Farmland Atlas · county record

Milam County, Texas

Milam County, TX: non-irrigated cash rent $48 an acre (2026); land and buildings $4,490 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 82.3 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 48331. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Milam County runs $48 per acre, up 6.7 percent from 2016 to 2026. Heat and drought drove 59 percent of crop insurance indemnities from 1989-2025, and that share has moved from 88 percent in 1989-1999 down to 53 percent in 2000-2009, then up to 55 percent in 2010-2019 and 58 percent in 2020-2025. The July nightly low averaged 74.3 F over 2017-2026 against a 1991-2020 normal of 72.8 F, with a warming trend of 0.68 F per decade since 1976. Only 3 percent of harvested cropland is irrigated, and drought hit 52 weeks in 2011 alone, against 23 weeks over 2021-2025. Land value rose 42 percent from 2017 to 2022, 7.3 percent a year, reaching $4,490 per acre.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$48/ac
2026 county average
TX median $27 · tied for 21st highest of 189
Land and buildings
$4,490/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
TX median $2,782 · 53rd highest of 246
Dry rent per bushel of corn
$0.48
$48 ÷ 99.8 bu, recent yield 2020–2024
Corn yield, 2008–2024 median
82.3 bu/ac
recent level 2020–2024: 99.8
TX median 90.7 · 11th lowest of 34
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$13.60
2016–2025, closed crop years
TX median $29.48 · 20th lowest of 174
Farmland rented
42%
2022 census, rented from others
TX median 39% · 107th highest of 251

Cash rent

$0$10$20$30$40$502010201520202025$34$48 dry

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$48/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+6.7%nominal, $45 to $48
Pasture, 2026$24/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.48$48 ÷ 99.8 bu, county yield 2020–2024

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$4,490/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$3,581/ac
Census 2017$3,163/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+42.0%+7.3% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 27% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022202460.0118.8114.1median 82.3

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

Median, 2008–202482.3 bu/ac17 published years
Recent level, 2020–202499.8 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2011: 28.7 bu/ac35% of median
Trend, 2008–2024+2.8 bu/ac a year±2.2 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

200120062011201620213.050.131.00: 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$13.60
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.78claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.92$70.4 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium8 of 25
Worst year2001ratio 3.05
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 59% · excess moisture 24% · other 5%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202519521

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, 2000–2025263 of 1,357 weeks19% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201152 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202523 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202674.3 °F1991–2020 normal 72.8 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.68 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September18.7 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 116% 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, 20223%
Drained by tile, 2022none reported
Farmed no-till, 20225% of cropland6,513 ac
Cover crops, 20224% of cropland5,887 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202104340

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

CRP enrolled, 20250 ac
Solar and wind operating, 2025990 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202299,601+24.2% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202242%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Milam County$48—$4,49082.3$13.60
Bell County$46—$4,58780.4$14.88
Burleson County$24 2025—$4,731102.9$11.36
Falls County$33—$3,68988.5$14.12
Lee County$13—$5,061——
Robertson County$11 2025$98$3,500—$8.67
Williamson County$48—$4,81486.1$9.75
Median next door$39$98 1 co.$4,65987.3$11.36

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. Milam 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/milam-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.