Farmland Atlas · county record

Darlington County, South Carolina

Darlington County, SC: non-irrigated cash rent $47 an acre (2026); land and buildings $2,794 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 111.2 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 45031. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Darlington County averages $47 per acre in 2026, up 16 percent from 2016. Irrigated cash rent runs $101 per acre in 2025, but irrigation covers only 4 percent of harvested cropland, with 68 percent of that water from groundwater as of 2015. Heat and drought account for 43 percent of crop insurance indemnities over 1989-2025, and the loss ratio over 2016-2025 is 0.98, close to breakeven on premium paid. The July nightly low has warmed from a 70.6 F normal to 72.2 F over 2017-2026, part of a 0.61 F per decade trend since 1976. Census land value sits at $2,794 per acre, up 7.6 percent from 2017 to 2022.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$47/ac
2026 county average
SC median $40 · tied for 12th highest of 38
Cash rent, irrigated
$101/ac
2025 county average
too few 2025 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$2,794/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
SC median $3,802 · 4th lowest of 46
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
111.2 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 118.0
SC median 119.2 · 7th lowest of 17
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$14.59
2016–2025, closed crop years
SC median $15.63 · 17th lowest of 37
Farmland rented
46%
2022 census, rented from others
SC median 21% · 5th highest of 46

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$1002010201520202025$33$47 dry$65$101 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$47/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+16.0%nominal, $41 to $47
Irrigated, 2025$101/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.40$47 ÷ 118.0 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$2,794/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$2,465/ac
Census 2017$2,596/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+7.6%+1.5% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20221.57%$44 ÷ $2,794; cropland 66% of land in farms

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022202446.0147.0122.7median 111.2

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

Median, 2008–2025111.2 bu/ac18 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025118.0 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2008: 46.0 bu/ac41% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+2.3 bu/ac a year±2.4 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

19952000200520102015202020250.584.470.461.00: 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$14.59
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.98claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.93$104.0 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium9 of 31
Worst year2002ratio 4.47
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 43% · excess moisture 30% · wind 14%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020253361

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, 2000–2025101 of 1,357 weeks7% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200236 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202514 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202672.2 °F1991–2020 normal 70.6 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.61 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September26.6 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 110% 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, 20224%
Drained by tile, 20229% of cropland9,951 ac
Farmed no-till, 202239% of cropland41,773 ac
Cover crops, 202210% of cropland10,361 ac
198619911996200120062011201620213986,081377

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

CRP enrolled, 2025377 ac0.4% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028160 ac42% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$35/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 202537.3 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 20222,858+0.9% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202246%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Darlington County$47$101 2025$2,794111.2$14.59
Chesterfield County$48—$3,318—$15.22
Florence County$47—$3,382103.3$24.01
Kershaw County——$3,888—$16.38
Lee County$52—$2,655131.8$11.15
Marlboro County$60—$2,752119.2$12.90
Median next door$50—$3,318119.2$15.22

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. Darlington 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/darlington-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.