Farmland Atlas · county record

Middlesex County, Virginia

Middlesex County, VA: non-irrigated cash rent $87 an acre (2026); land and buildings $4,041 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 147.5 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 51119. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent for 2026 in Middlesex County, VA runs $87 per acre. Census land value in 2022 stood at $4,041 per acre, with a change of 1.9 percent from 2017-2022, 0.4 percent a year. Corn yields trended up 4.3 bushels per acre a year over 2008-2025, with a median of 147.5 bushels per acre and a worst year of 71.3 in 2010. Heat and drought drove 66 percent of crop insurance indemnities across closed years, with the share at 89 percent in 1989-1999, 48 percent in 2000-2009, 75 percent in 2010-2019, and 89 percent in 2020-2025. Only 2 percent of harvested cropland was irrigated as of the 2022 census, and irrigation failure indemnities totaled $54,091 across all closed years.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$87/ac
2026 county average
VA median $47 · 13th highest of 84
Land and buildings
$4,041/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
VA median $4,596 · 31st lowest of 86
Dry rent per bushel of corn
$0.48
$87 ÷ 182.9 bu, recent yield 2021–2025
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
147.5 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 182.9
VA median 145.9 · 9th highest of 25
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$1.91
2016–2025, closed crop years
VA median $8.45 · 2nd lowest of 67
Farmland rented
53%
2022 census, rented from others
VA median 33% · 12th highest of 90

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80202120222023202420252026$65$87 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$87/ac
Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.48$87 ÷ 182.9 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$4,041/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$3,855/ac
Census 2017$3,967/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+1.9%+0.4% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— NASS published no non-irrigated cash rent for this county in 2022

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022202489.0189.4165.0median 147.5

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

Median, 2008–2025147.5 bu/ac17 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025182.9 bu/ac4 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2010: 71.3 bu/ac48% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+4.3 bu/ac a year±2.8 (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$1.91
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.20claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.42$5.6 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1993–2025heat and drought 66% · excess moisture 25% · price decline (revenue policies) 5%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250413

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, 2000–202571 of 1,357 weeks5% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200241 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20255 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202671.4 °F1991–2020 normal 69.7 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.92 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September26.6 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 106% 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, 20222%
Drained by tile, 20225% of cropland750 ac
Farmed no-till, 202278% of cropland11,002 ac
Cover crops, 202235% of cropland4,923 ac
19861991199620012006201120162021032047

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

CRP enrolled, 202547 ac
CRP expiring FY2026–202850 ac
Solar and wind operating, 202515 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 20221,000+15.6% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202253%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Middlesex County$87$4,041147.5$1.91
Essex County$95$4,252140.6$4.77
Gloucester County$72$6,053—$3.64
King and Queen County$83$3,460133.6$5.03
Mathews County—$6,440——
Median next door$83$5,153137.1 2 co.$4.77

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. Middlesex 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/middlesex-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.