Farmland Atlas · county record

Van Buren County, Michigan

Van Buren County, MI: non-irrigated cash rent $140 an acre (2026); land and buildings $6,341 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 157.8 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 26159. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Van Buren County is $140 per acre in 2026, up 17.6 percent from 2016. Irrigation covers 27 percent of harvested cropland, drawing 93 percent of its water from groundwater. Drought has stayed light: 30 of 1357 weeks since 2000 hit severe drought or worse, with only 2 weeks from 2021-2025.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$140/ac
2026 county average
MI median $100 · tied for 17th highest of 70
Cash rent, irrigated
$236/ac
2026 county average
MI median $241 · 8th lowest of 18
Land and buildings
$6,341/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
MI median $5,270 · 21st highest of 76
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
157.8 bu/ac
10 published years · irrigated and dryland combined
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$10.18
2016–2025, closed crop years
MI median $5.92 · 15th highest of 62
Farmland rented
39%
2022 census, rented from others
MI median 34% · 32nd highest of 78

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$250$3002010201520202025$78$140 dry$105$236 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$140/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+17.6%nominal, $119 to $140
Irrigated, 2026$236/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$6,341/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$4,445/ac
Census 2017$5,789/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+9.5%+1.8% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 27% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024142.0153.0164.9179.6133.7156.5150.5159.0184.8179.6median 157.8

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

Median, 2008–2025157.8 bu/ac10 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Lowest published year2012: 133.7 bu/ac85% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+1.4 bu/ac a year±1.9 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

1999200420092014201920240.362.000.561.00: 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$10.18
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.81claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.83$114.1 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium8 of 27
Worst year2012ratio 2.00
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025freeze 46% · heat and drought 24% · excess moisture 12%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020251180

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, 2000–202530 of 1,357 weeks2% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200518 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20252 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202661.7 °F1991–2020 normal 60.8 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.32 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September22.0 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 102% 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, 202227%
Drained by tile, 202218% of cropland17,912 ac
Farmed no-till, 202214% of cropland13,341 ac
Cover crops, 20225% of cropland5,154 ac
19861991199620012006201120162021165,484771

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

CRP enrolled, 2025771 ac0.9% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028385 ac50% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$129/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Irrigation wells on record922Michigan EGLE Wellogic water well records
Median well depth95 ft
Cattle and calves, 202212,036+6.3% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202239%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Van Buren County$140$236$6,341—$10.18
Allegan County$155$292 2023$6,684160.8$4.97
Berrien County$125$240$6,476—$9.74
Cass County$126$280$5,984158.8$3.83
Kalamazoo County$128$325$6,660—$2.84
Median next door$127$280$6,568159.8 2 co.$4.40

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. Van Buren 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/van-buren-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.