County farm facts

Austin County, Texas

Austin County, TX: non-irrigated cash rent $38 an acre (2026); land and buildings $6,189 an acre in the 2022 census; corn 14-yr trend 94.1 bu/ac. Bids, weather, crops, land and programs for one county. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 48015. Figures as of Oct 19, 2026; the rows marked with a date load the newest reading when the page opens.

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Stands out against its own record

$38

Non-irrigated cash rent, 2026: the highest of 16 surveys since 2008; up 65% from $23 in 2016.

USDA NASS Cash Rents Survey, 2026

As of Oct 16, cash rent in Austin County runs $38 an acre for 2026, 42nd highest of 190 counties in Texas and above the state median of $27. That rent is up 65.2% from $23 in 2016. The census value of land and buildings was $6,189 an acre in 2022, up 58.4% from $3,906 in 2017 and 17th highest of 246. Corn came in at 99.8 bu in 2025, against a 14 year trend of 94.1 bu.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$38/ac
2026 county average
TX median $27 · 42nd highest of 190
Land and buildings
$6,189/ac
2022: operators' own estimate of what land and buildings were worth · TX farm real estate 2026: $3,100 (land and buildings, state survey)
TX median $2,782 · 17th highest of 246
Dry rent per bushel of corn
$0.40
$38 ÷ 94.1 bu, 14-yr trend (projected 2026)
Corn yield, 14-yr trend (projected 2026)
94.1 bu/ac
all practices trend · 2025 county yield 99.8 (all practices)
TX median 94.0 · tied for 12th highest of 26
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$16.61
2016–2025, closed crop years
TX median $29.48 · 41st lowest of 174
Farmland rented
36%
2022 census, rented from others
TX median 39% · 99th lowest of 251
Open on the map Compare Texas cash rent by county

Grain and prices within 50 miles

Corn bid
Soybean bid
Corn basis
Soybean basis
Corn futures
Soybean futures
Hay, Texas price received

Bids are posted elevator prices within 50 miles of the county middle, or of your own field or saved place in this county when this device has one (each row says which), best and nearest, never a buyer's name. Not a contract; call before you haul. Livestock lines show where the 2022 Census counts 1,000 head or more: milk for milk cows, feeder cattle for beef cows, live cattle for cattle on feed, hogs for hogs, hay for all cattle.

Texas cash bids by town · Bids from your own ZIP or farm, in Fast Facts

Weather and the season

Rain since Jan 1
Drought this week
Hail, last 30 days

Rain so far this year in Austin County, Texas

Drought, year by year

200020052010201520202025195210

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, 2000–2025238 of 1,357 weeks18% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201152 weeks
Last five full years, 2021–202553 weeks
2026 so far17 weekshalf the county or more in D2, 40 weekly maps
July average of daily lows, 2017–202675.3 °F1991–2020 normal 73.8 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.72 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September, usual23.5 in1991–2020 county normal, NOAA; the 2017–2026 seasons averaged 23.7 in
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.4 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail
Corn growing degree days, May to September4,335middle of 1996–2025; 2016–2025 averaged 4,442

Crops

Corn harvested
Soybeans harvested

Corn yield

2010201220142016201820202022202486.7108.0127.388.099.8median 91.2

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

14-yr trend (projected 2026)94.1 bu/acall practices county yields, 9 years, R² 0.02; the figure rent per bushel uses
2025 county yield99.8 bu/acall practices
Median, 2010–202591.2 bu/ac11 published years
Lowest published year2011: 19.5 bu/ac21% of median
Trend, 2010–2025+1.6 bu/ac a year±3.9 (95% interval)

Land rent, value, sales

Cash rent

$0$10$20$30$402010201520202025$25$38 dry

Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey.

Every published Texas county rate, side by side: Texas cash rent by county.

