Farmland Atlas · county record

Houston County, Alabama

Houston County, AL: non-irrigated cash rent $61 an acre (2026); land and buildings $3,685 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 136.4 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 01069. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Houston County averages $61 per acre, up 38.6 percent from 2016 to 2026. Irrigated cash rent runs $203 per acre in 2025, a multiple of 3.59 over non-irrigated, compared with 2.50 in 2009; the multiple shows no clear direction. Only 11 percent of harvested cropland is irrigated, and 82 percent of that irrigation water comes from groundwater. Crop insurance indemnities from 1989-2025 total $194.6 million, with heat and drought the largest cause at 59 percent; that share was 52 percent in 1989-1999, 69 percent in 2000-2009, 57 percent in 2010-2019, and 57 percent in 2020-2025. Census land value sits at $3,685 per acre in 2022, up 4.3 percent from 2017 to 2022.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$61/ac
2026 county average
AL median $46 · 15th highest of 59
Cash rent, irrigated
$203/ac
2025 county average
too few 2025 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$3,685/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
AL median $3,400 · 26th highest of 67
Corn yield, 2009–2025 median
136.4 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 163.4 · irrigated and dryland combined
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$20.54
2016–2025, closed crop years
AL median $10.32 · 6th highest of 53
Farmland rented
43%
2022 census, rented from others
AL median 26% · 5th highest of 67

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$2002010201520202025$45$61 dry$125$203 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$61/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+38.6%nominal, $44 to $61
Irrigated, 2025$203/ac
Pasture, 2026$29/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$3,685/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$2,604/ac
Census 2017$3,533/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+4.3%+0.8% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 11% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

20092011201320152017201920212023202583.0175.2111.8median 136.4

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

Median, 2009–2025136.4 bu/ac14 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Recent level, 2021–2025163.4 bu/ac4 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2009: 83.0 bu/ac61% of median
Trend, 2009–2025+3.3 bu/ac a year±2.8 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

198919941999200420092014201920241.355.780.951.00: 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$20.54
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.98claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.20$194.6 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium22 of 37
Worst year1990ratio 5.78
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 59% · excess moisture 23% · wind 10%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202537528

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, 2000–2025217 of 1,357 weeks16% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201152 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202524 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202672.7 °F1991–2020 normal 71.7 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.27 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September28.9 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 111% 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, 202211%
Drained by tile, 20222% of cropland2,140 ac
Farmed no-till, 202219% of cropland21,133 ac
Cover crops, 202210% of cropland11,057 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202113213,7282,797

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

CRP enrolled, 20252,797 ac3.2% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028724 ac26% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$62/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Cattle and calves, 202220,281−6.1% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202243%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Houston County$61$203 2025$3,685—$20.54
Dale County$55$72 2024$3,912122.2$13.20
Geneva County$60$158 2025$3,337—$22.81
Henry County$52$129 2025$3,328—$17.29
Jackson County, FL$58$164 2023$4,146—$26.42
Early County, GA$87$261$3,557—$16.45
Seminole County, GA$108$274$3,993206.1$13.24
Median next door$59$268 2 co.$3,735164.2 2 co.$16.87

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. Houston 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/houston-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.