Farmland Atlas · county record

Person County, North Carolina

Person County, NC: non-irrigated cash rent $68 an acre (2026); land and buildings $4,957 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 98.0 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 37145. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Person County averages $68 per acre in 2026, up 66.7 percent from 2016. Irrigated rent runs $115 per acre, a multiple of 1.70 over non-irrigated, versus 1.92 in 2009, with no clear direction in that multiple over time. Only 3 percent of harvested cropland is irrigated, so most ground here depends on rainfall. Corn yields trend up 2.5 bushels per acre a year on published years 2008-2025, with a median of 98 bushels per acre and a worst year of 52.8 in 2012. Heat and drought's share of crop insurance indemnities has moved 43 percent, 58 percent, 36 percent, 30 percent across 1989-1999, 2000-2009, 2010-2019, and 2020-2025, and there were zero weeks of severe drought or worse from 2021-2025.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$68/ac
2026 county average
NC median $80 · 30th lowest of 85
Cash rent, irrigated
$115/ac
2026 county average
NC median $120 · 4th lowest of 8
Land and buildings
$4,957/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NC median $5,711 · 35th lowest of 92
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
98.0 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 120.4
NC median 114.8 · 2nd lowest of 49
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$18.32
2016–2025, closed crop years
NC median $14.91 · 23rd highest of 78
Farmland rented
40%
2022 census, rented from others
NC median 35% · 37th highest of 94

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$100$1202010201520202025$40$68 dry$58$115 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$68/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+66.7%nominal, $41 to $68
Irrigated, 2026$115/ac
Pasture, 2026$42/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.56$68 ÷ 120.4 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$4,957/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$3,797/ac
Census 2017$3,778/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+31.2%+5.6% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20221.08%$54 ÷ $4,957; cropland 60% of land in farms

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022202471.0168.6141.6median 98.0

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

Median, 2008–202598.0 bu/ac17 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025120.4 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2012: 52.8 bu/ac54% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+2.5 bu/ac a year±3.1 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

20072012201720223.041.191.00: 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$18.32
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.27claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.26$78.7 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium11 of 19
Worst year2007ratio 3.04
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 39% · excess moisture 25% · wind 12%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250440

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, 2000–202596 of 1,357 weeks7% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200244 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20250 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202668.3 °F1991–2020 normal 66.8 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.83 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September25.1 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 115% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.1 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20223%
Drained by tile, 2022none reported
Farmed no-till, 202241% of cropland21,729 ac
Cover crops, 20222% of cropland893 ac
198619911996200120062011201620211878221

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

CRP enrolled, 202521 ac
CRP expiring FY2026–202811 ac
Solar and wind operating, 202522.5 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 20226,782−3.2% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202240%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Person County$68$115$4,95798.0$18.32
Caswell County$42$92$4,006—$20.25
Durham County$47—$9,136—$17.20
Granville County$66$81 2023$4,36696.7$16.41
Orange County$45—$8,742123.6$14.70
Halifax County, VA$38—$3,199—$14.36
Median next door$45$92 1 co.$4,366110.2 2 co.$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. Person 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/person-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.