County farm facts

Calhoun County, Michigan

Calhoun County, MI: non-irrigated cash rent $132 an acre (2026); land and buildings $5,072 an acre in the 2022 census. Bids, weather, crops, land and programs for one county. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 26025. Figures as of Nov 8, 2026; the rows marked with a date load the newest reading when the page opens.

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As of Oct 6, cash rent in Calhoun County runs $132 an acre for 2026, up 25.7% from $105 in 2016. That ranks 22nd highest of 71 in Michigan, where the state median is $99. The census value of land and buildings came in at $5,072 an acre in 2022, down 4.5% from $5,309 in 2017. Corn made 168.2 bu in 2025, well over the 18 year county median of 144.4 bu.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$132/ac
2026 county average
MI median $99 · 22nd highest of 71
Cash rent, irrigated
$242/ac
2024 county average
too few 2024 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$5,072/ac
2022: operators' own estimate of what land and buildings were worth · MI farm real estate 2026: $7,000 (land and buildings, state survey)
MI median $5,270 · 36th lowest of 76
Corn yield, 2021-25 average
163.5 bu/ac
high and low dropped · 2025 county yield 168.2 · irrigated and dryland combined · rent-per-bushel trend withheld: county yield mixes irrigated and dryland acres
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$5.41
2016–2025, closed crop years
MI median $5.92 · 26th lowest of 62
Farmland rented
40%
2022 census, rented from others
MI median 34% · 25th highest of 78
Open on the map Compare Michigan cash rent by county

Grain and prices within 50 miles

Corn bid
Soybean bid
Corn basis
Soybean basis
Corn futures
Soybean futures
Class III milk futures
Feeder cattle futures
Live cattle futures
Hay, Michigan price received

Bids are posted elevator prices within 50 miles of the county middle, or of your own field or saved place in this county when this device has one (each row says which), best and nearest, never a buyer's name. Not a contract; call before you haul. Livestock lines show where the 2022 Census counts 1,000 head or more: milk for milk cows, feeder cattle for beef cows, live cattle for cattle on feed, hogs for hogs, hay for all cattle.

Michigan cash bids by town · Bids from your own ZIP or farm, in Fast Facts

Cash bids by town near the middle of Calhoun County: Grand Ledge (38 mi), Williamston (48 mi), Hamilton, IN (48 mi).

Nearby buyers within 50 miles: 2 ethanol plants
Loading the list.

Straight-line miles from the middle of Calhoun County to each buyer’s town point (the middle of its town, not the gate), rounded. Capacity as published. Where the buyers are, not what they pay. Lists from Renewable Fuels Association, EIA, read Oct 28, 2026.

Weather and the season

Rain since Jan 1
Drought this week
Hail, last 30 days

Rain so far this year in Calhoun County, Michigan

Drought, year by year

2000200520102015202020251110

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+ weeks200311 weeks
Last five full years, 2021–20251 weeks
2026 so far0 weekshalf the county or more in D2, 40 weekly maps
July average of daily lows, 2017–202661.8 °F1991–2020 normal 60.2 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.35 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September, usual22.0 in1991–2020 county normal, NOAA; the 2017–2026 seasons averaged 22.5 in
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.6 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail
Last spring freeze, first fall freezeApr 28, Oct 18middle dates 1996–2025, NOAA county-average daily low of 32 °F or colder
Frost-free days169middle of 1996–2025
Corn growing degree days, May to September2,608middle of 1996–2025; 2016–2025 averaged 2,682

Crops

Corn harvested
Soybeans harvested

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024109.0185.8168.2median 144.4

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

Trend for rent per bushelCounty yield mixes irrigated and dryland acres
2025 county yield168.2 bu/acall practices
2021-25 average163.5 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Median, 2008–2025144.4 bu/ac18 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Lowest published year2012: 87.1 bu/ac60% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+2.3 bu/ac a year±1.8 (95% interval)

Land rent, value, sales

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$2502010201520202025$63$132 dry$114$242 irrigated

Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey.

Every published Michigan county rate, side by side: Michigan cash rent by county.

Non-irrigated, 2026$132/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+25.7%nominal, $105 to $132
Irrigated, 2024$242/ac
Pasture, 2026$81/ac
Rent as a share of corn grossCounty yield mixes irrigated and dryland acres (2025)

Share of gross is a past year, all observed: that year's rent, that year's county corn yield of the same practice and the state price received, USDA NASS. Rent per bushel is withheld here: it needs the county trend, and the trend is withheld (see the corn yield section). The calculator below takes your own yield and price.

