Farmland Atlas · county record

San Patricio County, Texas

San Patricio County, TX: non-irrigated cash rent $84 an acre (2026); land and buildings $3,388 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 81.4 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 48409. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in San Patricio County stands at $84 per acre for 2026, up 24.6 percent from 2016. Cropland here runs on rain: only 2 percent of harvested cropland is irrigated, and where irrigation exists, 98 percent of the water comes from groundwater. Corn yields show no trend either way from 2010-2025, with a median of 81.4 bushels per acre and a worst year of 34.9 in 2022. Crop insurance indemnities from 1989-2025 total $408.8 million, with heat and drought the largest cause at 83 percent; that share was 46 percent in 1989-1999, 97 percent in 2000-2009, 88 percent in 2010-2019, and 73 percent in 2020-2025. The county logged 312 of 1357 weeks in severe drought or worse from 2000-2025, with 56 of those weeks falling in 2021-2025.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$84/ac
2026 county average
TX median $27 · highest of 189
Land and buildings
$3,388/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
TX median $2,782 · 104th highest of 246
Rent as % of land value
2.05%
$70 dry rent ÷ $3,388 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2010–2025 median
81.4 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 76.8
TX median 90.7 · 10th lowest of 34
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$13.90
2016–2025, closed crop years
TX median $29.48 · 23rd lowest of 174
Farmland rented
75%
2022 census, rented from others
TX median 39% · 2nd highest of 251

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$802010201520202025$64$84 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$84/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+24.6%nominal, $67 to $84
Pasture, 2026$11/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$1.09$84 ÷ 76.8 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$3,388/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,597/ac
Census 2017$2,650/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+27.8%+5.0% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20222.05%$70 ÷ $3,388; cropland 73% of land in farms

Corn yield

20102012201420162018202020222024100.1104.181.4median 81.4

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

Median, 2010–202581.4 bu/ac15 published years
Recent level, 2021–202576.8 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2022: 34.9 bu/ac43% of median
Trend, 2010–20250.0 bu/ac a year±2.5 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

199019952000200520102015202020251.887.860.401.00: 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$13.90
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.76claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.18$408.8 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium12 of 36
Worst year2009ratio 7.86
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 83% · excess moisture 7% · wind 6%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202584918

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, 2000–2025312 of 1,357 weeks23% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200949 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202556 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202676.3 °F1991–2020 normal 75.8 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.36 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September19.0 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 105% 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, 20222%
Drained by tile, 2022none reported
Farmed no-till, 20221% of cropland2,108 ac
Cover crops, 2022under 1% of cropland18 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202102,1850

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

CRP enrolled, 20250 ac
Solar and wind operating, 2025150 MW solar · 1,050.3 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202212,462−19.8% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202275%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
San Patricio County$84—$3,38881.4$13.90
Aransas County——$1,831—$15.07
Bee County$56—$2,674—$21.95
Jim Wells County$31 2025—$2,446—$32.67
Live Oak County$20—$2,775—$26.49
Nueces County$70$71$2,963—$10.76
Refugio County$49—$2,528—$15.49
Median next door$52$71 1 co.$2,601—$18.72

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. San Patricio 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/san-patricio-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.