Barnstable County, Massachusetts
Barnstable County, MA: non-irrigated cash rent $38 an acre (2026); land and buildings $58,917 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 25001. Figures as of 2026-09-20.
Barnstable County had 3,956 acres in farms in the 2022 census. County averages here describe very little farmland; read them with care.
Non-irrigated cash rent here runs $38 per acre, but irrigated land rents at $433 per acre. Cropland leans on that irrigation: 87 percent of harvested cropland is irrigated, with 83 percent of that water coming from groundwater as of 2015. Land value climbed 92.8 percent over 2017-2022, 14 percent a year, and the operators' own 2022 estimate puts land and buildings at $58,917 per acre. Heat and drought's share of crop insurance indemnities has moved from 6 percent in 1989-1999, to 5 percent in 2000-2009, to 12 percent in 2010-2019, to 23 percent in 2020-2025.
MA median $82
MA median $268
MA median $14,377
MA median $12.15
MA median 15%
Cash rent
Land value
Corn yield
Crop insurance record
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.
Drought and weather
Weeks per year, U.S. Drought Monitor, with half the county or more in D2 (severe) drought or worse.
Land, water and programs
Acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, USDA FSA, by fiscal year.
Next door
| County | Dry rent | Irr. rent | Land value | Claims per $100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barnstable County | $38 | $433 | $58,917 | $9.47 |
| Dukes County | $51 | — | $8,824 | — |
| Plymouth County | $82 | — | $14,377 | $1.71 |
| Median next door | $66 2 co. | — | $11,601 2 co. | $1.71 1 co. |
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. Barnstable County, Massachusetts. 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/massachusetts/barnstable-countyEvery 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.