Farmland Atlas · county record

Preston County, West Virginia

Preston County, WV: non-irrigated cash rent $27 an acre (2026); land and buildings $3,218 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 128.9 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 54077. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Preston County is $27 per acre in 2026, up 25.6 percent from 2016. Land value came in at $3,218 per acre in 2022, up 17.1 percent from 2017. July nights average 61.2 F for 2017-2026, against a 59.5 F normal, and the long trend runs 0.6 F per decade, warming. Solar and wind operating capacity: 0 MW.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$27/ac
2026 county average
WV median $30 · tied for 12th lowest of 30
Land and buildings
$3,218/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
WV median $3,215 · 23rd highest of 47
Rent as % of land value
—
not shown: cropland is 33% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland
Corn yield, 2008–2016 median
128.9 bu/ac
8 published years
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$14.36
2016–2025, closed crop years
WV median $14.36 · 4th lowest of 7
Farmland rented
15%
2022 census, rented from others
WV median 20% · 15th lowest of 48

Cash rent

$0$10$20$30$40$502010201520202025$19$27 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$27/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+25.6%nominal, $22 to $27
Pasture, 2026$13/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$3,218/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$2,467/ac
Census 2017$2,747/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+17.1%+3.2% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 33% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield

200820092010201120122013201420152016115.0144.0119.0136.5131.0126.8117.1135.5median 128.9

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

Median, 2008–2016128.9 bu/ac8 published years
Lowest published year2008: 115.0 bu/ac89% of median

Crop insurance record

Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 1993. 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$14.36
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.06claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1993–20250.90$1.3 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1993–2025excess moisture 52% · heat and drought 35% · freeze 4%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250140

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, 2000–202517 of 1,357 weeks1% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks202414 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202514 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202661.2 °F1991–2020 normal 59.5 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.60 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September28.2 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 105% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.9 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, 20224% of cropland1,742 ac
Farmed no-till, 20228% of cropland3,662 ac
Cover crops, 20222% of cropland1,033 ac
198619911996200120062011201620211628657

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

CRP enrolled, 202557 ac
CRP expiring FY2026–20280 ac
Cattle and calves, 202216,327−12.5% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202215%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Preston County$27$3,218—$14.36
Garrett County, MD$45$5,541137.4$12.13
Fayette County, PA$33$7,064119.4$19.41
Barbour County$32$2,673——
Grant County$27$3,008——
Monongalia County$18$5,944——
Taylor County$24$4,194——
Tucker County$35$3,965——
Median next door$32$4,194128.4 2 co.$15.77 2 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. Preston County, West 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/west-virginia/preston-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.