Farmland Atlas · county record

Mercer County, Pennsylvania

Mercer County, PA: non-irrigated cash rent $69 an acre (2026); land and buildings $4,627 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 144.4 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 42085. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Cash rent, non-irrigated
$69/ac
2026 county average
PA median $68 · tied for 29th highest of 60
Land and buildings
$4,627/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
PA median $7,064 · 16th lowest of 63
Rent as % of land value
1.1%
$51 dry rent ÷ $4,627 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
144.4 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 156.4
PA median 135.7 · 12th highest of 45
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$5.69
2016–2025, closed crop years
PA median $8.42 · 10th lowest of 52
Farmland rented
33%
2022 census, rented from others
PA median 30% · 26th highest of 63

Cash rent

$0$20$40$602010201520202025$25$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+50.5%nominal, $46 to $69
Pasture, 2026$33/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.44$69 ÷ 156.4 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$4,627/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$3,420/ac
Census 2017$3,997/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+15.8%+3.0% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20221.1%$51 ÷ $4,627; cropland 65% of land in farms

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024134.0168.1155.3median 144.4

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

Median, 2008–2025144.4 bu/ac17 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025156.4 bu/ac4 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2015: 122.7 bu/ac85% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+1.1 bu/ac a year±1.2 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

20082013201820230.481.751.491.00: 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$5.69
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.53claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.57$20.7 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium4 of 18
Worst year2019ratio 1.75
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 64% · heat and drought 19% · price decline (revenue policies) 8%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

200020052010201520202025040

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, 2000–20254 of 1,357 weeks0% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks20014 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20250 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202660.8 °F1991–2020 normal 59.0 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.64 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September25.2 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 101% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.6 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, 202229% of cropland27,658 ac
Farmed no-till, 202213% of cropland12,530 ac
Cover crops, 20223% of cropland3,281 ac
19861991199620012006201120162021551,466524

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

CRP enrolled, 2025524 ac0.6% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028132 ac25% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$108/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Cattle and calves, 202218,655−25.6% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202233%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Mercer County$69$4,627144.4$5.69
Mahoning County, OH$102$8,291152.9$5.40
Trumbull County, OH$83$5,640171.2$4.99
Butler County$39$7,134131.0$8.98
Crawford County$56$3,981137.9$8.31
Lawrence County$54$5,532144.1$7.30
Venango County$40$4,234124.6$20.07
Median next door$55$5,586141.0$7.81

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. Mercer 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/mercer-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.