Farmland Atlas · county record

Wayne County, Michigan

Wayne County, MI: non-irrigated cash rent $90 an acre (2026); land and buildings $20,415 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 130.0 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 26163. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent for 2026 is $90 per acre, against land and buildings valued at $20,415 per acre in the 2022 census. Land value rose 76.6 percent from 2017-2022, 12 percent a year. July nights have warmed from a 62.6 F normal (1991-2020) to 64.7 F (2017-2026), a trend of 0.7 F per decade since 1976.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$90/ac
2026 county average
MI median $100 · 28th lowest of 70
Land and buildings
$20,415/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
MI median $5,270 · highest of 76
Rent as % of land value
—
not shown: about 19% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything
Corn yield, 2009–2024 median
130.0 bu/ac
recent level 2020–2024: 136.9 · irrigated and dryland combined
MI median 153.0 · 6th lowest of 45
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$25.90
2016–2025, closed crop years
MI median $5.92 · highest of 62
Farmland rented
38%
2022 census, rented from others
MI median 34% · 35th highest of 78

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$100202120222023202420252026$90$90 dry

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$90/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$20,415/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$7,442/ac
Census 2017$11,561/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+76.6%+12.0% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 19% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

20092011201320152017201920212023144.0159.1154.4median 130.0

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

Median, 2009–2024130.0 bu/ac16 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Recent level, 2020–2024136.9 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2012: 83.5 bu/ac64% of median
Trend, 2009–2024+0.8 bu/ac a year±2.1 (95% interval)

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.

Claims paid per $100 of coverage, 2016–2025$25.90
Loss ratio, 2016–20252.23claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.82$7.7 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 50% · heat and drought 37% · price decline (revenue policies) 5%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202510

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, 2000–20252 of 1,357 weeks0% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks20031 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20250 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202664.7 °F1991–2020 normal 62.6 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.70 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September20.1 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 105% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.1 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202219%
Drained by tile, 202214% of cropland1,114 ac
Farmed no-till, 202219% of cropland1,471 ac
Cover crops, 20223% of cropland242 ac

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

CRP enrolled, 20250 ac
Irrigation wells on record460Michigan EGLE Wellogic water well records
Median well depth113 ft
Solar and wind operating, 20253 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 2022251−1.2% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202238%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Wayne County$90—$20,415130.0$25.90
Macomb County$102—$7,741160.2$11.46
Monroe County$172$220 2023$6,275168.1$5.35
Oakland County$71—$15,247142.6$15.09
Washtenaw County$92—$7,616146.8$7.85
Median next door$97—$7,679153.5$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. Wayne 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/wayne-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.