Non-irrigated, 2026$38/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+65.2%nominal, $23 to $38
Pasture, 2025$13/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.40$38 ÷ 94.1 bu, 14-yr trend (projected 2026), all practices
Rent as a share of corn gross, 20255.0%$23 non-irrigated rent 2025 ÷ (99.8 bu, 2025 county yield, all practices × $4.60 Texas price received); the county reports no irrigated corn; the 2025 price is preliminary

Share of gross is a past year, all observed: that year's rent, that year's county corn yield of the same practice and the state price received, USDA NASS. Rent per bushel uses this year's rent over the 14-yr trend. The calculator below starts from that trend and lets you put in your own yield and price.

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$6,189/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$4,086/ac
Census 2017$3,906/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+58.4%+9.6% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census valueCropland is 19% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland
Texas cropland, 2026 state survey$2,790/ac+3.0% from 2025 · USDA NASS Land Values, state average
Texas farm real estate, 2026$3,100/acland and buildings, state average
Texas pasture, 2026$2,420/acstate average

The census value is this county's, from 2022. The survey figures are the Texas average for 2026, from the USDA NASS Land Values report. NASS publishes that survey by state, not by county, so this page does not scale one into the other.

Programs and risk

ARC or PLC sign-up

Benchmarks, payments and the choice for each crop: ARC or PLC in Austin County.

Insuring pasture or hay? PRF rainfall insurance for pasture and hay in Austin County: its grids, county values and record are on the county PRF page.

Crop insurance record

Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 2023 with at least $1,000,000 of premium; a year under that has no bar and no ratio. 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$16.61
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.00claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.95$13.7 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1990–2025heat and drought 47% · excess moisture 33% · wind 13%share of dollars paid

Conservation Reserve Program

1986199119962001200620112016202107154

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

CRP enrolled, 202554 ac
CRP expiring FY2027–20290 ac0% of enrolled acres

What farms here look like

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20224%
Drained by tile, 20221% of cropland303 ac
Farmed no-till, 20224% of cropland2,004 ac
Cover crops, 20221% of cropland488 ac
Solar and wind operating, 202510 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202261,617−2.5% since 2017
Hogs and pigs, 2022161head, Census of Agriculture
Farmland rented from others, 202236%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

USDA Census of Agriculture 2022, except wells (state well register) and power (EIA Form 860).

Watch this county

Get an email when the published figures for Austin County, Texas change. Usually once or twice a year. You confirm by email first, and every email has a one-tap stop. AGSIST, PO Box 243, Chetek, WI 54728.

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yield, medianClaims per $100
Austin County$38n/a$6,189n/a$16.61
Colorado County$57$106$4,396102.2$22.74
Fayette County$26n/a$5,48186.1$8.91
Fort Bend County$42$98 2023$4,398105.2$13.28
Waller County$45$65 2024$5,777n/a$14.29
Washington County$29n/a$4,646n/a$29.66
Wharton County$63$105$4,064113.8$15.83
Median next door$43$106 2 co.$4,522103.7$15.06

Counties that share a stretch of boundary. A rent from an older survey year carries its year and stays out of the median; one more than three survey years old shows n/a. The corn median here needs 15 published years, so a county with fewer shows n/a even where its own page gives a median.

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Cite this page

AGSIST Farmland Atlas. Austin County, Texas. Figures as of Oct 19, 2026, from USDA NASS, USDA RMA, USDA FSA, the U.S. Drought Monitor and NOAA. https://agsist.com/farmland-atlas/texas/austin-county
Every figure is a county average from the sources named below. Rent ranks count every county with a published rent in the same survey year, within the state (the same counties as the state rent page); other ranks count counties with 10,000 acres or more in farms. 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.

This product uses the NASS API but is not endorsed or certified by NASS. Averages, trends, ranks and estimates are calculations by AGSIST.

Rent: USDA NASS Cash Rents Survey, county. Land value: Census of Agriculture, operators' estimate of land and buildings. Yield: NASS county corn yields. The headline trend, the one rent per bushel uses, is fitted here over the published years in the 15 years ending this year; the yearly trend card uses 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. Claims paid per $100 of coverage: claims divided by liability (the insured value), times 100, same source. 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 missing figure is named with its reason (in a table it reads n/a).