County farm facts

Yellowstone County, Montana

Yellowstone County, MT: non-irrigated cash rent $28 an acre (2026); land and buildings $1,216 an acre in the 2022 census. Bids, weather, crops, land and programs for one county. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 30111. Figures as of Oct 19, 2026; the rows marked with a date load the newest reading when the page opens.

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As of Oct 16, cropland rent in Yellowstone County runs $28 an acre for 2026, up 31.0% from $21 in 2016 and a bit under the $31 state median. Irrigated ground is another story at $132 an acre for 2026, 5th highest of 29. The census value of land and buildings came to $1,216 an acre in 2022, up 21.2% from $1,003 in 2017 and close to the $1,237 state median.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$28/ac
2026 county average
MT median $31 · tied for 12th lowest of 40
Cash rent, irrigated
$132/ac
2026 county average
MT median $98 · 5th highest of 29
Land and buildings
$1,216/ac
2022: operators' own estimate of what land and buildings were worth · MT farm real estate 2026: $1,260 (land and buildings, state survey)
MT median $1,237 · 25th lowest of 53
Corn yield
n/a
county yield mixes irrigated and dryland acres
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$8.73
2016–2025, closed crop years
MT median $13.95 · 10th lowest of 46
Farmland rented
26%
2022 census, rented from others
MT median 29% · 20th lowest of 56
Open on the map Compare Montana cash rent by county

Grain and prices within 50 miles

Corn bid
Soybean bid
Corn basis
Soybean basis
Corn futures
Soybean futures
Live cattle futures
Hay, Montana price received

Bids are posted elevator prices within 50 miles of the county middle, or of your own field or saved place in this county when this device has one (each row says which), best and nearest, never a buyer's name. Not a contract; call before you haul. Livestock lines show where the 2022 Census counts 1,000 head or more: milk for milk cows, feeder cattle for beef cows, live cattle for cattle on feed, hogs for hogs, hay for all cattle.

Montana cash bids by town · Bids from your own ZIP or farm, in Fast Facts

Weather and the season

Rain since Jan 1
Drought this week
Hail, last 30 days

Rain so far this year in Yellowstone County, Montana

Drought, year by year

20002005201020152020202522530

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, 2000–2025352 of 1,357 weeks26% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200253 weeks
Last five full years, 2021–202544 weeks
2026 so far11 weekshalf the county or more in D2, 40 weekly maps
July average of daily lows, 2017–202657.9 °F1991–2020 normal 56.3 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.79 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September, usual10.1 in1991–2020 county normal, NOAA; the 2017–2026 seasons averaged 10.9 in
Days with hail 1 inch or larger3.3 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail
Last spring freeze, first fall freezeMay 9, Oct 5middle dates 1996–2025, NOAA county-average daily low of 32 °F or colder
Frost-free days149middle of 1996–2025
Corn growing degree days, May to September2,320middle of 1996–2025; 2016–2025 averaged 2,316

Crops

Corn harvested
Soybeans harvested

Corn yield

200820092010201120122013201420152016182.099.898.6124.4119.3median 127.5

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

Trend for rent per bushelCounty yield mixes irrigated and dryland acres
Median, 2008–2016127.5 bu/ac9 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Lowest published year2012: 98.6 bu/ac77% of median

Land rent, value, sales

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$100$120$1402010201520202025$18$28 dry$95$132 irrigated

Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey.

Every published Montana county rate, side by side: Montana cash rent by county.

Non-irrigated, 2026$28/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+31.0%nominal, $21 to $28
Irrigated, 2026$132/ac
Pasture, 2026$7/ac
Rent as a share of corn grossCounty yield mixes irrigated and dryland acres (2016)

Share of gross is a past year, all observed: that year's rent, that year's county corn yield of the same practice and the state price received, USDA NASS. Rent per bushel is withheld here: it needs the county trend, and the trend is withheld (see the corn yield section). The calculator below takes your own yield and price.

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$1,216/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$764/ac
Census 2017$1,003/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+21.2%+3.9% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census valueAbout 24% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything
Montana cropland, 2026 state survey$1,350/ac+2.3% from 2025 · USDA NASS Land Values, state average
Montana farm real estate, 2026$1,260/acland and buildings, state average
Montana pasture, 2026$940/acstate average

The census value is this county's, from 2022. The survey figures are the Montana average for 2026, from the USDA NASS Land Values report. NASS publishes that survey by state, not by county, so this page does not scale one into the other.

Programs and risk

ARC or PLC sign-up

Benchmarks, payments and the choice for each crop: ARC or PLC in Yellowstone County.

Insuring pasture or hay? PRF rainfall insurance for pasture and hay in Yellowstone County: its grids, county values and record are on the county PRF page.

Crop insurance record

200120062011201620212.661.191.00: claims equal premium

Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 2001 with at least $1,000,000 of premium; a year under that has no bar and no ratio. 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$8.73
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.86claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.78$60.1 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium6 of 25crop years 2001–2025 with a loss ratio
Worst year2002ratio 2.66, of the 25 crop years with at least $1,000,000 of premium
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 39% · hail 30% · freeze 14%share of dollars paid

Conservation Reserve Program

19861991199620012006201120162021061,70126,545

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

CRP enrolled, 202526,545 ac14.3% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2027–202913,804 ac52% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$24/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

What farms here look like

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202224%
Drained by tile, 2022under 1% of cropland135 ac
Farmed no-till, 202229% of cropland77,641 ac
Cover crops, 2022under 1% of cropland1,078 ac
Solar and wind operating, 202580 MW solar · 1.8 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202264,074−42.1% since 2017
Cattle on feed, 20226,812head, Census of Agriculture
Farmland rented from others, 202226%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

USDA Census of Agriculture 2022, except wells (state well register) and power (EIA Form 860).

Watch this county

Get an email when the published figures for Yellowstone County, Montana change. Usually once or twice a year. You confirm by email first, and every email has a one-tap stop. AGSIST, PO Box 243, Chetek, WI 54728.

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueClaims per $100
Yellowstone County$28$132$1,216$8.73
Big Horn County$28$102$649$8.71
Carbon County$33$116$1,923$3.37
Golden Valley County$29n/a$977$16.90
Musselshell County$23$85 2023$1,077$23.17
Rosebud County$25$106 2024$716$14.01
Stillwater County$20$103$1,747$9.17
Treasure County$8 2025$131$996$5.62
Median next door$26$110$996$9.17

Counties that share a stretch of boundary. A rent from an older survey year carries its year and stays out of the median; one more than three survey years old shows n/a.

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Cite this page

AGSIST Farmland Atlas. Yellowstone County, Montana. Figures as of Oct 19, 2026, from USDA NASS, USDA RMA, USDA FSA, the U.S. Drought Monitor and NOAA. https://agsist.com/farmland-atlas/montana/yellowstone-county
Every figure is a county average from the sources named below. Rent ranks count every county with a published rent in the same survey year, within the state (the same counties as the state rent page); other ranks count counties with 10,000 acres or more in farms. 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.

This product uses the NASS API but is not endorsed or certified by NASS. Averages, trends, ranks and estimates are calculations by AGSIST.

Rent: USDA NASS Cash Rents Survey, county. Land value: Census of Agriculture, operators' estimate of land and buildings. Yield: NASS county corn yields. The headline trend, the one rent per bushel uses, is fitted here over the published years in the 15 years ending this year; the yearly trend card uses 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. Claims paid per $100 of coverage: claims divided by liability (the insured value), times 100, same source. 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 missing figure is named with its reason (in a table it reads n/a).