Farmland Atlas · county record

Dale County, Alabama

Dale County, AL: non-irrigated cash rent $55 an acre (2026); land and buildings $3,912 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 122.2 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 01045. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Cash rent, non-irrigated
$55/ac
2026 county average
AL median $46 · 20th highest of 59
Cash rent, irrigated
$72/ac
2024 county average
too few 2024 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$3,912/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
AL median $3,400 · 22nd highest of 67
Corn yield, 2009–2025 median
122.2 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 125.5
AL median 142.4 · 4th lowest of 15
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$13.20
2016–2025, closed crop years
AL median $10.32 · 20th highest of 53
Farmland rented
29%
2022 census, rented from others
AL median 26% · 19th highest of 67

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$100$1202010201520202025$34$55 dry$75$72 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$55/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+34.6%nominal, $41 to $55
Irrigated, 2024$72/ac
Pasture, 2026$33/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.43$55 ÷ 125.5 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$3,912/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$2,510/ac
Census 2017$3,009/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+30.0%+5.4% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 38% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield

20092011201320152017201920212023202575.0145.0126.2median 122.2

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

Median, 2009–2025122.2 bu/ac15 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025125.5 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2009: 75.0 bu/ac61% of median
Trend, 2009–2025+1.7 bu/ac a year±2.1 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

19952000200520102015202020250.704.840.601.00: 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$13.20
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.70claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.05$59.0 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium10 of 25
Worst year2000ratio 4.84
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 63% · excess moisture 15% · other 14%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202534486

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, 2000–2025223 of 1,357 weeks16% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201148 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202511 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202671.8 °F1991–2020 normal 70.9 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.25 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September28.4 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 108% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.8 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 2022— NASS suppressed the irrigated acres to protect individual farms
Drained by tile, 20225% of cropland2,447 ac
Farmed no-till, 20224% of cropland2,007 ac
Cover crops, 20229% of cropland4,139 ac
19861991199620012006201120162021905,9201,547

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

CRP enrolled, 20251,547 ac4.3% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028553 ac36% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$49/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 202510.6 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202212,154−8.0% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202229%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Dale County$55$72 2024$3,912122.2$13.20
Barbour County$59$131 2023$2,617—$10.05
Coffee County$50—$3,859—$22.74
Geneva County$60$158 2025$3,337—$22.81
Henry County$52$129 2025$3,328—$17.29
Houston County$61$203 2025$3,685—$20.54
Pike County$40—$3,381—$15.87
Median next door$55—$3,359—$18.92

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. Dale County, Alabama. 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/alabama/dale-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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