Farmland Atlas · county record

Pittsylvania County, Virginia

Pittsylvania County, VA: non-irrigated cash rent $41 an acre (2026); land and buildings $3,197 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 92.2 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 51143. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent here runs $41 per acre, up 28.1 percent from 2016 to 2026. Heat and drought account for 43 percent of the $99.4 million paid out in indemnities since 1989, and the loss ratio over 2016-2025 stands at 1.57, above the 1.49 mark for the full 1989-2025 record. July nightly lows average 67.3 F over 2017-2026, against a 1991-2020 normal of 66.1 F, with warming of 0.67 F per decade since 1976. Drought weeks stayed low from 2021 to 2025, at 6. Solar operating capacity stands at 252.2 MW, with 155 MW more proposed to EIA.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$41/ac
2026 county average
VA median $47 · tied for 30th lowest of 84
Cash rent, irrigated
$60/ac
2024 county average
too few 2024 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$3,197/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
VA median $4,596 · 7th lowest of 86
Corn yield, 2008–2022 median
92.2 bu/ac
11 published years
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$24.39
2016–2025, closed crop years
VA median $8.45 · 13th highest of 67
Farmland rented
28%
2022 census, rented from others
VA median 33% · 27th lowest of 90

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$802010201520202025$25$41 dry$39$60 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$41/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+28.1%nominal, $32 to $41
Irrigated, 2024$60/ac
Pasture, 2026$35/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$3,197/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$2,430/ac
Census 2017$2,835/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+12.8%+2.4% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 37% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield

2008201020122014201620182020202253.090.028.170.7117.0102.292.299.490.595.093.3median 92.2

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

Median, 2008–202292.2 bu/ac11 published years
Lowest published year2010: 28.1 bu/ac31% of median
Trend, 2008–2022+3.2 bu/ac a year±3.1 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

200420092014201920240.212.610.861.00: 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$24.39
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.57claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.49$99.4 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium14 of 20
Worst year2018ratio 2.61
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 43% · excess moisture 23% · area plans 11%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250450

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, 2000–202573 of 1,357 weeks5% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200245 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20256 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202667.3 °F1991–2020 normal 66.1 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.67 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September25.1 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 112% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger2.3 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, 2022under 1% of cropland194 ac
Farmed no-till, 202219% of cropland16,991 ac
Cover crops, 20229% of cropland7,737 ac
198619911996200120062011201620212445,015661

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

CRP enrolled, 2025661 ac1% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028237 ac36% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$51/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 2025252.2 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202249,850−5.4% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202228%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Pittsylvania County$41$60 2024$3,197—$24.39
Caswell County, NC$42$92$4,006—$20.25
Rockingham County, NC$49$90 2024$5,089104.5$26.24
Bedford County$28—$5,539—$25.43
Campbell County$32—$3,656—$29.15
Danville City—————
Franklin County$55—$4,475136.7$20.45
Halifax County$38—$3,199—$14.36
Henry County$32—$3,027—$25.38
Median next door$38$92 1 co.$4,006120.6 2 co.$25.38

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. Pittsylvania 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/pittsylvania-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.