Farmland Atlas · county record

Clay County, Georgia

Clay County, GA: non-irrigated cash rent $83 an acre (2026); land and buildings $3,401 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 191.3 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 13061. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Clay County runs $83 per acre in 2026, up 36.1 percent from 2016. Irrigated land rented for $173 per acre in 2020, a multiple of 3.06 over non-irrigated rent that year, compared with 2.94 in 2009, with no clear direction over that span. Heat and drought account for 61 percent of crop insurance indemnities since 1989, and that share moved from 49 percent in 1989-1999 to 69 percent in 2000-2009 to 69 percent in 2010-2019 to 53 percent in 2020-2025. Drought weeks at severe level or worse fell from a 2000-2025 share of 19.3 percent to 9 weeks in 2021-2025. Census land value stood at $3,401 per acre in 2022, up 43.7 percent from 2017, and irrigation covers 55 percent of harvested cropland.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$83/ac
2026 county average
GA median $58 · tied for 31st highest of 103
Cash rent, irrigated
$173/ac
2020 county average
too few 2020 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$3,401/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
GA median $4,057 · 42nd lowest of 135
Corn yield, 2008–2023 median
191.3 bu/ac
10 published years · irrigated and dryland combined
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$12.61
2016–2025, closed crop years
GA median $13.24 · 38th lowest of 85
Farmland rented
26%
2022 census, rented from others
GA median 24% · 53rd highest of 138

Cash rent

$0$50$100$1502010201520202025$51$83 dry$150$173 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$83/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+36.1%nominal, $61 to $83
Irrigated, 2020$173/ac
Pasture, 2023$40/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$3,401/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,654/ac
Census 2017$2,367/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+43.7%+7.5% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— NASS published no non-irrigated cash rent for this county in 2022

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022150.0194.0208.0195.4190.0180.0182.0201.7168.8192.7median 191.3

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

Median, 2008–2023191.3 bu/ac10 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Lowest published year2008: 150.0 bu/ac78% of median
Trend, 2008–2023+0.2 bu/ac a year±2.5 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

2011201620212.480.290.881.132.000.791.00: 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$12.61
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.16claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.14$28.4 million paid
Worst year2011ratio 2.48
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 61% · other 13% · excess moisture 12%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

200020052010201520202025525

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, 2000–2025262 of 1,357 weeks19% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201252 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20259 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202671.9 °F1991–2020 normal 71.1 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.32 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September26.7 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 106% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.0 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202255%
Cover crops, 20225% of cropland1,196 ac
19861991199620012006201120162021693,1531,783

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

CRP enrolled, 20251,783 ac9% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028152 ac9% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$73/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 2025106 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 20223,775+3.5% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202226%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Clay County$83—$3,401—$12.61
Barbour County, AL$59$131 2023$2,617—$10.05
Henry County, AL$52$129 2025$3,328—$17.29
Calhoun County$87$225$2,997216.2$10.51
Early County$87$261$3,557—$16.45
Quitman County——$3,653—$11.09
Randolph County$63$207$2,912—$9.77
Median next door$63$225$3,163216.2 1 co.$10.80

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. Clay 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/clay-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.