Farmland Atlas · county record

Tompkins County, New York

Tompkins County, NY: non-irrigated cash rent $69 an acre (2026); land and buildings $3,994 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 138.8 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 36109. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Tompkins County averages $69 per acre in 2026, up 55.1 percent from 2016. Census land value runs $3,994 per acre in 2022, up 5.4 percent from 2017, and 2022 rent sits at 1.2 percent of that value. Corn yield trend 2008-2023 runs 1 bushels per acre a year, with a median of 138.8 bushels per acre and a worst year of 110.8 in 2018. Crop insurance history 1996-2025 shows $2.2 million in indemnities, with excess moisture and flood the largest cause at 64 percent; heat and drought's share fell from 55 percent in 2000-2009 to 27 percent in 2010-2019 to 25 percent in 2020-2025. Severe drought covered 50 percent of the county for 20 of 1357 weeks from 2000-2025, all in 2016, with none from 2021-2025.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$69/ac
2026 county average
NY median $73 · 22nd lowest of 47
Land and buildings
$3,994/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
NY median $3,819 · 23rd highest of 50
Rent as % of land value
1.2%
$48 dry rent ÷ $3,994 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2008–2023 median
138.8 bu/ac
recent level 2019–2023: 145.5
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$5.09
2016–2025, closed crop years
NY median $8.36 · 7th lowest of 45
Farmland rented
30%
2022 census, rented from others
NY median 28% · 18th highest of 51

Cash rent

$0$20$40$602010201520202025$39$69 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$69/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+55.1%nominal, $45 to $69
Pasture, 2024$49/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.47$69 ÷ 145.5 bu, county yield 2019–2023

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$3,994/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$2,757/ac
Census 2017$3,789/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+5.4%+1.1% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20221.2%$48 ÷ $3,994; cropland 73% of land in farms

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022125.0143.9128.8121.0148.4110.8147.4133.9143.6149.6median 138.8

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

Median, 2008–2023138.8 bu/ac10 published years
Recent level, 2019–2023145.5 bu/ac4 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2018: 110.8 bu/ac80% of median
Trend, 2008–2023+1.0 bu/ac a year±1.8 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 1993. 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$5.09
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.73claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1993–20250.59$2.2 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1996–2025excess moisture 64% · heat and drought 31% · area plans 2%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250200

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, 2000–202520 of 1,357 weeks2% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks201620 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20250 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202659.7 °F1991–2020 normal 58.7 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.54 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September22.8 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 99% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.0 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, 202218% of cropland12,399 ac
Farmed no-till, 20228% of cropland5,079 ac
Cover crops, 202211% of cropland7,291 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202136619393

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

CRP enrolled, 2025393 ac0.7% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–202814 ac4% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$47/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 202574.1 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202226,129+21.5% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202230%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Tompkins County$69$3,994—$5.09
Cayuga County$133$4,355151.0$5.10
Chemung County$55$3,542—$5.49
Cortland County$76$3,103142.8$3.88
Schuyler County$56$3,972—$9.32
Seneca County$90$4,610165.5$7.88
Tioga County$49$2,865——
Median next door$66$3,757151.0$5.49

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. Tompkins 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/tompkins-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.