Farmland Atlas · county record

Saluda County, South Carolina

Saluda County, SC: non-irrigated cash rent $33 an acre (2026); land and buildings $4,440 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 69.0 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 45081. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Cash rent, non-irrigated

$33/ac

2026 county average
SC median $40 · tied for 13th lowest of 38

Land and buildings

$4,440/ac

2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
SC median $3,802 · 17th highest of 46

Rent as % of land value

—

not shown: about 29% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield, 2008–2024 median

69.0 bu/ac

13 published years · irrigated and dryland combined

Claims paid per $100 of coverage

$32.48

2016–2025, closed crop years
SC median $15.63 · 3rd highest of 37

Farmland rented

19%

2022 census, rented from others
SC median 21% · 19th lowest of 46

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.

Non-irrigated, 2026$33/ac

Change 2016 to 2026+57.1%nominal, $21 to $33

Pasture, 2026$27/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$4,440/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price

Census 2012$2,853/ac

Census 2017$3,093/ac

Change 2017 to 2022+43.5%+7.5% a year, nominal

Dry rent ÷ census value— about 29% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

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

Median, 2008–202469.0 bu/ac13 published years, irrigated and dryland combined

Lowest published year2008: 38.0 bu/ac55% of median

Trend, 2008–2024+2.3 bu/ac a year±3.0 (95% interval)

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.

Claims paid per $100 of coverage, 2016–2025$32.48

Loss ratio, 2016–20250.67claims ÷ total premium

Loss ratio, 1989–20250.92$93.6 million paid

Years claims exceeded premium11 of 24

Worst year2007ratio 4.25

Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025freeze 72% · hail 15% · other 4%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

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, 2000–2025233 of 1,357 weeks17% of weeks

Year with the most D2+ weeks200246 weeks

Last five years, 2021–20255 weeks

July average of daily lows, 2017–202670.9 °F1991–2020 normal 69.9 °F

Trend in July lows since 1976+0.51 °F a decadewarming

Rain, April to September23.0 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, 202229%

Farmed no-till, 20229% of cropland2,839 ac

Cover crops, 20222% of cropland676 ac

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

CRP enrolled, 2025775 ac2.9% of harvested cropland + CRP

CRP expiring FY2026–20280 ac0% of enrolled acres

CRP average rental payment, FY2025$19/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

Solar and wind operating, 2025160.1 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860

Cattle and calves, 202225,964+16.9% since 2017

Farmland rented from others, 202219%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

County	Dry rent	Irr. rent	Land value	Claims per $100
Saluda County	$33	—	$4,440	$32.48
Aiken County	$41	$111	$5,606	$20.51
Edgefield County	$26 2025	—	$4,696	$33.09
Greenwood County	$15	—	$3,514	—
Lexington County	$33	$120	$6,537	$10.15
Newberry County	$35 2025	—	$3,891	$10.91
Median next door	$33	$116 2 co.	$4,696	$15.71

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. Saluda 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/saluda-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.

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