Cash Rents for Irrigated Cropland Across the Mid-South

By Brad Watkins

Cash leases have grown in favor relative to crop share leases in the Mid-South. Eastern Arkansas still has a high proportion of cropland rented under crop share leases (ASFMRA, 2024). In contrast, other regions in the Mid-South have a higher proportion of cropland rented under cash leases (Paulson and Schnitkey, 2016). Much of the impetus for choosing cash leases stems from their simplicity. Crop share arrangements are perceived by some landowners, particularly absentee landlords or non-farm operators, as more difficult to monitor or manage, while tenants may find it easier to bid for additional tracts of land using cash bids. (Bigelow et al., 2016). 

The amount of cash rent paid for cropland is affected by many factors, including: land productivity, the presence of land improvements (in particular, precision leveling and field typography that allow for greater ease of water flow and drainage for Mid-South crop production), access to groundwater for irrigation, and the ability to grow several different cash crops (or crop diversification). Higher commodity prices and inflation also tend to push cash rents upward, as these have an upward impact on cropland value. 

This article compares cash rents for irrigated cropland across the Mid-South region, as most Mid-South crops (rice, soybeans, corn, and cotton) are grown with irrigation. County-level irrigated cropland cash rents are obtained for seven Mid-South subregions for the period 2019 – 2025 from the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA, NASS, 2025). Cash rents are averaged across counties within each subregion by year. Figure 1 illustrates the average 2025 irrigated cropland cash rent by subregion.

Cash rents vary greatly by subregion, largely due to differences in land productivity, irrigation infrastructure, and groundwater availability observed throughout the Mid-South. Average irrigated cropland cash rents in 2025 ranged from $146/acre in East Central Arkansas to $228/acre in Southeast Missouri. The lower average irrigated cropland cash rent in East Central Arkansas reflects a greater proportion of unimproved irrigated cropland in this region relative to Southeast Missouri. Unimproved irrigated cropland is land not conducive to precision leveling because of undulating or rolling terrain with varying slopes (ASFMRA, 2024).

Nominal annual average irrigated cropland cash rents are presented by Mid-South subregion from 2019 through 2025 in Figure 2. Nominal cash rents significantly increased for all seven subregions during this period (+9% for Southeast Arkansas, +17% for the Mississippi Lower Delta, + 20% for East Central Arkansas, +21% for Northeast Arkansas, +24% for the Mississippi Upper Delta, +25% for Southeast Missouri, and +27% for Northeast Louisiana). Sorting out the cause of rising rental rates is challenging with the combination of increasing crop prices and increasing input costs resulting from market disruptions (the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine during 2021 and 2022) followed by general inflation across the economy after 2022.