Farmland Atlas · county record

Clarendon County, South Carolina

Clarendon County, SC: non-irrigated cash rent $54 an acre (2026); land and buildings $3,051 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 136.1 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 45027. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Clarendon County averages $54 per acre in 2026, up 27.4 percent from 2016. Irrigated land rents at $150 per acre in 2023, and the irrigated multiple over non-irrigated rent has moved from 1.73 in 2013 to 2.97 in 2023, a rising multiple. Irrigation water is 100 percent groundwater as of 2015. Corn yields carry a fitted trend of 4.3 bushels per acre a year across 2008-2025, with a median of 136.1 bushels per acre and a worst year of 57 in 2008. Heat and drought's share of crop insurance indemnities has moved 60 percent in 1989-1999, 52 percent in 2000-2009, 44 percent in 2010-2019, and 30 percent in 2020-2025.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$54/ac
2026 county average
SC median $40 · 6th highest of 38
Cash rent, irrigated
$150/ac
2023 county average
too few 2023 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$3,051/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
SC median $3,802 · 9th lowest of 46
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
136.1 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 153.7
SC median 119.2 · 2nd highest of 17
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$14.43
2016–2025, closed crop years
SC median $15.63 · 14th lowest of 37
Farmland rented
53%
2022 census, rented from others
SC median 21% · 3rd highest of 46

Cash rent

$0$50$100$1502010201520202025$32$54 dry$82$150 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$54/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+27.4%nominal, $42 to $54
Irrigated, 2023$150/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.35$54 ÷ 153.7 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$3,051/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,840/ac
Census 2017$2,274/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+34.2%+6.1% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20221.54%$47 ÷ $3,051; cropland 72% of land in farms

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022202457.0173.4153.7median 136.1

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

Median, 2008–2025136.1 bu/ac18 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025153.7 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2008: 57.0 bu/ac42% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+4.3 bu/ac a year±2.0 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

19952000200520102015202020250.673.770.441.00: 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$14.43
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.97claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.94$113.0 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium11 of 31
Worst year2015ratio 3.77
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 41% · excess moisture 27% · wind 13%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020257350

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, 2000–2025107 of 1,357 weeks8% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200235 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202510 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202672.2 °F1991–2020 normal 70.8 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.63 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September27.8 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 106% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.6 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 2022— NASS suppressed the irrigated acres to protect individual farms
Drained by tile, 20223% of cropland3,753 ac
Farmed no-till, 202237% of cropland41,318 ac
Cover crops, 20225% of cropland5,052 ac
19861991199620012006201120162021010,550855

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

CRP enrolled, 2025855 ac0.9% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028122 ac14% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$56/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 20258 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 20223,060−14.2% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202253%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Clarendon County$54$150 2023$3,051136.1$14.43
Berkeley County$27—$3,27985.1$49.36
Calhoun County$54$105$3,395—$5.81
Florence County$47—$3,382103.3$24.01
Orangeburg County$50$115$3,291139.6$10.36
Sumter County$50—$3,581134.8$11.71
Williamsburg County$40$56 2025$2,941105.0$23.25
Median next door$48$110 2 co.$3,337105.0$17.48

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. Clarendon 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/clarendon-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.