County farm facts

Orleans County, Vermont

Sales through Oct 31, 2026

Sold for
$2,359/ac
Middle of 17 bare farmland sales of 20+ acres, Nov 2024 to Oct 2026. Middle half $1,364 to $3,053. Two windows: this covers 24 months; the recorded-sales median further down covers the last 12 months, Nov 2025 to Oct 2026: 8 sales, $1,878 an acre. Every sale behind both.

Newest sales town, not parcel

Rent$59/ac NASS 2026, county average
Nearest bid
Rain

Recorded prices. Not an appraisal. No adjustments. A recorded price is what the state's transfer record says was paid once the sale closed, auction or private; never an asking price.

Sales: Vermont Department of Taxes, property transfer tax returns (published by VCGI), farm, forest and current use land. Rent: USDA NASS.

Orleans County, VT: non-irrigated cash rent $59 an acre (2026); land and buildings $3,763 an acre in the 2022 census. Bids, weather, crops, land and programs for one county. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 50019. Figures as of Nov 5, 2026; the rows marked with a date load the newest reading when the page opens.

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As of Oct 16, cash rent in Orleans County runs $59 an acre for 2026, right at the state median and 5th lowest of 10. That is up 91.8% from $31 in 2016. The census value of land and buildings came to $3,763 an acre in 2022, up 39.0% from $2,708 in 2017 and 5th lowest of 13 in Vermont. Just 17% of the farmland was rented in 2022.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$59/ac
2026 county average
VT median $59 · 5th lowest of 10
Land and buildings
$3,763/ac
2022: operators' own estimate of what land and buildings were worth · VT farm real estate 2026: $4,490 (land and buildings, state survey)
VT median $3,906 · 5th lowest of 13
Rent as % of land value
n/a
not shown: cropland is 41% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland
Corn yield
n/a
fewer than 8 published county corn yields
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$10.15
2016–2025, closed crop years
VT median $10.76 · 2nd lowest of 8
Farmland rented
17%
2022 census, rented from others
VT median 18% · 7th lowest of 14
Median sale price, bare land, 20+ acres
$1,878/ac
8 recorded bare farmland sales, Nov 2025 to Oct 2026; sales dated through Oct 31, 2026
Open on the map Compare Vermont cash rent by county

Grain and prices within 50 miles

Corn bid
Soybean bid
Corn basis
Soybean basis
Corn futures
Soybean futures
Class III milk futures
Feeder cattle futures

Bids are posted elevator prices within 50 miles of the county middle, or of your own field or saved place in this county when this device has one (each row says which), best and nearest, never a buyer's name. Not a contract; call before you haul. Livestock lines show where the 2022 Census counts 1,000 head or more: milk for milk cows, feeder cattle for beef cows, live cattle for cattle on feed, hogs for hogs, hay for all cattle.

Bids from your own ZIP or farm, in Fast Facts

Weather and the season

Rain since Jan 1
Drought this week
Hail, last 30 days

Rain so far this year in Orleans County, Vermont

Drought, year by year

200020052010201520202025015

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, 2000–202515 of 1,357 weeks1% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks202515 weeks
Last five full years, 2021–202515 weeks
2026 so far0 weekshalf the county or more in D2, 40 weekly maps
July average of daily lows, 2017–202656.5 °F1991–2020 normal 55.2 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.59 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September, usual26.8 in1991–2020 county normal, NOAA; the 2017–2026 seasons averaged 26.7 in
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.6 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail
Last spring freeze, first fall freezeMay 14, Oct 5middle dates 1996–2025, NOAA county-average daily low of 32 °F or colder
Frost-free days144middle of 1996–2025
Corn growing degree days, May to September1,915middle of 1996–2025; 2016–2025 averaged 1,943

Crops

Corn harvested
Soybeans harvested

Corn yield

County corn yieldFewer than 8 published county corn yields

Land rent, value, sales

Cash rent

$0$10$20$30$40$50$602010201520202025$45$59 dry

Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey.

Every published Vermont county rate, side by side: Vermont cash rent by county.

