Farmland Atlas · county record

Granite County, Montana

Granite County, MT: non-irrigated cash rent $15 an acre (2023); land and buildings $2,808 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 30039. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent runs $15 per acre; irrigated cash rent is $91 per acre for 2022. Irrigated ground covers 88 percent of harvested cropland, 2022 census, and none of that irrigation water comes from groundwater, 2015. Land value is $2,808 per acre, 2022, with a change of 73.5 percent over 2017-2022, or 11.7 percent a year. July nightly lows average 46.8 F for 2017-2026 against a 1991-2020 normal of 45.2 F, a warming trend of 0.76 F per decade since 1976. Severe drought or worse covered at least 50 percent of the county in 333 of 1357 weeks, 2000-2025, with 137 weeks in 2021-2025 and 2024 the worst year at 44 weeks. No solar or wind capacity operates or is proposed here.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$15/ac
2023 county average
too few 2023 county surveys in the state to compare
Cash rent, irrigated
$91/ac
2022 county average
too few 2022 county surveys in the state to compare
Land and buildings
$2,808/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
MT median $1,237 · 5th highest of 53
Corn yield, median
—
fewer than 8 published county corn yields
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
—
under the premium floor for a figure
Farmland rented
27%
2022 census, rented from others
MT median 29% · 22nd lowest of 56

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$10020142016201820202022$23$15 dry$71$91 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, 2023$15/ac
Irrigated, 2022$91/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$2,808/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,276/ac
Census 2017$1,618/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+73.5%+11.7% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— NASS published no non-irrigated cash rent for this county in 2022

Corn yield

County corn yield— fewer than 8 published county corn yields

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.

Drought and weather

20002005201020152020202594444

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, 2000–2025333 of 1,357 weeks25% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks202444 weeks
Last five years, 2021–2025137 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202646.8 °F1991–2020 normal 45.2 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.76 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September11.8 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 93% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.4 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202288%
Drained by tile, 2022none reported
Farmed no-till, 20224% of cropland1,078 ac
Cover crops, 20222% of cropland404 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202101170

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

CRP enrolled, 20250 ac
CRP average rental payment, FY2014$62/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Cattle and calves, 202216,535−14.7% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202227%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand value
Granite County$15 2023—$2,808
Deer Lodge County——$2,334
Missoula County$35 2025$69 2025$2,276
Powell County$28 2025$80$1,783
Ravalli County$36$87$9,096
Median next door$36 1 co.$84 2 co.$2,305

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. Granite County, Montana. 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/montana/granite-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.