Farmland Atlas · county record

Montcalm County, Michigan

Montcalm County, MI: non-irrigated cash rent $107 an acre (2026); land and buildings $4,937 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 151.5 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 26117. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Montcalm County runs $107 per acre in 2026, up 28.9 percent from 2016. Irrigated land rents at $241 per acre, a multiple of 2.25 times the non-irrigated rate in 2026, against 2.12 in 2013, with no clear direction to that spread. Census value of land and buildings stands at $4,937 per acre, up 23.7 percent from 2017 to 2022, or 4.3 percent a year. Crop insurance indemnities for 1989-2025 total $38.1 million, with heat and drought the largest cause at 36 percent; that share was 18 percent in 1989-1999, 43 percent in 2000-2009, 34 percent in 2010-2019, and 46 percent in 2020-2025. The loss ratio for the ten closed crop years 2016-2025 is 0.37, against 0.43 for the full 1989-2025 record.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$107/ac
2026 county average
MI median $100 · 32nd highest of 70
Cash rent, irrigated
$241/ac
2026 county average
MI median $241 · 9th highest of 18
Land and buildings
$4,937/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
MI median $5,270 · 33rd lowest of 76
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
151.5 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 172.4 · irrigated and dryland combined
MI median 153.0 · 21st lowest of 45
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$2.78
2016–2025, closed crop years
MI median $5.92 · 4th lowest of 62
Farmland rented
38%
2022 census, rented from others
MI median 34% · 33rd highest of 78

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$2502010201520202025$58$107 dry$179$241 irrigated

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$107/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+28.9%nominal, $83 to $107
Irrigated, 2026$241/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$4,937/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$3,336/ac
Census 2017$3,991/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+23.7%+4.3% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 41% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024126.0182.2182.0median 151.5

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

Median, 2008–2025151.5 bu/ac18 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Recent level, 2021–2025172.4 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2008: 126.0 bu/ac83% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+2.5 bu/ac a year±0.9 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

19952000200520102015202020250.111.040.231.00: claims equal premium

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$2.78
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.37claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.43$38.1 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium1 of 31
Worst year2004ratio 1.04
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 36% · excess moisture 23% · freeze 19%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202505

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, 2000–202512 of 1,357 weeks1% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks20255 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20258 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202659.3 °F1991–2020 normal 58.0 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.45 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September20.8 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, 202241%
Drained by tile, 202217% of cropland32,789 ac
Farmed no-till, 202214% of cropland27,092 ac
Cover crops, 202217% of cropland31,710 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202116812,840644

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

CRP enrolled, 2025644 ac0.4% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–202890 ac14% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$87/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Irrigation wells on record543Michigan EGLE Wellogic water well records
Median well depth127 ft
Solar and wind operating, 20252 MW solar · 150 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202221,893+3.8% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202238%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Montcalm County$107$241$4,937151.5$2.78
Gratiot County$186$264$6,512163.0$3.11
Ionia County$196$235$6,594164.1$3.78
Isabella County$135—$4,954147.3$7.40
Kent County$145$247$7,869156.5$10.96
Mecosta County$70$155$4,348135.0$5.66
Newaygo County$94$130$5,405138.2$6.19
Median next door$140$235$5,959151.9$5.93

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. Montcalm 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/montcalm-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.