Non-irrigated, 2026$59/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+91.8%nominal, $31 to $59
Pasture, 2026$26/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$3,763/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$2,432/ac
Census 2017$2,708/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+39.0%+6.8% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census valueCropland is 41% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland
Vermont cropland, 2026 state survey$4,450/ac+2.3% from 2025 · USDA NASS Land Values, state average
Vermont farm real estate, 2026$4,490/acland and buildings, state average
Vermont pasture, 2026$2,920/acstate average

The census value is this county's, from 2022. The survey figures are the Vermont average for 2026, from the USDA NASS Land Values report. NASS publishes that survey by state, not by county, so this page does not scale one into the other.

Recorded farm sales

Sale counts and the median price buyers paid per acre in Orleans County, from Vermont property transfer tax returns (Form PTT-172) (Vermont Department of Taxes), load here.

What has farmland sold for in Orleans County, Vermont?

8 recorded market sales of bare farmland (no buildings by the property class, no forest), 20 or more acres, Nov 2025 to Oct 2026, with a median of $1,878 an acre; the middle half of sales fell between $1,270 and $3,103 an acre. Sales are dated through Oct 31, 2026. These are counted deed records from Vermont property transfer tax returns (Form PTT-172), not a model or an appraisal, and no buyer or seller is named.

Land sales: Recorded sales in Orleans County, sale by sale.

Programs and risk

ARC or PLC sign-up

Benchmarks, payments and the choice for each crop: ARC or PLC in Orleans County.

Insuring pasture or hay? PRF rainfall insurance for pasture and hay in Orleans County: its grids, county values and record are on the county PRF page.

Crop insurance record

Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 1995 with at least $1,000,000 of premium; a year under that has no bar and no ratio. 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$10.15
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.61claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1995–20251.74$4.3 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1996–2025excess moisture 71% · heat and drought 20% · freeze 9%share of dollars paid

Conservation Reserve Program

198619911996200120062011201620210229

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

CRP enrolled, 2025229 ac0.5% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2027–202919 ac8% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$138/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

What farms here look like

Harvested cropland irrigated, 2022NASS suppressed the irrigated acres to protect individual farms
Drained by tile, 20225% of cropland2,363 ac
Farmed no-till, 20228% of cropland4,198 ac
Cover crops, 20225% of cropland2,458 ac
Solar and wind operating, 20254.1 MW solar · 65 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202229,246−21.9% since 2017
Milk cows, 202214,989head, Census of Agriculture
Beef cows, 20221,700head, Census of Agriculture
Cattle on feed, 2022160head, Census of Agriculture
Hogs and pigs, 2022245head, Census of Agriculture
Farmland rented from others, 202217%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

USDA Census of Agriculture 2022, except wells (state well register) and power (EIA Form 860).

Watch this county

Get an email when the published figures for Orleans County, Vermont change. Usually once or twice a year. You confirm by email first, and every email has a one-tap stop. AGSIST, PO Box 243, Chetek, WI 54728.

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueClaims per $100
Orleans County$59$3,763$10.15
Caledonia County$52$3,395n/a
Essex Countyn/a$2,357n/a
Franklin County$90$3,906$10.19
Lamoille County$62 2025$3,508n/a
Median next door$71 2 co.$3,452$10.19 1 co.

Counties that share a stretch of boundary. A rent from an older survey year carries its year and stays out of the median; one more than three survey years old shows n/a.

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Cite this page

AGSIST Farmland Atlas. Orleans County, Vermont. Figures as of Nov 5, 2026, from USDA NASS, USDA RMA, USDA FSA, the U.S. Drought Monitor and NOAA. https://agsist.com/farmland-atlas/vermont/orleans-county
Every figure is a county average from the sources named below. Rent ranks count every county with a published rent in the same survey year, within the state (the same counties as the state rent page); other ranks count counties with 10,000 acres or more in farms. 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.

This product uses the NASS API but is not endorsed or certified by NASS. Averages, trends, ranks and estimates are calculations by AGSIST.

Rent: USDA NASS Cash Rents Survey, county. Land value: Census of Agriculture, operators' estimate of land and buildings. Yield: NASS county corn yields. The headline trend, the one rent per bushel uses, is fitted here over the published years in the 15 years ending this year; the yearly trend card uses 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. Claims paid per $100 of coverage: claims divided by liability (the insured value), times 100, same source. 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 missing figure is named with its reason (in a table it reads n/a).