Farmland Atlas · county record

Ben Hill County, Georgia

Ben Hill County, GA: non-irrigated cash rent $95 an acre (2026); land and buildings $3,024 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 172.6 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 13017. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Irrigated land in Ben Hill County rents for $273 per acre in 2026, against $95 per acre non-irrigated. That gap has widened: the irrigated multiple was 2.31 in 2009 and is 2.87 in 2026, and the direction is rising. Corn yields have a median of 172.6 bushels per acre from 2010-2024, with 2014 the worst year at 135.8. Heat and drought drove 36 percent of crop insurance indemnities from 1989-2025, though that share fell across 1989-1999, 2000-2009, and 2010-2019 before dropping further to 13 percent in 2020-2025. Weeks in severe drought or worse ran 203 of 1357 from 2000-2025, with zero such weeks in 2021-2025. Land value rose 22.5 percent from 2017-2022, at 4.1 percent a year.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$95/ac
2026 county average
GA median $58 · tied for 22nd highest of 103
Cash rent, irrigated
$273/ac
2026 county average
GA median $231 · 4th highest of 39
Land and buildings
$3,024/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
GA median $4,057 · 25th lowest of 135
Corn yield, 2010–2024 median
172.6 bu/ac
8 published years · irrigated and dryland combined
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$17.35
2016–2025, closed crop years
GA median $13.24 · 22nd highest of 85
Farmland rented
12%
2022 census, rented from others
GA median 24% · 18th lowest of 138

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$250$3002010201520202025$49$95 dry$113$273 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$95/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+21.0%nominal, $79 to $95
Irrigated, 2026$273/ac
Pasture, 2024$39/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$3,024/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$2,536/ac
Census 2017$2,469/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+22.5%+4.1% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 63% 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

20102012201420162018202020222024142.0185.9176.1135.8169.2229.1187.9154.1median 172.6

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

Median, 2010–2024172.6 bu/ac8 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Lowest published year2014: 135.8 bu/ac79% of median

Crop insurance record

2011201620211.934.290.751.00: 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$17.35
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.82claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.48$43.9 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium8 of 13
Worst year2024ratio 4.29
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 36% · wind 24% · excess moisture 17%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202543450

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, 2000–2025203 of 1,357 weeks15% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201145 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20250 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202672.6 °F1991–2020 normal 71.4 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.50 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September24.8 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 110% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.4 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, 20223% of cropland475 ac
Farmed no-till, 20223% of cropland472 ac
Cover crops, 20222% of cropland390 ac
198619911996200120062011201620211443,1091,039

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

CRP enrolled, 20251,039 ac7.4% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028168 ac16% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$99/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Cattle and calves, 20221,597−49.4% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202212%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Ben Hill County$95$273$3,024—$17.35
Coffee County$108$231$4,133158.6$17.86
Irwin County$113$220$3,053175.6$17.14
Telfair County$59 2024—$2,451—$23.77
Turner County$91$284$3,300—$10.66
Wilcox County$125$205$2,832—$9.77
Median next door$111$226$3,053167.1 2 co.$17.14

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. Ben Hill County, Georgia. 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/georgia/ben-hill-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.