Farmland Atlas · county record

Hale County, Alabama

Hale County, AL: non-irrigated cash rent $53 an acre (2026); land and buildings $2,543 an acre in the 2022 census; crop insurance loss ratio 0.94 since 1989. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 01065. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Land value reached $2,543 per acre in 2022, rising 12.5 percent from 2017. Crop insurance indemnities ran $5.4 million over 1989-2025, with heat and drought accounting for 48 percent of that total; the share was 72 percent in 2000-2009 and 62 percent in 2010-2019.

Cash rent, non-irrigated

$53/ac

2026 county average
AL median $46 · 22nd highest of 59

Land and buildings

$2,543/ac

2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
AL median $3,400 · 13th lowest of 67

Rent as % of land value

—

not shown: about 11% of cropland is irrigated (USGS 2015 irrigated acres over 2022 harvested cropland), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield, median

—

fewer than 8 published county corn yields

Claims paid per $100 of coverage

$11.17

2016–2025, closed crop years
AL median $10.32 · 21st highest of 53

Farmland rented

26%

2022 census, rented from others
AL median 26% · 34th lowest of 67

Cash rent

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$53/ac

Change 2016 to 2026+56.7%nominal, $34 to $53

Pasture, 2026$32/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$2,543/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price

Census 2012$2,091/ac

Census 2017$2,260/ac

Change 2017 to 2022+12.5%+2.4% a year, nominal

Dry rent ÷ census value— about 11% of cropland is irrigated (USGS 2015 irrigated acres over 2022 harvested cropland), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

County corn yield— fewer than 8 published county corn yields

Crop insurance record

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$11.17

Loss ratio, 2016–20251.16claims ÷ total premium

Loss ratio, 1989–20250.94$5.4 million paid

Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 48% · excess moisture 27% · area plans 15%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

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, 2000–2025135 of 1,357 weeks10% of weeks

Year with the most D2+ weeks200740 weeks

Last five years, 2021–202526 weeks

July average of daily lows, 2017–202671.5 °F1991–2020 normal 70.9 °F

Trend in July lows since 1976+0.28 °F a decadewarming

Rain, April to September25.7 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 108% of it

Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.7 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

Farmed no-till, 20224% of cropland1,130 ac

Cover crops, 20224% of cropland1,217 ac

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

CRP enrolled, 2025649 ac3.6% of harvested cropland + CRP

CRP expiring FY2026–202823 ac4% of enrolled acres

CRP average rental payment, FY2025$36/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

Cattle and calves, 202225,067−13.0% since 2017

Farmland rented from others, 202226%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

County	Dry rent	Land value	Corn yield	Claims per $100
Hale County	$53	$2,543	—	$11.17
Bibb County	$24	$2,611	—	—
Greene County	$26	$2,573	—	$42.77
Marengo County	$40	$2,247	—	$19.02
Perry County	$46 2025	$2,354	—	$15.05
Tuscaloosa County	$46	$3,742	132.2	$6.07
Median next door	$33	$2,573	132.2 1 co.	$17.04

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. Hale 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/hale-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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