27th highest of 68

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$250$3002010201520202025$49$86 dry$192$276 irrigated

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$86/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+64.4%nominal, $52 to $86
Irrigated, 2026$276/ac
Pasture, 2026$36/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$4,888/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$3,292/ac
Census 2017$4,100/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+19.2%+3.6% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 50% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024124.0180.5median 155.2

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

Median, 2008–2025155.2 bu/ac18 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Recent level, 2021–2025167.0 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2012: 118.4 bu/ac76% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+2.0 bu/ac a year±1.2 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

200220072012201720220.752.310.521.00: 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$7.99
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.00claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.86$81.8 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium7 of 23
Worst year2018ratio 2.31
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 52% · heat and drought 22% · freeze 13%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250140

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, 2000–202531 of 1,357 weeks2% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200814 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20257 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202659.4 °F1991–2020 normal 58.0 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.34 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September23.2 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 109% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.2 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202250%
Drained by tile, 20222% of cropland3,240 ac
Farmed no-till, 20228% of cropland15,586 ac
Cover crops, 202229% of cropland55,859 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202103,353632

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

CRP enrolled, 2025632 ac0.3% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–202847 ac7% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$84/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Irrigation wells on record898Wisconsin DNR high-capacity wells (active sources)
Median well depth95 ft
Cattle and calves, 202242,203+2.3% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202236%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Portage County$86$276$4,888155.2$7.99
Adams County$74$341$5,155129.9$7.21
Marathon County$133—$5,576147.6$5.61
Waupaca County$129$231$5,611152.3$6.35
Waushara County$78$301$4,925162.9$8.16
Wood County$82—$4,417146.1$6.92
Median next door$82$301$5,155147.6$6.92

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. Portage 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/portage-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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