Whitley County, Kentucky
Whitley County, KY: non-irrigated cash rent $17 an acre (2026); land and buildings $2,970 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 114.0 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 21235. Figures as of 2026-09-20.
Non-irrigated cash rent in Whitley County is $17 per acre in 2026, down 38.2 percent from 2016. Land value, as operators estimate it, is $2,970 per acre in 2022, up 17.3 percent from 2017 to 2022, 3.2 percent a year. Corn yields have a median of 114 bushels per acre from 2008-2022, with 2012 the worst year at 99.1. July nights have warmed: the 1991-2020 normal is 64.6 F, the 2017-2026 average is 65.9 F, and the trend since 1976 runs 0.41 F per decade. The 2020s are the first decade with the July average low reaching 66 F. Drought has stayed low, with 4 weeks in severe drought or worse from 2021-2025.
KY median $125 · lowest of 86
KY median $4,449 · 15th lowest of 114
KY median 25% · 52nd lowest of 115
Cash rent
Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey; nothing is drawn across it.
Land value
Corn yield
Bushels per acre, USDA NASS county yields, all practices. The dashed line is the median of the published years.
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.
Drought and weather
Weeks per year, U.S. Drought Monitor, with half the county or more in D2 (severe) drought or worse.
Land, water and programs
Acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, USDA FSA, by fiscal year.
Next door
| County | Dry rent | Land value | Claims per $100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whitley County | $17 | $2,970 | — |
| Bell County | — | $2,647 | — |
| Knox County | $30 2024 | $3,690 | — |
| Laurel County | $33 | $4,682 | — |
| McCreary County | — | $3,161 | — |
| Campbell County, TN | $22 2025 | $5,131 | — |
| Claiborne County, TN | $29 | $4,395 | $9.63 |
| Median next door | $31 2 co. | $4,043 | $9.63 1 co. |
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. Whitley 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/whitley-countyEvery 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.