Farmland Atlas · county record

Caroline County, Virginia

Caroline County, VA: non-irrigated cash rent $64 an acre (2026); land and buildings $4,710 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 148.8 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 51033. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Caroline County runs $64 per acre, up 10.3 percent from 2016 to 2026. Corn yields have trended up 3.1 bushels per acre a year over 2008-2025, with a median of 148.8 bushels per acre and a low of 43.3 in 2010. Heat and drought account for 78 percent of crop insurance indemnities since 1989, though that share has eased across the decades: 93 percent in 1989-1999, 73 percent in 2000-2009, 77 percent in 2010-2019, 75 percent in 2020-2025. The loss ratio over 2016-2025 sits at 0.47, below the full-period 0.81. Only 5 percent of harvested cropland is irrigated, and there have been 0 weeks of severe drought or worse from 2021-2025. Solar and wind development: 0 MW operating, 0 MW proposed.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$64/ac
2026 county average
VA median $47 · 28th highest of 84
Land and buildings
$4,710/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
VA median $4,596 · 41st highest of 86
Rent as % of land value
1.51%
$71 dry rent ÷ $4,710 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
148.8 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 165.1
VA median 145.9 · 8th highest of 25
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$6.71
2016–2025, closed crop years
VA median $8.45 · 28th lowest of 67
Farmland rented
57%
2022 census, rented from others
VA median 33% · 7th highest of 90

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$802010201520202025$52$64 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$64/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+10.3%nominal, $58 to $64
Pasture, 2026$25/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.39$64 ÷ 165.1 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$4,710/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$4,128/ac
Census 2017$3,696/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+27.4%+5.0% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20221.51%$71 ÷ $4,710; cropland 68% of land in farms

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024100.0178.8170.6median 148.8

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

Median, 2008–2025148.8 bu/ac17 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025165.1 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2010: 43.3 bu/ac29% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+3.1 bu/ac a year±3.9 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

20072012201720222.532.990.461.00: 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$6.71
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.47claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.81$38.6 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium6 of 19
Worst year2010ratio 2.99
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 78% · excess moisture 9% · price decline (revenue policies) 5%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250380

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, 2000–202559 of 1,357 weeks4% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200238 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20250 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202668.7 °F1991–2020 normal 67.2 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.79 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September24.6 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 108% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.2 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20225%
Drained by tile, 20221% of cropland381 ac
Farmed no-till, 202284% of cropland34,352 ac
Cover crops, 202236% of cropland14,888 ac
198619911996200120062011201620211498889

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

CRP enrolled, 202589 ac
CRP expiring FY2026–202820 ac
Cattle and calves, 20222,556+11.3% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202257%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Caroline County$64$4,710148.8$6.71
Essex County$95$4,252140.6$4.77
Hanover County$52$6,759—$6.23
King George County$55 2024$6,250—$5.26
King William County$68$4,203—$5.18
King and Queen County$83$3,460133.6$5.03
Spotsylvania County$47$7,739—$8.45
Stafford County$66$16,854—$8.15
Median next door$67$6,250137.1 2 co.$5.26

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. Caroline 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/caroline-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.