Madison County, North Carolina
Madison County, NC: non-irrigated cash rent $74 an acre (2026); land and buildings $7,294 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 37115. Figures as of 2026-09-20.
Non-irrigated cash rent in Madison County runs $74 per acre, down 7.5 percent since 2014. Land value, by the operators' own estimate, stands at $7,294 per acre, up 47.1 percent from 2017 to 2022, 8 percent a year. Only 2 percent of harvested cropland is irrigated. Drought weeks were heavy in 2008, with 45 weeks that year, but 2021-2025 recorded zero weeks in severe drought or worse. Heat and drought caused 54 percent of indemnities in 1989-1999, 37 percent in 2000-2009, and 43 percent in 2010-2019. The July nightly low has warmed since 1976 at 0.61 F per decade, and the 2017-2026 average of 63.7 F sits above the 1991-2020 normal of 62.1 F.
NC median $80 · tied for 37th lowest of 85
NC median $5,711 · 21st highest of 92
NC median 35% · 3rd lowest of 94
Cash rent
Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey; nothing is drawn across it.
Land value
Corn yield
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.
Drought and weather
Weeks per year, U.S. Drought Monitor, with half the county or more in D2 (severe) drought or worse.
Land, water and programs
Acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, USDA FSA, by fiscal year.
Next door
| County | Dry rent | Irr. rent | Land value | Corn yield | Claims per $100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison County | $74 | — | $7,294 | — | — |
| Buncombe County | $46 | $210 2023 | $11,802 | — | — |
| Haywood County | $69 | $240 2024 | $8,046 | — | $13.88 |
| Yancey County | $45 | — | $6,261 | — | — |
| Cocke County, TN | $75 | $275 2024 | $6,181 | — | $5.58 |
| Greene County, TN | $57 | — | $6,423 | 146.3 | $3.66 |
| Unicoi County, TN | $59 | — | $10,994 | — | — |
| Median next door | $58 | — | $7,235 | 146.3 1 co. | $5.58 |
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. Madison 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/madison-countyEvery 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.