What is farmland worth?

The value of cropland is driven mainly by soil productivity, location and climate. For the United States we show a cropland value in dollars per acre together with a 0–100 site score that combines soil quality with the conditions that actually limit yield. See your own field parcel-level on the interactive map — just click the field.

The dollar value starts from USDA NASS county cash-rent and land-value surveys, expressed as $ per acre (irrigated and non-irrigated cropland kept separate). On top of that, the site score grades the agronomic quality of each field from open federal data:

• Soil productivity — USDA NCCPI v3 from the gSSURGO soil survey (0–100); in Iowa also the CSR2 corn suitability rating.
• Climate & water — precipitation and a drought/water-balance index from gridMET (4 km).
• Terrain — mean slope from the USGS 3DEP elevation model.
• Crop rotation — an 8-year sequence from the USDA Cropland Data Layer (CDL), scored as a crop-sequence indicator.
• Drainage — tile-drainage need vs. potential from gSSURGO (Corn Belt: Iowa, Ohio).
• Irrigation — an irrigation flag from USGS MIrAD-US (e.g. Nebraska).
• Constraints — wet/organic soils (Histosols) and flood-prone map units from gSSURGO.

Each of these is a separate axis in the site profile, so you always see why a field scores the way it does. See your field →

The NCCPI (National Commodity Crop Productivity Index) is a nationwide USDA index (0–100) describing how suitable a soil map unit is for commodity crops — comparable across states. In Iowa the state-specific CSR2 (Corn Suitability Rating 2) is the long-standing benchmark and is referenced in addition. Both are map-unit based (from the soil survey), not a per-parcel field survey.

The United States has no official, parcel-level land-reference value like the German Bodenrichtwert. The dollar figure we show is a regional USDA NASS county estimate capitalized to a per-acre value — a transparent, derived estimate from public data, not a formal appraisal. Use it to compare fields and understand the drivers of value, not as a closing price.

The biggest lever is soil productivity (NCCPI/CSR2). Beyond that: location and regional demand (Corn Belt cropland is among the most valuable in the country), water — both drought risk in the rain-fed east and irrigation access in the west — drainage, slope and field shape. Wet, organic or flood-prone soils reduce the score even where the dollar comps look high.

See your own field parcel-level: open the map, zoom to the field and click it. You get the cropland value per acre, the soil rating, the 0–100 site score with a traffic-light rating, and the full site profile. Switch the panel between $/acre, $/ha and EUR at any time. Open the map →

All underlying data are open and, for the federal sources, public domain U.S. Government works: USDA NASS (county land values & cash rents, Cropland Data Layer), USDA NRCS gSSURGO (NCCPI, drainage, Histosols, flood), USGS 3DEP (slope) and USGS MIrAD-US (irrigation); climate from gridMET (University of Idaho). Field boundaries come from the USDA NASS Crop Sequence Boundaries. The values shown here are derived estimates, processed and modeled — not the raw source data. See the full list under Data sources & licenses.

How is US farmland valued?

A regional $/acre value from USDA NASS county data, refined per field with a soil rating (NCCPI, plus CSR2 in Iowa) and site factors — climate, slope, drainage, irrigation and crop rotation. It is a derived estimate, not an appraisal.

What is NCCPI?

A USDA soil productivity index (0–100) from the gSSURGO soil survey, describing crop suitability of a soil map unit. Iowa additionally references CSR2.

How do I see the value of my field?

Open the map, zoom to your field and click it — you get the value per acre, the soil rating, the site score and the full site profile.