Farmland Atlas · county record

Butte County, California

Butte County, CA: non-irrigated cash rent $24 an acre (2023); land and buildings $13,981 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 06007. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Irrigated cash rent reached $437 per acre in 2026, and 98 percent of harvested cropland here is irrigated, drawing 95 percent of that water from groundwater.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$24/ac
2023 county average
too few 2023 county surveys in the state to compare
Cash rent, irrigated
$437/ac
2026 county average
CA median $431 · 20th highest of 40
Land and buildings
$13,981/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
CA median $11,471 · 16th highest of 52
Corn yield, median
—
fewer than 8 published county corn yields
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$7.03
2016–2025, closed crop years
CA median $7.22 · 20th lowest of 42
Farmland rented
40%
2022 census, rented from others
CA median 43% · 22nd lowest of 55

Cash rent

$0$100$200$300$400$5002010201520202025$41$24 dry$235$437 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, 2023$24/ac
Change 2013 to 2023−38.2%nominal, $38 to $24
Irrigated, 2026$437/ac
Pasture, 2026$20/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$13,981/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$7,599/ac
Census 2017$12,042/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+16.1%+3.0% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— NASS published no non-irrigated cash rent for this county in 2022

Corn yield

County corn yield— fewer than 8 published county corn yields

Crop insurance record

199019952000200520102015202020250.674.121.141.00: 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$7.03
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.85claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.22$282.0 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium12 of 36
Worst year2022ratio 4.12
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 43% · irrigation failure 19% · freeze 15%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250520

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, 2000–2025379 of 1,357 weeks28% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201552 weeks
Last five years, 2021–2025114 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202663.5 °F1991–2020 normal 61.4 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.74 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September6.7 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 81% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.1 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202298%
Drained by tile, 2022under 1% of cropland540 ac
Farmed no-till, 20222% of cropland3,277 ac
Cover crops, 20222% of cropland4,569 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202109540

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

CRP enrolled, 20250 ac
CRP average rental payment, FY2012$22/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Irrigation wells on record2,743California DWR well completion reports (new wells)
Median well depth275 ft
Solar and wind operating, 202510 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202219,927+39.9% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202240%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueClaims per $100
Butte County$24 2023$437$13,981$7.03
Colusa County—$375$11,119$8.07
Glenn County$24$246$10,262$7.36
Plumas County——$4,222—
Sutter County$38 2023$420$14,191$11.98
Tehama County$30$272$5,479$7.76
Yuba County—$365$11,174$8.60
Median next door$27 2 co.$365$10,691$8.07

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. Butte County, California. 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/california/butte-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.