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$5,072/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$3,676/ac
Census 2017$5,309/ac
Change 2017 to 2022−4.5%−0.9% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census valueAbout 11% of cropland is irrigated (USGS 2015 irrigated acres over 2022 harvested cropland), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything
Michigan cropland, 2026 state survey$6,600/ac+3.9% from 2025 · USDA NASS Land Values, state average
Michigan farm real estate, 2026$7,000/acland and buildings, state average
Michigan pasture, 2026$3,200/acstate average

The census value is this county's, from 2022. The survey figures are the Michigan average for 2026, from the USDA NASS Land Values report. NASS publishes that survey by state, not by county, so this page does not scale one into the other.

Auction results

  • Mar 23, 2026: 64 acres, $463,500 total sold.
    • Tracts 1-3: $463,500, $7,242/acre, as reported
    Schrader auction page
  • Mar 19, 2018: 101.7 acres, $605,000 total sold.
    • Tracts 1+2: $605,000, $5,947/acre, as reported
    Schrader auction page

Sold and auction results reported by Schrader Real Estate and Auction Co. Not recorded transfers; not every sale is listed. Figures as published by the auction firm.

Programs and risk

ARC or PLC sign-up

Benchmarks, payments and the choice for each crop: ARC or PLC in Calhoun County.

Insuring pasture or hay? PRF rainfall insurance for pasture and hay in Calhoun County: its grids, county values and record are on the county PRF page.

Crop insurance record

200320082013201820231.223.140.201.00: claims equal premium

Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 2003 with at least $1,000,000 of premium; a year under that has no bar and no ratio. 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$5.41
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.63claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.75$89.3 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium5 of 23crop years 2003–2025 with a loss ratio
Worst year2012ratio 3.14, of the 23 crop years with at least $1,000,000 of premium
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 41% · area plans 23% · excess moisture 15%share of dollars paid

Conservation Reserve Program

1986199119962001200620112016202174413,0682,390

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

CRP enrolled, 20252,390 ac1.6% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2027–2029388 ac16% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$118/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

What farms here look like

Harvested cropland irrigated, 2022NASS suppressed the irrigated acres to protect individual farms
Drained by tile, 20229% of cropland14,428 ac
Farmed no-till, 202240% of cropland64,981 ac
Cover crops, 20227% of cropland11,291 ac
Irrigation wells on record446Michigan EGLE Wellogic water well records
Median well depth118 ft
Solar and wind operating, 2025596 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202213,899−18.6% since 2017
Milk cows, 20224,856head, Census of Agriculture
Beef cows, 20221,843head, Census of Agriculture
Cattle on feed, 20222,298head, Census of Agriculture
Farmland rented from others, 202240%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

USDA Census of Agriculture 2022, except wells (state well register) and power (EIA Form 860).

Watch this county

Get an email when the published figures for Calhoun County, Michigan change. Usually once or twice a year. You confirm by email first, and every email has a one-tap stop. AGSIST, PO Box 243, Chetek, WI 54728.

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yield, medianClaims per $100
Calhoun County$132$242 2024$5,072144.4$5.41
Barry County$129$228 2023$6,027153.0$4.27
Branch County$133$190$5,315157.9$4.00
Eaton County$123n/a$5,160163.2$6.15
Hillsdale County$150$233$5,493156.2$4.53
Jackson County$97n/a$4,952140.6$4.82
Kalamazoo County$128$325$6,660n/a$2.84
Median next door$129$233$5,404156.2$4.40

Counties that share a stretch of boundary. A rent from an older survey year carries its year and stays out of the median; one more than three survey years old shows n/a. The corn median here needs 15 published years, so a county with fewer shows n/a even where its own page gives a median.

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Cite this page

AGSIST Farmland Atlas. Calhoun County, Michigan. Figures as of Nov 8, 2026, from USDA NASS, USDA RMA, USDA FSA, the U.S. Drought Monitor and NOAA. https://agsist.com/farmland-atlas/michigan/calhoun-county
Every figure is a county average from the sources named below. Rent ranks count every county with a published rent in the same survey year, within the state (the same counties as the state rent page); other ranks count counties with 10,000 acres or more in farms. 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.

This product uses the NASS API but is not endorsed or certified by NASS. Averages, trends, ranks and estimates are calculations by AGSIST.

Rent: USDA NASS Cash Rents Survey, county. Land value: Census of Agriculture, operators' estimate of land and buildings. Yield: NASS county corn yields. The headline trend, the one rent per bushel uses, is fitted here over the published years in the 15 years ending this year; the yearly trend card uses 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. Claims paid per $100 of coverage: claims divided by liability (the insured value), times 100, same source. 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 missing figure is named with its reason (in a table it reads n/a).