Farmland Atlas · county record

Foster County, North Dakota

Foster County, ND: non-irrigated cash rent $91 an acre (2026); land and buildings $2,646 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 133.3 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 38031. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Foster County runs $91 per acre in 2026, up 17.4 percent from 2016. Land value sits at $2,646 per acre, up 31.8 percent from 2017 to 2022, so rent equals 2.95 percent of land value.

Cash rent, non-irrigated

$91/ac

2026 county average
ND median $65 · 15th highest of 53

Land and buildings

$2,646/ac

2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
ND median $1,885 · 14th highest of 53

Rent as % of land value

2.95%

$78 dry rent ÷ $2,646 land and buildings, both 2022

Corn yield, 2008–2025 median

133.3 bu/ac

recent level 2021–2025: 148.3

Claims paid per $100 of coverage

$14.22

2016–2025, closed crop years
ND median $12.77 · 12th highest of 53

Farmland rented

63%

2022 census, rented from others
ND median 55% · 5th highest 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$91/ac

Change 2016 to 2026+17.4%nominal, $78 to $91

Pasture, 2026$27/ac

Dry rent per bushel of corn$0.61$91 ÷ 148.3 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$2,646/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price

Census 2012$1,868/ac

Census 2017$2,008/ac

Change 2017 to 2022+31.8%+5.7% a year, nominal

Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20222.95%$78 ÷ $2,646; cropland 84% of land in farms

Corn yield

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

Median, 2008–2025133.3 bu/ac14 published years

Recent level, 2021–2025148.3 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped

Lowest published year2021: 82.6 bu/ac62% of median

Trend, 2008–2025+2.3 bu/ac a year±2.3 (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$14.22

Loss ratio, 2016–20250.94claims ÷ total premium

Loss ratio, 1989–20250.92$265.1 million paid

Years claims exceeded premium11 of 35

Worst year2002ratio 2.98

Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 55% · heat and drought 16% · hail 11%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, 2000–202593 of 1,357 weeks7% of weeks

Year with the most D2+ weeks202141 weeks

Last five years, 2021–202543 weeks

July average of daily lows, 2017–202658.6 °F1991–2020 normal 57.0 °F

Trend in July lows since 1976+0.61 °F a decadewarming

Rain, April to September15.2 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 96% of it

Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.0 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20221%

Drained by tile, 2022under 1% of cropland979 ac

Farmed no-till, 202221% of cropland64,024 ac

Cover crops, 20226% of cropland19,308 ac

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

CRP enrolled, 20258,189 ac3.2% of harvested cropland + CRP

CRP expiring FY2026–20281,091 ac13% of enrolled acres

CRP average rental payment, FY2025$76/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

Cattle and calves, 202217,596−23.8% since 2017

Farmland rented from others, 202263%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

County	Dry rent	Land value	Corn yield	Claims per $100
Foster County	$91	$2,646	—	$14.22
Eddy County	$73	$2,088	125.3	$13.81
Griggs County	$80	$2,118	137.7	$12.09
Stutsman County	$97	$2,732	131.5	$13.29
Wells County	$81	$2,385	130.5	$11.56
Median next door	$81	$2,252	131.0	$12.69

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. Foster 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/foster-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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