Farmland Atlas · county record

Stanislaus County, California

Stanislaus County, CA: non-irrigated cash rent $55 an acre (2026); land and buildings $20,208 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 06099. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Irrigated land here rents for $450 per acre against $55 for non-irrigated ground, and 98 percent of harvested cropland is irrigated, so water access is the line that separates value in this county. Groundwater supplies 58 percent of irrigation water as of 2015. Crop insurance history runs $267.0 million in indemnities across closed crop years 1989-2025, with excess moisture and flood the largest cause at 43 percent, though heat and drought's share has moved from 2 percent in 1989-1999 to 9 percent in 2000-2009 to 16 percent in 2010-2019 and 16 percent in 2020-2025. The loss ratio over 2016-2025 is 1.14, above the 0.83 ratio for the full 1989-2025 record. July nights have warmed at 0.64 F per decade since 1976.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$55/ac
2026 county average
CA median $35 · 6th highest of 20
Cash rent, irrigated
$450/ac
2026 county average
CA median $431 · tied for 16th highest of 40
Land and buildings
$20,208/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
CA median $11,471 · 9th highest of 52
Corn yield, median
—
fewer than 8 published county corn yields
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$3.87
2016–2025, closed crop years
CA median $7.22 · 5th lowest of 42
Farmland rented
37%
2022 census, rented from others
CA median 43% · 16th lowest of 55

Cash rent

$0$100$200$300$4002010201520202025$59$55 dry$295$450 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$55/ac
Change 2014 to 2026+77.4%nominal, $31 to $55
Irrigated, 2026$450/ac
Pasture, 2026$29/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$20,208/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$9,636/ac
Census 2017$15,619/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+29.4%+5.3% 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

198919941999200420092014201920241.523.221.641.00: 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$3.87
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.14claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.83$267.0 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium9 of 37
Worst year2023ratio 3.22
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 43% · freeze 28% · heat and drought 13%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, 2000–2025357 of 1,357 weeks26% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201652 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202596 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202663.0 °F1991–2020 normal 61.4 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.64 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September1.8 in1991–2020 normal
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.0 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, 20226% of cropland24,467 ac
Farmed no-till, 20222% of cropland7,776 ac
Cover crops, 20224% of cropland16,294 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202107,9287,928

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

CRP enrolled, 20257,928 ac1.9% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$14/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Irrigation wells on record2,740California DWR well completion reports (new wells)
Median well depth300 ft
Solar and wind operating, 2025299.1 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 2022406,835−5.4% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202237%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueClaims per $100
Stanislaus County$55$450$20,208$3.87
Alameda County$27$566 2025$13,473$0.89
Calaveras County—$700$4,909—
Mariposa County$30—$4,306—
Merced County$33$411$16,527$3.54
San Joaquin County$80 2023$425$20,649$7.26
Santa Clara County$25 2024$823 2025$13,303$21.33
Tuolumne County$27 2025—$4,337—
Median next door$30$425$13,303$5.40

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. Stanislaus 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/stanislaus-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.