Farmland Atlas · county record

Orange County, North Carolina

Orange County, NC: non-irrigated cash rent $45 an acre (2026); land and buildings $8,742 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 123.6 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 37135. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Cash rent, non-irrigated
$45/ac
2026 county average
NC median $80 · tied for 9th lowest of 85
Cash rent, irrigated
$75/ac
2020 county average
too few 2020 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$8,742/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NC median $5,711 · 8th highest of 92
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
123.6 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 153.9
NC median 114.8 · 15th highest of 49
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$14.70
2016–2025, closed crop years
NC median $14.91 · 39th lowest of 78
Farmland rented
26%
2022 census, rented from others
NC median 35% · 24th lowest of 94

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$802010201520202025$43$45 dry$40$75 irrigated

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$45/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+50.8%nominal, $30 to $45
Irrigated, 2020$75/ac
Pasture, 2026$35/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.29$45 ÷ 153.9 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$8,742/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$6,693/ac
Census 2017$6,686/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+30.8%+5.5% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 39% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024107.0171.0165.5median 123.6

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

Median, 2008–2025123.6 bu/ac17 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025153.9 bu/ac4 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2012: 69.3 bu/ac56% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+4.0 bu/ac a year±2.2 (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$14.70
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.20claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.06$13.9 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 45% · excess moisture 29% · wind 9%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250420

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, 2000–2025117 of 1,357 weeks9% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200242 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20250 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202668.9 °F1991–2020 normal 67.6 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.71 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September25.6 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 115% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.7 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20224%
Drained by tile, 20221% of cropland108 ac
Farmed no-till, 202223% of cropland4,776 ac
Cover crops, 20224% of cropland813 ac
198619911996200120062011201620211543417

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

CRP enrolled, 202517 ac
CRP expiring FY2026–20283 ac
Solar and wind operating, 202518 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 20226,271−40.4% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202226%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Orange County$45—$8,742123.6$14.70
Alamance County$53—$8,217120.8$20.75
Caswell County$42$92$4,006—$20.25
Chatham County$41—$7,656—$26.63
Durham County$47—$9,136—$17.20
Person County$68$115$4,95798.0$18.32
Median next door$47$104 2 co.$7,656109.4 2 co.$20.25

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. Orange 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/orange-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.