Farmland Atlas · county record

Berkshire County, Massachusetts

Berkshire County, MA: non-irrigated cash rent $58 an acre (2026); land and buildings $8,606 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 25003. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Berkshire County runs $58 per acre in 2026, up 96.6 percent from 2016. Irrigated rent stands at $114 per acre, though only 2 percent of harvested cropland carries irrigation. Heat and drought's share of crop insurance indemnities has moved from 8 percent in 2000-2009, to 18 percent in 2010-2019, to 41 percent in 2020-2025. The loss ratio for 2016-2025 is 1.35, above the 1.13 ratio for the full 1995-2025 period, with excess moisture and flood the largest cause of indemnities overall at 38 percent.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$58/ac
2026 county average
MA median $82 · lowest of 9
Cash rent, irrigated
$114/ac
2026 county average
MA median $268 · lowest of 5
Land and buildings
$8,606/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
MA median $14,377 · lowest of 9
Corn yield, median
—
fewer than 8 published county corn yields
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$9.05
2016–2025, closed crop years
MA median $12.15 · 2nd lowest of 7
Farmland rented
14%
2022 census, rented from others
MA median 15% · 3rd lowest of 9

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$100$120$140$1602010201520202025$28$58 dry$80$114 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$58/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+96.6%nominal, $30 to $58
Irrigated, 2026$114/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$8,606/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$7,024/ac
Census 2017$7,644/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+12.6%+2.4% 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

Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 1995. 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$9.05
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.35claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1995–20251.13$2.7 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1995–2025excess moisture 38% · heat and drought 27% · freeze 23%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250110

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, 2000–202539 of 1,357 weeks3% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201711 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202511 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202659.3 °F1991–2020 normal 57.0 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.95 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September25.9 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 100% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.2 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, 20222% of cropland398 ac
Farmed no-till, 20228% of cropland1,569 ac
Cover crops, 202213% of cropland2,473 ac
19861991199620012006201120162021150

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

CRP enrolled, 20250 ac
Solar and wind operating, 202580.3 MW solar · 51.1 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 20226,700−3.3% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202214%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Berkshire County$58$114$8,606—$9.05
Litchfield County, CT$47 2025—$14,512—$11.66
Franklin County$141$331$8,637—$20.68
Hampden County$130$265 2023$13,611—$27.28
Hampshire County$129$268$10,568—$19.22
Columbia County, NY$54—$6,536—$11.28
Dutchess County, NY$54—$10,698—$25.78
Rensselaer County, NY$53—$4,449141.5$7.91
Bennington County, VT$60—$4,177—$22.93
Median next door$60$300 2 co.$9,603141.5 1 co.$19.95

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. Berkshire 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/berkshire-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.