Farmland Atlas · county record

DeKalb County, Alabama

DeKalb County, AL: non-irrigated cash rent $60 an acre (2026); land and buildings $5,032 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 142.4 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 01049. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in DeKalb County averages $60 per acre in 2026, up 15.4 percent from 2016. Land value carries $5,032 per acre in the 2022 census, an operator estimate rather than a sale price, and this rose 27.9 percent from 2017 to 2022. Corn yield trend runs 3.6 bushels per acre a year on published years 2008-2025, with a median of 142.4 bushels per acre and a low of 71 in 2008. Heat and drought caused 61 percent of indemnities in 1989-1999, 60 percent in 2000-2009, 60 percent in 2010-2019, and 47 percent in 2020-2025. Irrigation covers 1 percent of harvested cropland, and no solar or wind capacity operates or is proposed here.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$60/ac
2026 county average
AL median $46 · 16th highest of 59
Land and buildings
$5,032/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
AL median $3,400 · 12th highest of 67
Dry rent per bushel of corn
$0.40
$60 ÷ 151.7 bu, recent yield 2021–2025
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
142.4 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 151.7
AL median 142.4 · 8th lowest of 15
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$5.79
2016–2025, closed crop years
AL median $10.32 · 8th lowest of 53
Farmland rented
28%
2022 census, rented from others
AL median 26% · 25th highest of 67

Cash rent

$0$10$20$30$40$50$602010201520202025$34$60 dry

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$60/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+15.4%nominal, $52 to $60
Pasture, 2026$29/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.40$60 ÷ 151.7 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$5,032/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$3,790/ac
Census 2017$3,935/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+27.9%+5.0% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 40% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022202471.0175.5149.0median 142.4

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

Median, 2008–2025142.4 bu/ac18 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025151.7 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2008: 71.0 bu/ac50% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+3.6 bu/ac a year±2.2 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

2011201620210.181.330.831.00: 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$5.79
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.53claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.52$14.6 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium2 of 15
Worst year2016ratio 1.33
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 56% · excess moisture 32% · wind 3%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202534400

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, 2000–2025174 of 1,357 weeks13% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200740 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202516 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202668.1 °F1991–2020 normal 67.3 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.31 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September27.1 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 105% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger2.0 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20221%
Drained by tile, 20222% of cropland1,827 ac
Farmed no-till, 202240% of cropland34,502 ac
Cover crops, 20223% of cropland2,317 ac
198619911996200120062011201620214178,639176

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

CRP enrolled, 2025176 ac0.2% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20280 ac0% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$48/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Cattle and calves, 202255,742−11.3% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202228%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
DeKalb County$60—$5,032142.4$5.79
Cherokee County$95$172$3,646118.0$6.92
Etowah County$60—$5,646—$6.85
Jackson County$62—$3,511124.8$8.34
Marshall County$40—$5,745—$6.74
Chattooga County, GA$58—$5,305—$12.16
Dade County, GA$30—$4,527——
Walker County, GA$40—$5,860—$12.91
Median next door$58$172 1 co.$5,305121.4 2 co.$7.63

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. DeKalb 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/dekalb-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.