Amherst County, Virginia
Amherst County, VA: non-irrigated cash rent $26 an acre (2026); land and buildings $5,795 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 51009. Figures as of 2026-09-20.
Non-irrigated cash rent in Amherst County averages $26 per acre in 2026, up 8.3 percent from 2016. The census value of land and buildings was $5,795 per acre in 2022, after a 24.5 percent gain from 2017 to 2022. The July average nightly low has moved from a 64.7 F normal to 66.5 F over 2017-2026, part of a warming trend of 0.68 F per decade since 1976, and the 2020s is the first decade this figure reached 66 F. Heat and drought's share of crop insurance indemnities ran 4 percent in 1989-1999, 36 percent in 2000-2009, 12 percent in 2010-2019, and 2 percent in 2020-2025. Freeze and frost is the largest cause of indemnities overall, at 52 percent of $6.4 million paid across 1989-2025.
VA median $47 · 4th lowest of 84
VA median $4,596 · 26th highest of 86
VA median $8.45 · 3rd highest of 67
VA median 33% · 31st lowest of 90
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
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 | Claims per $100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amherst County | $26 | $5,795 | $44.05 |
| Appomattox County | $33 | $3,591 | $15.09 |
| Bedford County | $28 | $5,539 | $25.43 |
| Campbell County | $32 | $3,656 | $29.15 |
| Lynchburg City | — | — | — |
| Nelson County | $40 | $5,566 | $32.86 |
| Rockbridge County | $33 | $5,763 | $7.24 |
| Median next door | $33 | $5,539 | $25.43 |
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. Amherst County, Virginia. 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/virginia/amherst-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.