Farmland Atlas · county record

Aroostook County, Maine

Aroostook County, ME: non-irrigated cash rent $108 an acre (2026); land and buildings $2,403 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 23003. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Aroostook County is $108 per acre in 2026, up 46.9 percent from 2016. The census value of land and buildings in 2022 was $2,403 per acre, with land value change 2017-2022 of 38 percent, 6.7 percent a year. Rent as a share of that value stood at 3.56 percent. Crop insurance indemnities for 1989-2025 total $147.4 million, with excess moisture and flood the largest cause at 61 percent of that total. Heat and drought's share of indemnities moved from 30 percent in 1989-1999 to 8 percent in 2000-2009, 14 percent in 2010-2019, and 20 percent in 2020-2025. The loss ratio over 2016-2025 was 0.57, below the 1989-2025 ratio of 0.74.

Cash rent, non-irrigated

$108/ac

2026 county average
ME median $51 · highest of 10

Land and buildings

$2,403/ac

2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
ME median $4,123 · 3rd lowest of 16

Rent as % of land value

3.56%

$86 dry rent ÷ $2,403 land and buildings, both 2022

Corn yield, median

—

fewer than 8 published county corn yields

Claims paid per $100 of coverage

$6.40

2016–2025, closed crop years
ME median $6.61 · 3rd lowest of 6

Farmland rented

21%

2022 census, rented from others
ME median 13% · 2nd highest of 16

Cash rent

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$108/ac

Change 2016 to 2026+46.9%nominal, $74 to $108

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$2,403/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price

Census 2012$1,427/ac

Census 2017$1,741/ac

Change 2017 to 2022+38.0%+6.7% a year, nominal

Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20223.56%$86 ÷ $2,403; cropland 57% of land in farms

Corn yield

County corn yield— fewer than 8 published county corn yields

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$6.40

Loss ratio, 2016–20250.57claims ÷ total premium

Loss ratio, 1989–20250.74$147.4 million paid

Years claims exceeded premium10 of 31

Worst year2004ratio 3.21

Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 61% · heat and drought 16% · freeze 11%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

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, 2000–202553 of 1,357 weeks4% of weeks

Year with the most D2+ weeks200231 weeks

Last five years, 2021–202511 weeks

July average of daily lows, 2017–202655.2 °F1991–2020 normal 54.0 °F

Trend in July lows since 1976+0.71 °F a decadewarming

Rain, April to September22.4 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 94% 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, 20223% of cropland5,227 ac

Farmed no-till, 20224% of cropland6,137 ac

Cover crops, 202220% of cropland35,072 ac

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

CRP enrolled, 20251,906 ac1.5% of harvested cropland + CRP

CRP expiring FY2026–202827 ac1% of enrolled acres

CRP average rental payment, FY2025$59/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

Solar and wind operating, 202579.7 MW solar · 190 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860

Cattle and calves, 20227,042+1.5% since 2017

Farmland rented from others, 202221%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

County	Dry rent	Land value	Claims per $100
Aroostook County	$108	$2,403	$6.40
Penobscot County	$53	$3,836	$2.03
Piscataquis County	—	$2,593	—
Somerset County	$26	$2,253	—
Washington County	—	$2,136	$16.10
Median next door	$39 2 co.	$2,423	$9.07 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. Aroostook County, Maine. 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/maine/aroostook-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.

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