Farmland Atlas · county record

Wythe County, Virginia

Wythe County, VA: non-irrigated cash rent $62 an acre (2026); land and buildings $4,284 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 144.2 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 51197. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Wythe County runs $62 per acre, up 70.8 percent from 2016 to 2026. Corn yields have trended up 2.4 bushels per acre a year over 2008-2025, with a median of 144.2 bushels per acre and a worst year of 94.6 in 2011. July nights average 60.8 F over 2017-2026, against a 1991-2020 normal of 59.4 F, and the long trend since 1976 is warming at 0.47 F per decade. Drought has been mild by the county's own record: 63 of 1357 weeks at severe drought or worse since 2000, with only 5 weeks from 2021-2025. Heat and drought's share of crop insurance indemnities has moved from 43 percent in 1989-1999 to 47 percent in 2000-2009 to 67 percent in 2010-2019 to 66 percent in 2020-2025.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$62/ac
2026 county average
VA median $47 · 31st highest of 84
Land and buildings
$4,284/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
VA median $4,596 · 37th lowest of 86
Rent as % of land value
—
not shown: cropland is 36% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
144.2 bu/ac
12 published years
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$4.16
2016–2025, closed crop years
VA median $8.45 · 11th lowest of 67
Farmland rented
29%
2022 census, rented from others
VA median 33% · 33rd lowest of 90

Cash rent

$0$20$40$602010201520202025$33$62 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$62/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+70.8%nominal, $36 to $62
Pasture, 2026$45/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$4,284/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$3,386/ac
Census 2017$3,921/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+9.3%+1.8% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 36% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024102.0132.0114.494.6152.5162.5160.6161.0149.9134.3169.5138.6median 144.2

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

Median, 2008–2025144.2 bu/ac12 published years
Lowest published year2011: 94.6 bu/ac66% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+2.4 bu/ac a year±3.1 (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$4.16
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.40claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.54$1.5 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 59% · freeze 21% · excess moisture 7%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020259150

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, 2000–202563 of 1,357 weeks5% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200715 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20255 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202660.8 °F1991–2020 normal 59.4 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.47 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September24.0 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 109% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.3 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20220%
Drained by tile, 2022under 1% of cropland190 ac
Farmed no-till, 202225% of cropland11,819 ac
Cover crops, 20226% of cropland2,757 ac
19861991199620012006201120162021121,734

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

CRP enrolled, 20251,734 ac4.3% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028110 ac6% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$29/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 202595 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202255,265−1.0% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202229%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueClaims per $100
Wythe County$62$4,284$4.16
Bland County$47$2,949—
Carroll County$45$3,866$58.69
Grayson County$70$4,673—
Pulaski County$48$3,976—
Smyth County$66$3,971—
Median next door$48$3,971$58.69 1 co.

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. Wythe 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/wythe-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.