Farmland Atlas · county record

Madison County, Virginia

Madison County, VA: non-irrigated cash rent $56 an acre (2026); land and buildings $6,994 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 151.7 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 51113. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Madison County runs $56 per acre, up 3.7 percent from 2016 to 2026. Heat and drought drove 73 percent of indemnities in 1989-1999, 57 percent in 2000-2009, 27 percent in 2010-2019, and 86 percent in 2020-2025. The loss ratio over 2016-2025 was 0.84, above the 1989-2025 figure of 0.58, and indemnity paid per $100 of insured value over 2016-2025 was $6.03. July nightly lows have warmed 0.67 F per decade since 1976, reaching 65.7 F on average for 2017-2026 against a 1991-2020 normal of 63.9 F. Solar and wind development, operating or proposed, is 0 MW.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$56/ac
2026 county average
VA median $47 · 34th highest of 84
Land and buildings
$6,994/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
VA median $4,596 · 19th highest of 86
Dry rent per bushel of corn
$0.34
$56 ÷ 165.3 bu, recent yield 2021–2025
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
151.7 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 165.3
VA median 145.9 · 5th highest of 25
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$6.03
2016–2025, closed crop years
VA median $8.45 · 25th lowest of 67
Farmland rented
29%
2022 census, rented from others
VA median 33% · 35th lowest of 90

Cash rent

$0$10$20$30$40$50$602010201520202025$32$56 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$56/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+3.7%nominal, $54 to $56
Pasture, 2026$33/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.34$56 ÷ 165.3 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$6,994/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$6,316/ac
Census 2017$5,949/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+17.6%+3.3% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 39% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024111.0198.1median 151.7

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

Median, 2008–2025151.7 bu/ac18 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025165.3 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2024: 101.6 bu/ac67% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+2.1 bu/ac a year±2.4 (95% interval)

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.

Claims paid per $100 of coverage, 2016–2025$6.03
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.84claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.58$4.2 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 65% · excess moisture 17% · other 6%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250247

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, 2000–202558 of 1,357 weeks4% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200224 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202518 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202665.7 °F1991–2020 normal 63.9 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.67 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September25.9 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 107% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.6 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
Drained by tile, 20223% of cropland1,184 ac
Farmed no-till, 202236% of cropland14,269 ac
Cover crops, 202211% of cropland4,467 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202125877416

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

CRP enrolled, 2025416 ac1.2% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–202830 ac7% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$61/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Cattle and calves, 202219,127−27.5% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202229%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Madison County$56$6,994151.7$6.03
Culpeper County$58$7,957146.1$6.30
Greene County$45$8,303——
Orange County$76$6,611149.2$5.14
Page County$53$8,837122.9$20.60
Rappahannock County$31$7,465——
Median next door$53$7,957146.1$6.30

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. Madison 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/madison-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.