Farmland Atlas · county record

Ottawa County, Michigan

Ottawa County, MI: non-irrigated cash rent $143 an acre (2026); land and buildings $8,743 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 151.7 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 26139. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Ottawa County is $143 per acre in 2026, up 25.4 percent from 2016. Land value in 2022 is $8,743 per acre, up 5.7 percent from 2017 to 2022.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$143/ac
2026 county average
MI median $100 · 16th highest of 70
Cash rent, irrigated
$250/ac
2026 county average
MI median $241 · 7th highest of 18
Land and buildings
$8,743/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
MI median $5,270 · 5th highest of 76
Corn yield, 2008–2023 median
151.7 bu/ac
recent level 2019–2023: 175.6 · irrigated and dryland combined
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$7.33
2016–2025, closed crop years
MI median $5.92 · 26th highest of 62
Farmland rented
39%
2022 census, rented from others
MI median 34% · 28th highest of 78

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$2502010201520202025$80$143 dry$169$250 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$143/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+25.4%nominal, $114 to $143
Irrigated, 2026$250/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$8,743/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$6,458/ac
Census 2017$8,271/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+5.7%+1.1% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 22% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022117.0180.5median 151.7

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

Median, 2008–2023151.7 bu/ac14 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Recent level, 2019–2023175.6 bu/ac4 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2012: 111.2 bu/ac73% of median
Trend, 2008–2023+2.8 bu/ac a year±1.7 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

200120062011201620210.382.510.771.00: 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$7.33
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.57claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.63$83.9 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium4 of 25
Worst year2012ratio 2.51
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025freeze 50% · heat and drought 17% · hail 14%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

200020052010201520202025081

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, 2000–202519 of 1,357 weeks1% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks20058 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20257 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202661.2 °F1991–2020 normal 60.3 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.35 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September20.6 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 93% 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, 202222%
Drained by tile, 202228% of cropland31,513 ac
Farmed no-till, 202214% of cropland15,686 ac
Cover crops, 20227% of cropland7,326 ac
19861991199620012006201120162021902,890122

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

CRP enrolled, 2025122 ac0.1% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–202822 ac18% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$126/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Irrigation wells on record1,535Michigan EGLE Wellogic water well records
Median well depth45 ft
Solar and wind operating, 20253 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202238,173−26.9% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202239%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Ottawa County$143$250$8,743—$7.33
Allegan County$155$292 2023$6,684160.8$4.97
Kent County$145$247$7,869156.5$10.96
Muskegon County$111—$5,539138.6$9.66
Median next door$145$247 1 co.$6,684156.5$9.66

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. Ottawa 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/ottawa-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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