Essex County, Virginia
Essex County, VA: non-irrigated cash rent $95 an acre (2026); land and buildings $4,252 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 140.6 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 51057. Figures as of 2026-09-20.
Non-irrigated cash rent in Essex County, VA runs $95 per acre in 2026, up 23.4 percent from 2016. Census land value sits at $4,252 per acre in 2022, up 33.1 percent from 2017, 5.9 percent a year. Rent as a share of that value is 2.01 percent. July nights average 70 F over 2017-2026, against a 68.3 F normal, and the nightly low has warmed 0.78 F per decade since 1976. Heat and drought drove 87 percent of crop insurance indemnities from 1993-2025, and the loss ratio over 2016-2025 fell to 0.37 from 0.61 across 1989-2025. Drought weeks were 15 over 2021-2025, against 79 of 1357 weeks in severe drought or worse over 2000-2025.
VA median $47 · 9th highest of 84
too few 2020 county surveys in the state to compare
VA median $4,596 · 36th lowest of 86
VA median 145.9 · 10th lowest of 25
VA median $8.45 · 14th lowest of 67
VA median 33% · 11th highest 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essex County | $95 | $4,252 | 140.6 | $4.77 |
| Caroline County | $64 | $4,710 | 148.8 | $6.71 |
| King George County | $55 2024 | $6,250 | — | $5.26 |
| King and Queen County | $83 | $3,460 | 133.6 | $5.03 |
| Middlesex County | $87 | $4,041 | 147.5 | $1.91 |
| Richmond County | $94 | $3,544 | 135.3 | $3.07 |
| Westmoreland County | $109 | $5,735 | 145.9 | $3.70 |
| Median next door | $87 | $4,376 | 145.9 | $4.37 |
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. Essex 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/essex-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.