Farmland Atlas · county record

Aiken County, South Carolina

Aiken County, SC: non-irrigated cash rent $41 an acre (2026); land and buildings $5,606 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 100.0 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 45003. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Cash rent, non-irrigated
$41/ac
2026 county average
SC median $40 · 18th highest of 38
Cash rent, irrigated
$111/ac
2026 county average
SC median $111 · 4th lowest of 7
Land and buildings
$5,606/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
SC median $3,802 · 9th highest of 46
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
100.0 bu/ac
13 published years · irrigated and dryland combined
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$20.51
2016–2025, closed crop years
SC median $15.63 · 12th highest of 37
Farmland rented
16%
2022 census, rented from others
SC median 21% · 12th lowest of 46

Cash rent

$0$10$20$30$402010201520202025$30$41 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, 2026$41/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+76.1%nominal, $23 to $41
Irrigated, 2026$111/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$5,606/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$3,800/ac
Census 2017$3,767/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+48.8%+8.3% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 25% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022202448.0183.5181.9median 100.0

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

Median, 2008–2025100.0 bu/ac13 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Lowest published year2008: 48.0 bu/ac48% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+8.5 bu/ac a year±3.5 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

20082013201820231.161.900.191.00: 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$20.51
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.73claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.90$41.6 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium4 of 18
Worst year2009ratio 1.90
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025freeze 57% · heat and drought 14% · hail 9%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202525450

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, 2000–2025215 of 1,357 weeks16% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200245 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20250 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202671.7 °F1991–2020 normal 70.4 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.51 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September25.2 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 112% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.9 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202225%
Drained by tile, 20221% of cropland713 ac
Farmed no-till, 202224% of cropland13,180 ac
Cover crops, 202216% of cropland8,630 ac
198619911996200120062011201620216327,57567

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

CRP enrolled, 202567 ac
CRP expiring FY2026–20280 ac
Solar and wind operating, 202574.9 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 20229,085−7.2% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202216%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Aiken County$41$111$5,606—$20.51
Burke County, GA$48$182$2,857191.1$10.40
Richmond County, GA——$4,332——
Barnwell County$44$72$3,749—$6.64
Edgefield County$26 2025—$4,696—$33.09
Lexington County$33$120$6,537—$10.15
Orangeburg County$50$115$3,291139.6$10.36
Saluda County$33—$4,440—$32.48
Median next door$44$118$4,332165.4 2 co.$10.38

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. Aiken County, South 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/south-carolina/aiken-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.