Wayne County, North Carolina
Wayne County, NC: non-irrigated cash rent $134 an acre (2026); land and buildings $4,258 an acre in the 2022 census, flagged to read with care. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 37191. Figures as of 2026-09-20.
Non-irrigated cash rent in Wayne County averages $134 per acre for 2026, up 40.3 percent from 2016. Irrigation covers 2 percent of harvested cropland, so most of this rent tracks non-irrigated ground. Heat and drought drove 37 percent of crop insurance indemnities from 1989-2025, and this share was 29 percent in 1989-1999, 52 percent in 2000-2009, 33 percent in 2010-2019, and 37 percent in 2020-2025. The corn yield trend on 2008-2025 runs 2.4 bushels per acre a year, with a median of 107.2 bushels per acre and a worst year of 46 in 2008.
NC median $80 · 7th highest of 85
too few 2020 county surveys in the state to compare
NC median 114.8 · 14th lowest of 49
NC median $14.91 · 37th lowest of 78
NC median 35% · 11th highest 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
Bushels per acre, USDA NASS county yields, all practices. The dashed line is the median of the published years.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne County | $134 | — | $4,258 | 107.2 | $13.94 |
| Duplin County | $89 | $131 | $5,713 | 112.5 | $13.47 |
| Greene County | $136 | — | $4,677 | 104.5 | $15.84 |
| Johnston County | $114 | — | $6,813 | 104.5 | $15.48 |
| Lenoir County | $126 | — | $4,327 | 116.1 | $17.50 |
| Sampson County | $120 | $125 | $5,166 | 109.9 | $17.28 |
| Wilson County | $154 | — | $4,325 | 106.5 | $9.98 |
| Median next door | $123 | $128 2 co. | $4,922 | 108.2 | $15.66 |
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. Wayne 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/wayne-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.