Farmland Atlas · county record

Matagorda County, Texas

Matagorda County, TX: non-irrigated cash rent $62 an acre (2026); land and buildings $3,351 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 104.2 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 48321. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Cash rent, non-irrigated
$62/ac
2026 county average
TX median $27 · 6th highest of 189
Cash rent, irrigated
$69/ac
2026 county average
TX median $99 · 8th lowest of 43
Land and buildings
$3,351/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
TX median $2,782 · 105th highest of 246
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
104.2 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 112.3 · irrigated and dryland combined
TX median 90.7 · 12th highest of 34
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$24.64
2016–2025, closed crop years
TX median $29.48 · 70th lowest of 174
Farmland rented
52%
2022 census, rented from others
TX median 39% · 55th highest of 251

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$1002010201520202025$36$62 dry$58$69 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$62/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+41.4%nominal, $44 to $62
Irrigated, 2026$69/ac
Pasture, 2026$20/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$3,351/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,983/ac
Census 2017$2,397/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+39.8%+6.9% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 26% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022202475.0131.2median 104.2

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

Median, 2008–2025104.2 bu/ac18 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Recent level, 2021–2025112.3 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2011: 55.3 bu/ac53% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+2.4 bu/ac a year±1.4 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

19952000200520102015202020250.102.930.791.00: 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$24.64
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.37claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.43$297.4 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium17 of 31
Worst year1998ratio 2.93
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 32% · irrigation failure 32% · heat and drought 18%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202524392

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, 2000–2025228 of 1,357 weeks17% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201139 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202551 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202676.8 °F1991–2020 normal 75.7 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.54 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September25.3 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 114% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.3 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202226%
Drained by tile, 2022none reported
Farmed no-till, 20221% of cropland1,729 ac
Cover crops, 2022under 1% of cropland601 ac
198619911996200120062011201620210780

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

CRP enrolled, 20250 ac
Solar and wind operating, 20250 MW solar · 394.2 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202252,774−2.1% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202252%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Matagorda County$62$69$3,351104.2$24.64
Brazoria County$34$60$5,440—$16.30
Calhoun County$52—$3,34588.5$17.17
Jackson County$56—$4,107104.5$13.64
Wharton County$63$105$4,064113.8$15.83
Median next door$54$83 2 co.$4,086104.5$16.07

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. Matagorda 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/matagorda-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.