Farmland Atlas · county record

Sussex County, New Jersey

Sussex County, NJ: non-irrigated cash rent $42 an acre (2025); land and buildings $13,039 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 34037. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Sussex County runs $42 per acre in 2025, down 8.8 percent from 2014. Land and buildings carry a census value of $13,039 per acre, with that value up 13 percent from 2017 to 2022, 2.5 percent a year. Heat and drought account for 56 percent of crop insurance indemnities since 1998, and their share has moved from 25 percent in 2000-2009, to 35 percent in 2010-2019, to 75 percent in 2020-2025. July nights average 62.6 F over 2017-2026, against a 1991-2020 normal of 60.5 F, with a warming trend of 0.9 F per decade since 1976. Drought reached severe or worse in 19 of the weeks from 2021 to 2025.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$42/ac
2025 county average
too few 2025 county surveys in the state to compare
Cash rent, irrigated
$180/ac
2022 county average
too few 2022 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$13,039/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NJ median $14,983 · 4th lowest of 13
Corn yield, median
—
fewer than 8 published county corn yields
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
—
under the premium floor for a figure
Farmland rented
26%
2022 census, rented from others
NJ median 32% · 3rd lowest of 13

Cash rent

$0$10$20$30$40$502010201520202025$32$42 dry

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, 2025$42/ac
Change 2014 to 2025−8.8%nominal, $46 to $42
Irrigated, 2022$180/ac
Pasture, 2023$20/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$13,039/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$10,672/ac
Census 2017$11,535/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+13.0%+2.5% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 49% 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 1995. Above the dashed line, the county's insurance book paid out more than it took in. 2026, still open, is left out.

Loss ratio, 1995–20250.99$2.2 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1998–2025heat and drought 56% · excess moisture 29% · other 8%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202501414

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, 2000–202549 of 1,357 weeks4% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200214 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202519 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202662.6 °F1991–2020 normal 60.5 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.90 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September25.8 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 102% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.6 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20223%
Drained by tile, 20221% of cropland394 ac
Farmed no-till, 202218% of cropland6,167 ac
Cover crops, 20227% of cropland2,553 ac
198619911996200120062011201620212412319

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

CRP enrolled, 202519 ac
CRP expiring FY2026–20280 ac
Solar and wind operating, 202534 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 20224,665+18.0% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202226%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueClaims per $100
Sussex County$42 2025—$13,039—
Morris County—$130 2024$30,022$3.82
Passaic County——$43,712—
Warren County$129—$13,941$6.53
Orange County, NY$77$216 2024$10,494$14.56
Pike County, PA——$3,130—
Median next door$103 2 co.—$13,941$6.53

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. Sussex County, New Jersey. 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/new-jersey/sussex-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.