Farmland Atlas · county record

Durham County, North Carolina

Durham County, NC: non-irrigated cash rent $47 an acre (2026); land and buildings $9,136 an acre in the 2022 census, flagged to read with care. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 37063. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

Open on the map Compare Printable sheet

Non-irrigated cash rent for 2026 in Durham County stands at $47 per acre. Corn yield over 2008-2025 runs at a median of 110.5 bushels per acre, with 2024 at 30.8, the worst year in that span. Only 5 percent of harvested cropland was irrigated as of the 2022 census. July nightly lows have moved from a 1991-2020 normal of 67.9 F to 69.3 F over 2017-2026, part of a warming trend of 0.76 F per decade since 1976. Heat and drought has been the largest cause of crop insurance indemnities across 1989-2025 at 47 percent, though its share by period reads 49 percent, 59 percent, 43 percent, and 35 percent across 1989-1999, 2000-2009, 2010-2019, and 2020-2025.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$47/ac
2026 county average
NC median $80 · 14th lowest of 85
Land and buildings
$9,136/ac
2022 census · read with care: fell 14% from 2017 while next door rose a median 31%
Dry rent per bushel of corn
$0.41
$47 ÷ 115.7 bu, recent yield 2021–2025
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
110.5 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 115.7
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$17.20
2016–2025, closed crop years
NC median $14.91 · 30th highest of 78
Farmland rented
15%
2022 census, rented from others
NC median 35% · 5th lowest of 94

Cash rent

$0$10$20$30$40$5020222023202420252026$34$47 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$47/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.41$47 ÷ 115.7 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$9,136/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$8,578/ac
Census 2017$10,656/ac
Read with care— the 2022 census value fell 14% from 2017 while the 5 counties next door rose a median 31%. The census counts buildings and small residential farms, so the change since 2017, the rent-to-value ratio and the rank are withheld

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022202487.046.7109.5127.8111.4122.930.8112.8median 110.5

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

Median, 2008–2025110.5 bu/ac8 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025115.7 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2024: 30.8 bu/ac28% of median

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$17.20
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.10claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.27$4.7 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 47% · excess moisture 26% · other 14%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250410

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, 2000–2025105 of 1,357 weeks8% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200241 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20250 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202669.3 °F1991–2020 normal 67.9 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.76 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September25.7 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 114% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.9 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 cropland28 ac
Farmed no-till, 202218% of cropland1,239 ac
Cover crops, 202211% of cropland801 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202109170

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

CRP enrolled, 20250 ac
CRP expiring FY2026–20280 ac
Solar and wind operating, 202516.5 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 20223,048+74.2% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202215%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Durham County$47—$9,136—$17.20
Chatham County$41—$7,656—$26.63
Granville County$66$81 2023$4,36696.7$16.41
Orange County$45—$8,742123.6$14.70
Person County$68$115$4,95798.0$18.32
Wake County$83$91 2023$14,718—$15.99
Median next door$66$115 1 co.$7,65698.0$16.41

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. Durham 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/durham-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.