Farmland Atlas · county record

Cabarrus County, North Carolina

Cabarrus County, NC: non-irrigated cash rent $70 an acre (2026); land and buildings $9,055 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 125.2 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 37025. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Cabarrus County averages $70 per acre in 2026, up 25 percent from 2016. Corn yields show a fitted trend of 1.3 bushels per acre a year over 2008-2024, with a median of 125.2 bushels per acre and a worst year of 58.4 in 2015. Heat and drought caused 55 percent of $6.9 million in crop insurance indemnities across 1989-2025, and the loss ratio over 2016-2025 is 1.05, above the 1989-2025 figure of 0.92. Only 5 percent of harvested cropland is irrigated as of the 2022 census. July nightly lows have moved from a 68.4 F normal to a 69.1 F average over 2017-2026, part of a warming trend of 0.41 F per decade since 1976.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$70/ac
2026 county average
NC median $80 · 33rd lowest of 85
Land and buildings
$9,055/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NC median $5,711 · 6th highest of 92
Rent as % of land value
0.74%
$67 dry rent ÷ $9,055 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2008–2024 median
125.2 bu/ac
recent level 2020–2024: 135.9
NC median 114.8 · 14th highest of 49
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$9.20
2016–2025, closed crop years
NC median $14.91 · 23rd lowest of 78
Farmland rented
35%
2022 census, rented from others
NC median 35% · 47th highest of 94

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$802010201520202025$41$70 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$70/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+25.0%nominal, $56 to $70
Pasture, 2026$23/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.52$70 ÷ 135.9 bu, county yield 2020–2024

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$9,055/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$7,325/ac
Census 2017$8,709/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+4.0%+0.8% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20220.74%$67 ÷ $9,055; cropland 54% of land in farms

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024102.0166.066.7median 125.2

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

Median, 2008–2024125.2 bu/ac16 published years
Recent level, 2020–2024135.9 bu/ac4 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2015: 58.4 bu/ac47% of median
Trend, 2008–2024+1.3 bu/ac a year±3.2 (95% interval)

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.

Claims paid per $100 of coverage, 2016–2025$9.20
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.05claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.92$6.9 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 55% · excess moisture 31% · other 4%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202510460

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, 2000–2025148 of 1,357 weeks11% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200246 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20257 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202669.1 °F1991–2020 normal 68.4 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.41 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September24.4 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 110% 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, 20225%
Drained by tile, 2022under 1% of cropland66 ac
Farmed no-till, 202260% of cropland20,641 ac
Cover crops, 20221% of cropland490 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202151,6945

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

CRP enrolled, 20255 ac
CRP expiring FY2026–20280 ac
Solar and wind operating, 2025111.8 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202210,084−24.2% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202235%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Cabarrus County$70$9,055125.2$9.20
Iredell County$86$7,124—$7.99
Mecklenburg County—$27,096——
Rowan County$74$6,780114.8$7.25
Stanly County$83$5,580115.0$10.88
Union County$105$6,148109.4$7.29
Median next door$84$6,780114.8$7.64

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. Cabarrus 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/cabarrus-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.