What is a fair cash rent to charge on farm ground?

A fair number is the county USDA NASS figure adjusted for the specific ground. In Story County, IA the 2026 NASS county cash-rent average was $290 per acre; on an example parcel there the modeled soil-adjusted band a Scout free read would surface runs roughly $232 to $348 per acre, keyed to SSURGO productivity, drainage, and rotation. Charge the county number if the ground is county-average; adjust up or down honestly if it is not.

How much can I charge for pasture ground versus cropland?

They are different markets. USDA NASS reports a separate pasture rent series that runs materially below cropland cash rent in most states (often 15-30 percent of cropland rent, though the gap varies by state and cover). Do not use the cropland cash-rent number to price grazing land; use the NASS pasture rent for the state as the anchor, and adjust for water access, fencing condition, and stocking capacity.

Does soil quality actually change what a tenant will pay?

Yes, more than any other single factor. Two parcels a mile apart in the same county can carry different soil productivity indices; the tenant knows that even if they never say so, because their yield history says so. Walking into the conversation with the parcel PI, the drainage class, and the recent CDL rotation named puts the discussion on the ground, not on the county average.

Guides

Setting rent on farm ground

You have ground and someone wants to rent it. The county average is the honest starting point, and it is almost never the ending point. Three things move the honest number for your specific parcel, and every one of them is a data question you can answer before the conversation. General information for landowners setting a cash-rent number, not legal advice.

Reviewed September 2026. USDA NASS numbers below refresh on the NASS annual cycle.

Example parcel

Anchor + parcel-scale band, Story County, IA

USDA NASS reported the 2026 county cash-rent average for non-irrigated cropland in Story County, IA at $290 per acre. The Iowa state average that same year was $271 per acre. On an example Story County parcel, a Scout free read publishes a modeled soil-adjusted band that runs roughly $232 to $348 per acre, keyed to SSURGO productivity, drainage, and CDL rotation. That band is what a landowner should walk into the conversation with. The county figure is the honest anchor, not the price.

Example parcel is illustrative. Verify the county figure for the current NASS survey year and the parcel-adjusted band for your specific ground. Scout reports both, with the source and date on every number.

The three lines that move the number

Line	Data signal (per parcel)	Direction of the honest number
Soil productivity	SSURGO productivity index (0-100), converted from farmland classification, drainage class, and NCCPI where available	Up: PI above the county's middle (typically 60+) supports rent above the county figure Down: PI below 40 pulls the honest number materially below the county number
Drainage and water	SSURGO drainage class + USFWS wetlands + FEMA flood zones per parcel	Up: Well drained ground with no wetland or flood exposure holds the top of the county band Down: Poorly-drained, wetland-adjacent, or A/AE flood zone acres cut the band; treat the wet corner as separate acres
Recent rotation and residue	USDA CDL crop history for the parcel (5 recent years) + rotation classification	Up: Corn-soy-wheat or a documented cover-crop rotation supports the same rent as a comparable neighbor Down: Continuous corn without residue management, or a fallow year in the recent history, is a discount lever the tenant will ask for

Line

Data signal (per parcel)

Direction of the honest number

Soil productivity

SSURGO productivity index (0-100), converted from farmland classification, drainage class, and NCCPI where available

Up: PI above the county's middle (typically 60+) supports rent above the county figure

Down: PI below 40 pulls the honest number materially below the county number

Drainage and water

SSURGO drainage class + USFWS wetlands + FEMA flood zones per parcel

Up: Well drained ground with no wetland or flood exposure holds the top of the county band

Down: Poorly-drained, wetland-adjacent, or A/AE flood zone acres cut the band; treat the wet corner as separate acres

Recent rotation and residue

USDA CDL crop history for the parcel (5 recent years) + rotation classification

Up: Corn-soy-wheat or a documented cover-crop rotation supports the same rent as a comparable neighbor

Down: Continuous corn without residue management, or a fallow year in the recent history, is a discount lever the tenant will ask for

Every line above is a data question a Scout free read answers today. See how we get our numbers for the sources.

Start with the county number

USDA NASS surveys cash-rent leases and publishes an average per acre for non-irrigated cropland, updated once a year. That number is the honest anchor for the conversation, and if the ground is county-average it is a fine ending point too. Get the current-year figure for your county; the sister USDA NASS cash rent hub has the state-and-county table with the last five years.

Then move it, honestly, for the parcel

A landowner setting a rent has three data levers, and none of them are opinion. The SSURGO productivity index for the specific parcel says whether the ground reads above or below the county's middle (Iowa row-crop ground with a PI in the 70s is a different lease than PI-40 ground in the same county). The drainage class and any FEMA flood or USFWS wetland overlay says whether the tenant will actually farm every acre, or whether the wet corner should be priced separately. And the recent USDA CDL rotation says what the ground has been doing lately, which affects both what the tenant will pay and what conservation practices you might reasonably require in the lease.

A Scout free read pulls all three signals, applies them to the current-year NASS county figure, and publishes a soil-adjusted band per acre for the specific parcel. That band is the number to walk into the conversation with. The county number is the anchor; the band is the price you actually charge.

Setting cash rent: common questions

What is a fair cash rent to charge on farm ground?: A fair number is the county USDA NASS figure adjusted for the specific ground. In Story County, IA the 2026 NASS county cash-rent average was $290 per acre; on an example parcel there the modeled soil-adjusted band a Scout free read would surface runs roughly $232 to $348 per acre, keyed to SSURGO productivity, drainage, and rotation. Charge the county number if the ground is county-average; adjust up or down honestly if it is not.
How much can I charge for pasture ground versus cropland?: They are different markets. USDA NASS reports a separate pasture rent series that runs materially below cropland cash rent in most states (often 15-30 percent of cropland rent, though the gap varies by state and cover). Do not use the cropland cash-rent number to price grazing land; use the NASS pasture rent for the state as the anchor, and adjust for water access, fencing condition, and stocking capacity.
Does soil quality actually change what a tenant will pay?: Yes, more than any other single factor. Two parcels a mile apart in the same county can carry different soil productivity indices; the tenant knows that even if they never say so, because their yield history says so. Walking into the conversation with the parcel PI, the drainage class, and the recent CDL rotation named puts the discussion on the ground, not on the county average.

Anchor and band, on your ground.

Type an address. Scout reads the NASS county anchor and the SSURGO productivity index for your acres, then shows the soil-adjusted band to charge.

Free to start on any parcel.