Farmland Atlas · county record

Barren County, Kentucky

Barren County, KY: non-irrigated cash rent $150 an acre (2026); land and buildings $4,912 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 174.5 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 21009. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Barren County sits at $150 per acre in 2026, up 20 percent from 2016. Land value reached $4,912 per acre in 2022, a change of 36.4 percent from 2017, and rent now runs at 3.11 percent of that value. Drought weeks stayed low, 54 of 1357 since 2000, and no solar or wind capacity operates or is proposed here.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$150/ac
2026 county average
KY median $125 · tied for 30th highest of 86
Land and buildings
$4,912/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
KY median $4,449 · 43rd highest of 114
Rent as % of land value
3.11%
$153 dry rent ÷ $4,912 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
174.5 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 182.8
KY median 161.4 · 13th highest of 50
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$24.60
2016–2025, closed crop years
KY median $8.45 · 4th highest of 86
Farmland rented
26%
2022 census, rented from others
KY median 25% · 55th highest of 115

Cash rent

$0$50$100$1502010201520202025$85$150 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$150/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+20.0%nominal, $125 to $150
Pasture, 2026$60/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.82$150 ÷ 182.8 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$4,912/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$2,945/ac
Census 2017$3,602/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+36.4%+6.4% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20223.11%$153 ÷ $4,912; cropland 54% of land in farms

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024128.0193.0174.8median 174.5

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

Median, 2008–2025174.5 bu/ac17 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025182.8 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2012: 64.6 bu/ac37% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+3.0 bu/ac a year±2.8 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

20102015202020252.643.631.041.00: 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$24.60
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.72claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.77$138.9 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium15 of 16
Worst year2016ratio 3.63
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 53% · heat and drought 33% · area plans 7%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250200

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, 2000–202554 of 1,357 weeks4% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200720 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20257 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202667.3 °F1991–2020 normal 66.2 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.40 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September27.2 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 110% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.6 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 cropland632 ac
Farmed no-till, 202231% of cropland38,724 ac
Cover crops, 202210% of cropland12,589 ac
198619911996200120062011201620213775,8771,544

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

CRP enrolled, 20251,544 ac1.4% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028692 ac45% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$234/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Cattle and calves, 202280,293−6.1% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202226%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Barren County$150$4,912174.5$24.60
Allen County$129$5,163—$27.09
Edmonson County$118$4,420162.2$10.07
Hart County$148$4,110153.7$15.13
Metcalfe County$180$3,990—$23.96
Monroe County$150$4,027—$34.84
Warren County$200$5,899177.3$6.93
Median next door$149$4,265162.2$19.55

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. Barren County, Kentucky. 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/kentucky/barren-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.