CSR2 and price per acre in Iowa

CSR2 is Iowa State University's 5-to-100 rating of how productive a soil is for row crops, and Iowa uses it to compare one tillable acre with another when land is priced or rented. Iowa State's 2026 rent survey puts average cash rent at $3.36 per CSR2 point, and its 2025 land value survey shows per-acre value climbing steadily with CSR2.

What is CSR2?

CSR2 stands for Corn Suitability Rating 2. Iowa State describes it as "an index to the inherent soil productivity of each kind of soil for row-crop production," scored from 5 (least productive) to 100 (most productive) (ISU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, April 2015).

A few things worth knowing before you put it in front of a buyer or a seller:

• It's a soil rating, not a farm rating. Every soil map unit gets its own CSR2. A farm's figure is an average of the soils on its tillable acres, so two farms that both average 80 can have very different soil maps.
• It replaced the 1971 rating. The original Corn Suitability Rating dates to 1971. CSR2 came in 2015, and one of the main changes was dropping the rainfall correction factor the old system used.
• It's meant for exactly this. ISU lists the uses plainly: land-use plans, land values, yield predictions and cash rent negotiations.
• You can look it up. ISU points to the USDA-NRCS Web Soil Survey for CSR2 ratings by soil map unit.

Because CSR2 rates inherent productivity, it doesn't see what an owner has done to the ground. Tile, terraces, field shape and access all sit outside the number.

How does CSR2 relate to price per acre?

Iowa State's annual Land Value Survey asks farm lenders, brokers, farm managers and other professionals to estimate values for high-, medium- and low-quality land in their counties. The 2025 survey reflects conditions as of November 1, 2025, with 316 respondents (ISU Land Value Survey 2025 overview, December 2025).

Source: Iowa State University, 2025 Land Value Survey, released December 2025. Value per CSR2 point is a Kedron calculation: ISU's tier value divided by ISU's tier average CSR2.

Two things stand out.

First, the gap between tiers is large. High-quality ground averaged $6,450 more per acre than low-quality ground (Kedron calculation), a difference of 28 CSR2 points.

Second, the value per point isn't flat. Each point on high-quality land carries roughly $31 more value than a point on low-quality land. Good soil earns a premium on top of its rating. That's why multiplying a farm's CSR2 by one statewide dollar figure will undershoot a strong farm and overshoot a weak one.

The Iowa chapter of the REALTORS Land Institute runs its own survey of land brokers twice a year. Its September 2026 state averages were $13,890 for high-quality cropland, $10,857 for medium and $7,878 for low, with values up 0.6% statewide since March and 1.9% over twelve months (RLI Iowa chapter, released September 24, 2026). RLI doesn't publish CSR2 averages for its tiers, so don't mix its dollar figures with ISU's CSR2 averages.

For county-level values, see Iowa land values by county.

How does CSR2 set cash rent in Iowa?

Iowa State's annual cash rent survey reports rent per CSR2 point for every district and county. ISU calculates it by dividing the average corn and soybean rent by the average row-crop CSR2 for the area. The 2026 survey had 1,450 usable responses from operators, landowners and farm managers (ISU Extension, Cash Rental Rates for Iowa 2026 Survey, FM 1851, revised May 2026).

Statewide, the average rent was $270 an acre ($271 in 2025, $279 in 2024), which works out to $3.36 per CSR2 point.

Source: ISU Extension, Cash Rental Rates for Iowa 2026 Survey (AgDM C2-10), revised May 2026.

The county rows show the same pattern as land values: rent per point moves around.

Source: ISU Extension, AgDM C2-10, revised May 2026. ISU reports some neighboring counties together.

Clayton County has the lowest average CSR2 in that table and the highest rent per point. O'Brien has the highest CSR2 and the second-lowest rent per point. Rent per point is a local number. It doesn't follow a straight CSR2 formula.

A quick rent check

For a farm with a weighted CSR2 of 80, the statewide rate gives $269 an acre (80 × $3.36, Kedron calculation). The same farm in the Northeast district rate gives $296 (80 × $3.70, Kedron calculation). Use the district or county rate, not the state one, and treat the answer as a starting point for the lease conversation. For the full rent picture across three states, see farm cash rents in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.

Why a single price per CSR2 point misleads

A per-point figure is useful for comparing two farms side by side. It breaks down when it becomes the price.

• Per-point value rises with quality. ISU's tiers show roughly $138 a point on low-quality ground and $169 on high-quality ground (Kedron calculation).
• CSR2 only covers tillable soils. A 120-acre farm with 90 tillable acres and 30 acres of timber has two kinds of land. RLI's Iowa survey valued timber at $4,862 an acre and non-tillable pasture at $5,319 statewide in September 2026. Applying a cropland CSR2 price to the timber overstates it. Applying the timber price to the whole farm understates it.
• It ignores improvements. Tile, terraces, waterways and field layout can change what an acre produces and what a buyer will pay. CSR2 doesn't record them.
• The average hides the map. A weighted 75 might be mostly 85s with a wet draw of 40s, or an even 75 across the field. Buyers who farm will want the soil map, not just the average.

How to present CSR2 in an Iowa land listing

Tillable acres and CSR2 belong near the top of an Iowa farm listing, where a buyer can find and check them.

1. State the weighted average CSR2 for the tillable acres, and say which acres it covers. "CSR2 of 81.4 on 142.6 tillable acres" is a claim a buyer can verify. "Excellent soils" is not.
2. Name the source. Say whether the figure came from a soil survey tool, the FSA tillable acres, or an assessor record, and date it.
3. Include the soil map. A map by soil type lets a farming buyer see where the weaker acres sit.
4. Price the non-tillable acres on their own terms. Timber, pasture and building sites belong in a separate line, with their own reasoning.
5. Give the rent context if the farm is leased. Current rent divided by the farm's CSR2 gives a per-point figure a buyer can hold against ISU's district rate.

The land listing writing guide covers where these numbers belong in the description.

When do these CSR2 numbers update?

• ISU Land Value Survey: every December. The 2026 survey is due mid-December 2026.
• ISU Cash Rental Rates survey (C2-10): every spring. The 2026 edition was revised May 2026.
• RLI Iowa chapter survey: March and September.
• CSR2 ratings themselves: ISU said in 2015 that USDA-NRCS was expected to update the Web Soil Survey, including CSR2, annually.

Figures on this page are as of September 30, 2026. We'll update it after ISU's December 2026 land value survey and its 2027 rent survey.

What to do next

Pull the CSR2 for the tillable acres on your next Iowa listing. Then take the closest comparable sale, divide its price per tillable acre by its CSR2, and compare it with your listing's price per CSR2 point. Check the district rent per point in ISU's table too. If the numbers don't line up with the asking price, that's a conversation to have with the seller before the listing goes live. More reports like this are on the market data page.