Farmland Atlas · county record

Bowman County, North Dakota

Bowman County, ND: non-irrigated cash rent $43 an acre (2026); land and buildings $1,283 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 70.8 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 38011. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Bowman County runs $43 per acre, up 34.4 percent from 2016 to 2026. Cropland here is not irrigated, with 0 percent of harvested acres under irrigation in the 2022 census. Heat and drought drove 63 percent of crop insurance indemnities from 1989-2025, and the county spent 317 of 1357 weeks at or beyond severe drought since 2000, with 101 of those weeks falling in 2021-2025 alone. The loss ratio over 2016-2025 was 1.03, meaning payouts exceeded premiums across those closed crop years. Wind capacity operating stands at 219.5 MW; no solar operates and no new capacity of either kind is proposed to EIA.

Cash rent, non-irrigated

$43/ac

2026 county average
ND median $65 · 9th lowest of 53

Land and buildings

$1,283/ac

2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
ND median $1,885 · 4th lowest of 53

Rent as % of land value

—

not shown: cropland is 43% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield, 2008–2023 median

70.8 bu/ac

8 published years

Claims paid per $100 of coverage

$20.21

2016–2025, closed crop years
ND median $12.77 · 3rd highest of 53

Farmland rented

44%

2022 census, rented from others
ND median 55% · 6th lowest of 53

Cash rent

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$43/ac

Change 2016 to 2026+34.4%nominal, $32 to $43

Pasture, 2026$22/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$1,283/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price

Census 2012$752/ac

Census 2017$1,028/ac

Change 2017 to 2022+24.8%+4.5% a year, nominal

Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 43% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield

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

Median, 2008–202370.8 bu/ac8 published years

Lowest published year2012: 56.3 bu/ac80% of median

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$20.21

Loss ratio, 2016–20251.03claims ÷ total premium

Loss ratio, 1989–20250.90$129.7 million paid

Years claims exceeded premium8 of 23

Worst year2021ratio 3.58

Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 63% · hail 18% · excess moisture 9%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

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, 2000–2025317 of 1,357 weeks23% of weeks

Year with the most D2+ weeks202150 weeks

Last five years, 2021–2025101 weeks

July average of daily lows, 2017–202656.8 °F1991–2020 normal 55.5 °F

Trend in July lows since 1976+0.33 °F a decadeno clear direction

Rain, April to September12.2 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 95% of it

Days with hail 1 inch or larger2.2 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20220%

Drained by tile, 20221% of cropland4,500 ac

Farmed no-till, 202245% of cropland145,732 ac

Cover crops, 20221% of cropland4,639 ac

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

CRP enrolled, 202534,502 ac11.8% of harvested cropland + CRP

CRP expiring FY2026–2028998 ac3% of enrolled acres

CRP average rental payment, FY2025$28/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

Solar and wind operating, 20250 MW solar · 219.5 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860

Cattle and calves, 202238,395−0.3% since 2017

Farmland rented from others, 202244%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

County	Dry rent	Land value	Claims per $100
Bowman County	$43	$1,283	$20.21
Fallon County, MT	$27	$1,043	$24.00
Adams County	$45	$1,552	$14.76
Slope County	$47	$1,492	$14.70
Harding County, SD	$33	$1,006	$22.72
Median next door	$39	$1,268	$18.74

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. Bowman County, North Dakota. 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/north-dakota/bowman-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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