Bay County, Michigan
Bay County, MI: non-irrigated cash rent $185 an acre (2026); land and buildings $5,313 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 164.4 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 26017. Figures as of 2026-09-20.
Non-irrigated cash rent here runs $185 per acre, up 40.2 percent from 2014 to 2026. Land value in 2022 stood at $5,313 per acre, up 5.2 percent from 2017 to 2022. Drought weeks were concentrated late: 31 of the 37 weeks of severe drought or worse recorded from 2000-2025 fell in 2021-2025, with 2025 alone reaching 18 weeks. July nightly lows averaged 62.3 F over 2017-2026 against a 60.1 F normal for 1991-2020, and the long trend since 1976 runs 0.77 F per decade, warming.
MI median $100 · 5th highest of 70
MI median $241 · tied for highest of 18
MI median $5,270 · 38th highest of 76
MI median 153.0 · tied for 6th highest of 45
MI median $5.92 · 6th lowest of 62
MI median 34% · 11th highest 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.
Land value
Corn yield
Bushels per acre, USDA NASS county yields, all practices. The dashed line is the median of the published years.
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.
Drought and weather
Weeks per year, U.S. Drought Monitor, with half the county or more in D2 (severe) drought or worse.
Land, water and programs
Acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, USDA FSA, by fiscal year.
Next door
| County | Dry rent | Irr. rent | Land value | Corn yield | Claims per $100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bay County | $185 | $325 | $5,313 | 164.4 | $3.08 |
| Arenac County | $128 | — | $4,500 | 155.7 | $4.04 |
| Gladwin County | $137 | — | $4,647 | 151.1 | $7.81 |
| Midland County | $179 | — | $5,538 | 163.3 | $4.77 |
| Saginaw County | $159 | — | $5,683 | 164.4 | $4.38 |
| Tuscola County | $222 | — | $6,465 | 172.0 | $3.41 |
| Median next door | $159 | — | $5,538 | 163.3 | $4.38 |
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. Bay 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/bay-countyEvery 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.