Farmland Atlas · county record

Arenac County, Michigan

Arenac County, MI: non-irrigated cash rent $128 an acre (2026); land and buildings $4,500 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 155.7 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 26011. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Cash rent, non-irrigated

$128/ac

2026 county average
MI median $100 · tied for 26th highest of 70

Land and buildings

$4,500/ac

2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
MI median $5,270 · 28th lowest of 76

Rent as % of land value

2.13%

$96 dry rent ÷ $4,500 land and buildings, both 2022

Corn yield, 2008–2025 median

155.7 bu/ac

recent level 2021–2025: 166.6
MI median 153.0 · 21st highest of 45

Claims paid per $100 of coverage

$4.04

2016–2025, closed crop years
MI median $5.92 · 15th lowest of 62

Farmland rented

34%

2022 census, rented from others
MI median 34% · 38th lowest of 78

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$128/ac

Change 2014 to 2026+50.6%nominal, $85 to $128

Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.77$128 ÷ 166.6 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$4,500/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price

Census 2012$2,782/ac

Census 2017$3,355/ac

Change 2017 to 2022+34.1%+6.0% a year, nominal

Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20222.13%$96 ÷ $4,500; cropland 83% of land in farms

Corn yield

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

Median, 2008–2025155.7 bu/ac17 published years

Recent level, 2021–2025166.6 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped

Lowest published year2013: 127.7 bu/ac82% of median

Trend, 2008–2025+0.9 bu/ac a year±1.4 (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$4.04

Loss ratio, 2016–20250.45claims ÷ total premium

Loss ratio, 1989–20250.67$29.0 million paid

Years claims exceeded premium3 of 19

Worst year2019ratio 1.32

Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 42% · heat and drought 24% · freeze 18%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, 2000–202529 of 1,357 weeks2% of weeks

Year with the most D2+ weeks200311 weeks

Last five years, 2021–202518 weeks

July average of daily lows, 2017–202660.8 °F1991–2020 normal 58.5 °F

Trend in July lows since 1976+0.94 °F a decadewarming

Rain, April to September19.1 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 98% of it

Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.6 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20221%

Drained by tile, 202268% of cropland45,260 ac

Farmed no-till, 20226% of cropland3,920 ac

Cover crops, 20225% of cropland3,381 ac

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

CRP enrolled, 20253,077 ac4.9% of harvested cropland + CRP

CRP expiring FY2026–2028542 ac18% of enrolled acres

CRP average rental payment, FY2025$124/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

Irrigation wells on record106Michigan EGLE Wellogic water well records

Median well depth100 ft

Cattle and calves, 202210,508+32.6% since 2017

Farmland rented from others, 202234%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

County	Dry rent	Irr. rent	Land value	Corn yield	Claims per $100
Arenac County	$128	—	$4,500	155.7	$4.04
Bay County	$185	$325	$5,313	164.4	$3.08
Gladwin County	$137	—	$4,647	151.1	$7.81
Iosco County	$52	—	$3,856	—	$5.68
Ogemaw County	$64	—	$3,407	146.2	$4.01
Median next door	$100	$325 1 co.	$4,252	151.1	$4.85

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. Arenac County, Michigan. 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/michigan/arenac-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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