Columbia County, Pennsylvania
Columbia County, PA: non-irrigated cash rent $78 an acre (2026); land and buildings $7,413 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 133.1 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 42037. Figures as of 2026-09-20.
Non-irrigated cash rent in Columbia County averages $78 per acre for 2026, up 39.3 percent from 2016. July nights average 62.2 F over 2017-2026, against a 60.7 F normal for 1991-2020, and the longer trend since 1976 runs 0.6 F per decade, warming. Heat and drought drove 60 percent of the $19.5 million in indemnities paid from 1989-2025, with the share at 86 percent in 1989-1999, 66 percent in 2000-2009, 37 percent in 2010-2019, and 69 percent in 2020-2025. Land value sits at $7,413 per acre in 2022, up 23 percent from 2017.
PA median $68 · 24th highest of 60
PA median $7,064 · 27th highest of 63
PA median 135.7 · 20th lowest of 45
PA median $8.42 · tied for 25th lowest of 52
PA median 30% · 16th highest of 63
Cash rent
Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey; nothing is drawn across it.
Land value
Corn yield
Bushels per acre, USDA NASS county yields, all practices. The dashed line is the median of the published years.
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.
Drought and weather
Weeks per year, U.S. Drought Monitor, with half the county or more in D2 (severe) drought or worse.
Land, water and programs
Acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, USDA FSA, by fiscal year.
Next door
| County | Dry rent | Land value | Corn yield | Claims per $100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia County | $78 | $7,413 | 133.1 | $8.33 |
| Luzerne County | $66 | $5,786 | 123.8 | $10.64 |
| Lycoming County | $65 | $6,578 | 131.0 | $10.92 |
| Montour County | $100 | $8,863 | 141.6 | $9.16 |
| Northumberland County | $111 | $8,292 | 140.4 | $8.33 |
| Schuylkill County | $82 | $8,075 | 128.7 | $7.98 |
| Sullivan County | $26 | $4,619 | — | — |
| Median next door | $74 | $7,327 | 131.0 | $9.16 |
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, Pennsylvania. 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/pennsylvania/columbia-countyEvery 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.