Farmland Atlas · county record

Worcester County, Massachusetts

Worcester County, MA: non-irrigated cash rent $61 an acre (2026); land and buildings $15,447 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 25027. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Cash rent, non-irrigated
$61/ac
2026 county average
MA median $82 · 2nd lowest of 9
Cash rent, irrigated
$320/ac
2025 county average
too few 2025 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$15,447/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
MA median $14,377 · 4th highest of 9
Corn yield, median
—
fewer than 8 published county corn yields
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$12.15
2016–2025, closed crop years
MA median $12.15 · 4th lowest of 7
Farmland rented
13%
2022 census, rented from others
MA median 15% · 2nd lowest of 9

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$250$300$3502010201520202025$35$61 dry$85$320 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$61/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+132.7%nominal, $26 to $61
Irrigated, 2025$320/ac
Pasture, 2025$41/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$15,447/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$9,338/ac
Census 2017$12,297/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+25.6%+4.7% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 37% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

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 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$12.15
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.11claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.87$8.2 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025freeze 43% · hail 25% · excess moisture 13%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250269

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, 2000–202578 of 1,357 weeks6% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201626 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202526 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202661.9 °F1991–2020 normal 60.1 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.94 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September24.6 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 105% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger2.1 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20226%
Drained by tile, 20222% of cropland516 ac
Farmed no-till, 20224% of cropland1,492 ac
Cover crops, 20226% of cropland2,020 ac
19861991199620012006201120162021050

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

CRP enrolled, 20250 ac
Solar and wind operating, 2025463 MW solar · 9.8 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 20226,309−9.2% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202213%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueClaims per $100
Worcester County$61$320 2025$15,447$12.15
Tolland County, CT$90—$13,021$11.73
Windham County, CT$56—$10,546$8.37
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
Middlesex County$65$122$22,138$9.39
Norfolk County—$451$20,134—
Cheshire County, NH$71—$7,375—
Hillsborough County, NH$69 2025—$10,594$13.90
Providence County, RI——$18,606—
Median next door$90$300$11,808$13.90

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. Worcester 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/worcester-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.