Farmland Atlas · county record

Ashe County, North Carolina

Ashe County, NC: non-irrigated cash rent $92 an acre (2026); land and buildings $6,859 an acre in the 2022 census; crop insurance loss ratio 2.95 since 1989. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 37009. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Ashe County averages $92 per acre, up 1.7 percent from 2016 to 2026. Land and buildings carry a census value of $6,859 per acre, with the 2017-2022 change at 30.4 percent, 5.5 percent a year. The July nightly low has moved from a 58.1 F normal to 59.4 F over 2017-2026, part of a warming trend of 0.43 F per decade since 1976. Drought has been light in recent years: 4 weeks in severe drought or worse from 2021-2025, against 112 of 1357 weeks countywide since 2000. Heat and drought's share of crop insurance indemnities has swung across periods, from 48 percent in 1989-1999 to 31 percent in 2000-2009, 64 percent in 2010-2019, and 1 percent in 2020-2025.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$92/ac
2026 county average
NC median $80 · 35th highest of 85
Cash rent, irrigated
$235/ac
2023 county average
too few 2023 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$6,859/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NC median $5,711 · 27th highest of 92
Corn yield, median
—
fewer than 8 published county corn yields
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
—
under the premium floor for a figure
Farmland rented
24%
2022 census, rented from others
NC median 35% · 21st lowest of 94

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$1002010201520202025$60$92 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$92/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+1.7%nominal, $90 to $92
Irrigated, 2023$235/ac
Pasture, 2026$33/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$6,859/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$5,687/ac
Census 2017$5,258/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+30.4%+5.5% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 38% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield

County corn yield— fewer than 8 published county corn yields

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. 2026, still open, is left out.

Loss ratio, 1989–20252.95$7.3 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 34% · excess moisture 32% · other 30%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202510320

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, 2000–2025112 of 1,357 weeks8% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200832 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20254 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202659.4 °F1991–2020 normal 58.1 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.43 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September29.6 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 113% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.3 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 cropland965 ac
Farmed no-till, 20228% of cropland2,380 ac
Cover crops, 20222% of cropland493 ac

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

CRP enrolled, 20250 ac
Cattle and calves, 20229,152−47.3% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202224%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueClaims per $100
Ashe County$92$235 2023$6,859—
Alleghany County$99—$5,959—
Watauga County$62—$8,870—
Wilkes County$62—$5,664$22.85
Johnson County, TN$30—$6,031—
Grayson County, VA$70—$4,673—
Median next door$62—$5,959$22.85 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. Ashe County, North Carolina. 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/north-carolina/ashe-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.