Farmland Atlas · county record

Frio County, Texas

Frio County, TX: non-irrigated cash rent $41 an acre (2026); land and buildings $2,702 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 143.8 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 48163. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Irrigated cropland in Frio County rents for $173 per acre in 2026, against $41 per acre for non-irrigated land. That multiple has moved from 2.17 in 2009 to 4.22 in 2026, and the direction is rising. Irrigation covers 77 percent of harvested cropland, all of it from groundwater as of 2015. Heat and drought is the largest cause of crop insurance indemnities across 1989-2025, at 35 percent, and its share has moved from 26 percent in 1989-1999, to 36 percent in 2000-2009, to 38 percent in 2010-2019, to 58 percent in 2020-2025. The county spent 134 weeks in severe drought or worse from 2021-2025. Census land value rose 46.2 percent from 2017 to 2022, reaching $2,702 per acre.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$41/ac
2026 county average
TX median $27 · 36th highest of 189
Cash rent, irrigated
$173/ac
2026 county average
TX median $99 · 3rd highest of 43
Land and buildings
$2,702/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
TX median $2,782 · 121st lowest of 246
Corn yield, 2009–2024 median
143.8 bu/ac
12 published years · irrigated and dryland combined
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$6.81
2016–2025, closed crop years
TX median $29.48 · 2nd lowest of 174
Farmland rented
32%
2022 census, rented from others
TX median 39% · 74th lowest of 251

Cash rent

$0$50$100$1502010201520202025$36$41 dry$78$173 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$41/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+95.2%nominal, $21 to $41
Irrigated, 2026$173/ac
Pasture, 2026$7/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$2,702/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$2,043/ac
Census 2017$1,848/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+46.2%+7.9% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— NASS published no non-irrigated cash rent for this county in 2022

Corn yield

20092011201320152017201920212023111.7144.8144.0141.9134.9151.3151.2150.0111.8143.7147.7134.8median 143.8

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

Median, 2009–2024143.8 bu/ac12 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Lowest published year2009: 111.7 bu/ac78% of median
Trend, 2009–2024+0.4 bu/ac a year±2.0 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

1995200020052010201520201.103.571.781.00: 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$6.81
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.90claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.03$58.0 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium10 of 27
Worst year1999ratio 3.57
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 35% · excess moisture 25% · other 21%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

200020052010201520202025195252

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, 2000–2025454 of 1,357 weeks34% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200652 weeks
Last five years, 2021–2025134 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202673.9 °F1991–2020 normal 72.9 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.57 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September14.8 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 96% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.0 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202277%
Farmed no-till, 20223% of cropland3,178 ac
Cover crops, 20226% of cropland6,835 ac
198619911996200120062011201620218338,865301

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

CRP enrolled, 2025301 ac0.5% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20280 ac0% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$27/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 2025332.4 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202252,999−2.3% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202232%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Frio County$41$173$2,702—$6.81
Atascosa County$19$140 2025$2,767—$15.42
Dimmit County——$1,777——
La Salle County——$2,050——
Medina County$21$102$3,805117.1$14.60
Zavala County$23$51$2,156—$22.12
Median next door$21$76 2 co.$2,156117.1 1 co.$15.42

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. Frio County, Texas. 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/texas/frio-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.