Farmland Atlas · county record

Avery County, North Carolina

Avery County, NC: non-irrigated cash rent $80 an acre (2026); land and buildings $8,717 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 37011. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

Open on the map Compare Printable sheet

Non-irrigated cash rent in Avery County runs $80 per acre, a figure the census puts at 0.8 percent of the $8,717 per acre operators report their land and buildings are worth. July nights average 59.8 F over 2017-2026, against a 1991-2020 normal of 58.5 F, and the county has never recorded a July average low at or above 70 F since 1900. Drought has been light lately: 3 weeks in severe drought or worse from 2021-2025, against 146 of 1357 weeks over 2000-2025, with 2008 the worst year at 45 weeks. Crop insurance losses from 1989-2014 total $538,252, led by freeze and frost at 35 percent, with heat and drought shares of 19 percent, 6 percent, and 5 percent across 1989-1999, 2000-2009, and 2010-2019.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$80/ac
2026 county average
NC median $80 · 43rd lowest of 85
Land and buildings
$8,717/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NC median $5,711 · 9th highest of 92
Rent as % of land value
0.8%
$70 dry rent ÷ $8,717 land and buildings, both 2022
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
19%
2022 census, rented from others
NC median 35% · 11th lowest of 94

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80202120222023202420252026$60$80 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$80/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$8,717/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$6,968/ac
Census 2017$6,494/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+34.2%+6.1% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20220.8%$70 ÷ $8,717; cropland 53% of land in farms

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.

Largest causes of loss, 1989–2014freeze 35% · excess moisture 27% · other 16%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202516450

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, 2000–2025146 of 1,357 weeks11% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200845 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20253 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202659.8 °F1991–2020 normal 58.5 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.39 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September30.7 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 106% 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, 20223%
Drained by tile, 20221% of cropland74 ac
Farmed no-till, 20223% of cropland370 ac
Cover crops, 20227% of cropland852 ac

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

CRP enrolled, 20250 ac
Cattle and calves, 2022783−52.9% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202219%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yield
Avery County$80—$8,717—
Burke County$43$220 2023$6,651103.5
Caldwell County$43 2024—$5,873—
McDowell County$67—$7,524—
Mitchell County$56—$6,687—
Watauga County$62—$8,870—
Carter County, TN$35—$6,540—
Johnson County, TN$30—$6,031—
Median next door$50—$6,651103.5 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. Avery 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/avery-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.