Farmland Atlas · county record

Jones County, North Carolina

Jones County, NC: non-irrigated cash rent $91 an acre (2025); land and buildings $3,602 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 109.0 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 37103. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Jones County is $91 per acre in 2025, up 9.6 percent from 2014. Land value fell over the same recent period, down 11.1 percent from 2017 to 2022, so rent has grown while the land under it lost value; cash rent is now 2.33 percent of land value. July nightly lows averaged 70.6 F in 2017-2026 against a 1991-2020 normal of 69.9 F, part of a warming trend of 0.55 F per decade since 1976.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$91/ac
2025 county average
too few 2025 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$3,602/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NC median $5,711 · 6th lowest of 92
Rent as % of land value
2.33%
$84 dry rent ÷ $3,602 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2008–2023 median
109.0 bu/ac
recent level 2019–2023: 114.7
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$26.43
2016–2025, closed crop years
NC median $14.91 · tied for 7th highest of 78
Farmland rented
54%
2022 census, rented from others
NC median 35% · 15th highest of 94

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$1002010201520202025$54$91 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, 2025$91/ac
Change 2014 to 2025+9.6%nominal, $83 to $91
Pasture, 2026$52/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.79$91 ÷ 114.7 bu, county yield 2019–2023

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$3,602/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$2,668/ac
Census 2017$4,054/ac
Change 2017 to 2022−11.1%−2.3% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20222.33%$84 ÷ $3,602; cropland 79% of land in farms

Corn yield

2008201020122014201620182020202225.0159.9median 109.0

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

Median, 2008–2023109.0 bu/ac13 published years
Recent level, 2019–2023114.7 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2008: 25.0 bu/ac23% of median
Trend, 2008–2023+4.5 bu/ac a year±4.7 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

1999200420092014201920242.772.860.721.00: claims equal premium

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$26.43
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.36claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.36$136.8 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium14 of 27
Worst year2018ratio 2.86
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 30% · excess moisture 29% · wind 28%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250153

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, 2000–202558 of 1,357 weeks4% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200715 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20254 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202670.6 °F1991–2020 normal 69.9 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.55 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September33.2 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 107% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.5 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, 20221% of cropland265 ac
Farmed no-till, 202251% of cropland26,733 ac
Cover crops, 20223% of cropland1,557 ac
198619911996200120062011201620218498215

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

CRP enrolled, 2025215 ac0.5% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028108 ac50% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$94/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 2025115.5 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 2022524−36.9% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202254%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Jones County$91 2025—$3,602—$26.43
Carteret County$88—$2,231—$12.22
Craven County$93—$3,063117.3$20.66
Duplin County$89$131$5,713112.5$13.47
Lenoir County$126—$4,327116.1$17.50
Onslow County$109—$6,189105.0$34.47
Median next door$93$131 1 co.$4,327114.3$17.50

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. Jones 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/jones-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.