Farmland Atlas · county record

Walla Walla County, Washington

Walla Walla County, WA: non-irrigated cash rent $74 an acre (2025); land and buildings $3,786 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 53071. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Walla Walla County averages $74 per acre in 2025, up 75 percent from 2014. Irrigated rent runs $297 per acre for 2026, a multiple of 4.20 times the non-irrigated rate in 2025, against 3.97 in 2011, with no clear direction in that multiple. The county logged 89 weeks in severe drought or worse from 2021-2025, against 193 weeks total from 2000-2025.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$74/ac
2025 county average
too few 2025 county surveys in the state to compare
Cash rent, irrigated
$297/ac
2026 county average
WA median $350 · 7th lowest of 14
Land and buildings
$3,786/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
WA median $5,067 · 14th lowest of 34
Corn yield, median
—
fewer than 8 published county corn yields
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$7.58
2016–2025, closed crop years
WA median $8.03 · 10th lowest of 21
Farmland rented
55%
2022 census, rented from others
WA median 34% · 4th highest of 34

Cash rent

$0$100$200$300$4002010201520202025$47$74 dry$157$297 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, 2025$74/ac
Change 2014 to 2025+75.0%nominal, $42 to $74
Irrigated, 2026$297/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$3,786/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$2,086/ac
Census 2017$2,531/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+49.6%+8.4% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 27% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

County corn yield— fewer than 8 published county corn yields

Crop insurance record

19952000200520102015202020250.333.630.661.00: 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$7.58
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.30claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.14$305.2 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium10 of 31
Worst year2006ratio 3.63
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 48% · freeze 21% · price decline (revenue policies) 16%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202504120

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, 2000–2025193 of 1,357 weeks14% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200541 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202589 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202659.6 °F1991–2020 normal 58.3 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.86 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September5.1 in1991–2020 normal
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.3 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202227%
Farmed no-till, 202231% of cropland177,513 ac
Cover crops, 20222% of cropland8,963 ac
198619911996200120062011201620216,909155,591103,398

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

CRP enrolled, 2025103,398 ac24.9% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20289,876 ac10% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$74/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 20250 MW solar · 176.9 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Farmland rented from others, 202255%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueClaims per $100
Walla Walla County$74 2025$297$3,786$7.58
Umatilla County, OR$79 2025$478$2,437$7.50
Benton County$45 2024$700 2025$4,153$5.97
Columbia County$110—$2,280$13.19
Franklin County$34$553 2025$5,182$5.54
Median next door$72 2 co.$478 1 co.$3,295$6.74

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. Walla Walla County, Washington. 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/washington/walla-walla-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.