Farmland Atlas · county record

Hanover County, Virginia

Hanover County, VA: non-irrigated cash rent $52 an acre (2026); land and buildings $6,759 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 126.4 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 51085. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Hanover County averages $52 per acre in 2026, down 15.4 percent from 2016. Heat and drought account for 71 percent of crop insurance indemnities across closed crop years 1989-2025, and this cause held near that level across every decade shown: 75 percent in 1989-1999, 71 percent in 2000-2009, 70 percent in 2010-2019, 71 percent in 2020-2025. The July average nightly low has moved from 67.3 F (1991-2020 normal) to 68.6 F over 2017-2026, part of a warming trend of 0.63 F per decade since 1976. Drought weeks were rare over 2000-2025, at 53 of 1357, and there were none in 2021-2025. Census land value reached $6,759 per acre in 2022, up 34.2 percent from 2017.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$52/ac
2026 county average
VA median $47 · 37th highest of 84
Cash rent, irrigated
$135/ac
2021 county average
too few 2021 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$6,759/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
VA median $4,596 · 21st highest of 86
Corn yield, 2008–2016 median
126.4 bu/ac
8 published years
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$6.23
2016–2025, closed crop years
VA median $8.45 · 26th lowest of 67
Farmland rented
52%
2022 census, rented from others
VA median 33% · 16th highest of 90

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$100$120$1402010201520202025$43$52 dry$69$135 irrigated

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$52/ac
Change 2016 to 2026−15.4%nominal, $62 to $52
Irrigated, 2021$135/ac
Pasture, 2026$22/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$6,759/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$5,566/ac
Census 2017$5,035/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+34.2%+6.1% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20220.83%$56 ÷ $6,759; cropland 64% of land in farms

Corn yield

200820092010201120122013201420152016112.0122.055.3138.7115.0145.1130.8161.1median 126.4

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

Median, 2008–2016126.4 bu/ac8 published years
Lowest published year2010: 55.3 bu/ac44% of median

Crop insurance record

20072012201720220.893.770.381.00: 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$6.23
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.45claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.77$26.4 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium4 of 19
Worst year2010ratio 3.77
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 71% · excess moisture 13% · price decline (revenue policies) 4%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, 2000–202553 of 1,357 weeks4% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200238 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20250 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202668.6 °F1991–2020 normal 67.3 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.63 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September25.1 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 110% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.0 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
Farmed no-till, 202262% of cropland36,512 ac
Cover crops, 202220% of cropland11,514 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202104283

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

CRP enrolled, 20253 ac
CRP expiring FY2026–20280 ac
Solar and wind operating, 202530 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 20227,077−2.8% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202252%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Hanover County$52$6,759—$6.23
Caroline County$64$4,710148.8$6.71
Goochland County$45$7,139—$10.99
Henrico County$44$7,750—$8.35
King William County$68$4,203—$5.18
Louisa County$56$5,625—$12.73
New Kent County$80$5,501—$3.83
Spotsylvania County$47$7,739—$8.45
Median next door$56$5,625148.8 1 co.$8.35

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. Hanover 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/hanover-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.