Farmland Atlas · county record

Pickens County, Alabama

Pickens County, AL: non-irrigated cash rent $50 an acre (2026); land and buildings $2,633 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 01107. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Pickens County averages $50 per acre in 2026, up 200 percent from 2016. Land value sits at $2,633 per acre, the operators' own estimate, up 4.2 percent from 2017 to 2022. July nights average 71.8 F over 2017-2026, against a 70.6 F normal for 1991-2020, and the long trend since 1976 runs 0.36 F per decade, warming. Crop insurance losses ran heavier in 2016-2025, with a loss ratio of 1.11 against 0.9 for the full 1989-2025 record, though excess moisture and flood, not heat, remains the largest cause of indemnities.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$50/ac
2026 county average
AL median $46 · tied for 25th highest of 59
Land and buildings
$2,633/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
AL median $3,400 · 17th lowest of 67
Rent as % of land value
—
not shown: about 15% 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
$10.05
2016–2025, closed crop years
AL median $10.32 · tied for 25th lowest of 53
Farmland rented
29%
2022 census, rented from others
AL median 26% · 21st highest of 67

Cash rent

$0$10$20$30$40$502010201520202025$17$50 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$50/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+200.0%nominal, $17 to $50
Pasture, 2025$18/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$2,633/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$2,068/ac
Census 2017$2,528/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+4.2%+0.8% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 15% 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$10.05
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.11claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.90$8.8 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 40% · heat and drought 27% · area plans 19%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202522394

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, 2000–2025120 of 1,357 weeks9% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200739 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202521 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202671.8 °F1991–2020 normal 70.6 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.36 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September26.5 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 114% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.9 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, 20221% of cropland265 ac
Farmed no-till, 20226% of cropland2,309 ac
Cover crops, 202223% of cropland9,218 ac
198619911996200120062011201620219039,4591,430

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

CRP enrolled, 20251,430 ac5% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028415 ac29% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$38/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Cattle and calves, 202217,284+26.2% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202229%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Pickens County$50—$2,633—$10.05
Fayette County$47—$2,541102.5$14.35
Greene County$26—$2,573—$42.77
Lamar County$41—$1,910—$13.33
Sumter County$20—$2,387——
Tuscaloosa County$46—$3,742132.2$6.07
Lowndes County, MS$48—$3,174157.8$12.93
Noxubee County, MS$81$194$3,616153.3$8.49
Median next door$46$194 1 co.$2,573142.8$13.13

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. Pickens 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/pickens-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.