Farmland Atlas · county record

Hardee County, Florida

Hardee County, FL: non-irrigated cash rent $14 an acre (2024); land and buildings $6,616 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 12049. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Irrigated ground covers 80 percent of harvested cropland here, and 99 percent of that water comes from groundwater, making aquifer access the central fact of this land. Non-irrigated cash rent fell down 50.9 percent from 2012 to 2024, landing at $14 per acre, while irrigated rent stood at $145 per acre in 2021. Land value reached $6,616 per acre in 2022, up 24 percent from 2017.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$14/ac
2024 county average
too few 2024 county surveys in the state to compare
Cash rent, irrigated
$145/ac
2021 county average
too few 2021 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$6,616/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
FL median $6,645 · 30th lowest of 61
Corn yield, median
—
fewer than 8 published county corn yields
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$5.08
2016–2025, closed crop years
FL median $6.45 · 18th lowest of 52
Farmland rented
24%
2022 census, rented from others
FL median 33% · 22nd lowest of 62

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$250$300201020152020$33$14 dry$160$145 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, 2024$14/ac
Change 2012 to 2024−50.9%nominal, $29 to $14
Irrigated, 2021$145/ac
Pasture, 2026$14/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$6,616/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$4,125/ac
Census 2017$5,337/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+24.0%+4.4% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 80% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), 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

1996200120062011201620210.055.093.801.00: 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$5.08
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.74claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.24$142.5 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium7 of 27
Worst year2023ratio 5.09
Largest causes of loss, 1990–2025wind 56% · excess moisture 16% · freeze 13%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

200020052010201520202025308

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, 2000–2025131 of 1,357 weeks10% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200030 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202519 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202673.6 °F1991–2020 normal 72.3 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.66 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September38.7 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 105% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.3 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202280%
Drained by tile, 20226% of cropland5,216 ac
Farmed no-till, 20222% of cropland1,958 ac
Cover crops, 20223% of cropland2,204 ac

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

CRP enrolled, 20250 ac
Solar and wind operating, 2025149.8 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202271,991−11.0% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202224%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueClaims per $100
Hardee County$14 2024—$6,616$5.08
DeSoto County$41 2025$191 2025$6,531$4.62
Highlands County$52 2023$352$5,657$3.95
Manatee County$41—$9,523$7.94
Polk County$26 2023$190 2023$7,140$4.54
Median next door$41 1 co.$352 1 co.$6,836$4.58

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. Hardee County, Florida. 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/florida/hardee-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.