Farmland Atlas · county record

Columbia County, New York

Columbia County, NY: non-irrigated cash rent $54 an acre (2026); land and buildings $6,536 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 138.6 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 36021. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Columbia County runs $54 per acre, up 4.9 percent from 2016 to 2026. Census land value stands at $6,536 per acre in 2022, up 56.1 percent from 2017 to 2022, or 9.3 percent a year. Rent against that value comes to 0.73 percent. Corn yield trend is 0.9 bushels per acre a year on published years 2008-2024, with a median of 138.6 bushels per acre and a worst year of 113.7 in 2022. Drought has stayed limited: 18 of 1357 weeks at severe drought or worse from 2000-2025, with 9 weeks in the worst year, 2016, and 5 weeks from 2021-2025. Freeze and frost, not heat, drives crop insurance losses at 46 percent of $39.1 million paid out from 1989-2025.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$54/ac
2026 county average
NY median $73 · tied for 9th lowest of 47
Cash rent, irrigated
$72/ac
2019 county average
too few 2019 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$6,536/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NY median $3,819 · 6th highest of 50
Corn yield, 2008–2024 median
138.6 bu/ac
recent level 2020–2024: 140.7
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$11.28
2016–2025, closed crop years
NY median $8.36 · 9th highest of 45
Farmland rented
45%
2022 census, rented from others
NY median 28% · highest of 51

Cash rent

$0$10$20$30$40$502010201520202025$34$54 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, 2026$54/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+4.9%nominal, $52 to $54
Irrigated, 2019$72/ac
Pasture, 2026$18/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.38$54 ÷ 140.7 bu, county yield 2020–2024

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$6,536/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$5,223/ac
Census 2017$4,188/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+56.1%+9.3% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20220.73%$48 ÷ $6,536; cropland 64% of land in farms

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024142.0160.7150.1median 138.6

Bushels per acre, USDA NASS county yields, all practices. The dashed line is the median of the published years.

Median, 2008–2024138.6 bu/ac14 published years
Recent level, 2020–2024140.7 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2022: 113.7 bu/ac82% of median
Trend, 2008–2024+0.9 bu/ac a year±1.6 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

20122017202220254.950.441.00: 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$11.28
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.59claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.13$39.1 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium4 of 14
Worst year2012ratio 4.95
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025freeze 46% · hail 42% · heat and drought 6%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

200020052010201520202025090

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, 2000–202518 of 1,357 weeks1% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks20169 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20255 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202662.5 °F1991–2020 normal 60.6 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.92 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September24.3 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 100% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.8 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 2022— NASS suppressed the irrigated acres to protect individual farms
Drained by tile, 20224% of cropland1,874 ac
Farmed no-till, 202215% of cropland7,735 ac
Cover crops, 20228% of cropland3,806 ac
198619911996200120062011201620214460614

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

CRP enrolled, 202514 ac
CRP expiring FY2026–20287 ac
Solar and wind operating, 202536.8 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202214,966−8.6% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202245%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Columbia County$54—$6,536—$11.28
Berkshire County, MA$58$114$8,606—$9.05
Dutchess County$54—$10,698—$25.78
Greene County$36 2025—$5,674——
Rensselaer County$53—$4,449141.5$7.91
Ulster County$104$151 2023$8,701138.8$10.68
Median next door$56$114 1 co.$8,606140.2 2 co.$9.87

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. Columbia County, New York. 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-york/columbia-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.