Farmland Atlas · county record

Towner County, North Dakota

Towner County, ND: non-irrigated cash rent $64 an acre (2026); land and buildings $1,929 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 117.6 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 38095. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Towner County averages $64 per acre in 2026, up 42.7 percent from 2016. Median corn yield 2010-2025 is 117.6 bushels per acre, with the worst year, 2020, at 79.1. No harvested cropland was reported irrigated in the 2022 census. Crop insurance indemnities for 1989-2025 total $441.4 million, with excess moisture and flood the largest cause at 66 percent; heat and drought's share of indemnities rose from 1 percent in 1989-1999 to 6 percent in 2000-2009, 6 percent in 2010-2019, and 34 percent in 2020-2025. July nightly lows have warmed from a 54.9 F normal to 56.9 F over 2017-2026. No solar or wind capacity is operating or proposed here.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$64/ac
2026 county average
ND median $65 · 25th lowest of 53
Land and buildings
$1,929/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
ND median $1,885 · 26th highest of 53
Rent as % of land value
2.72%
$53 dry rent ÷ $1,929 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2010–2025 median
117.6 bu/ac
8 published years
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$12.93
2016–2025, closed crop years
ND median $12.77 · tied for 23rd highest of 53
Farmland rented
52%
2022 census, rented from others
ND median 55% · 19th lowest of 53

Cash rent

$0$20$40$602010201520202025$34$64 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$64/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+42.7%nominal, $45 to $64
Pasture, 2026$22/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$1,929/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,283/ac
Census 2017$1,385/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+39.3%+6.9% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20222.72%$53 ÷ $1,929; cropland 91% of land in farms

Corn yield

20102012201420162018202020222024127.1131.0116.0116.8118.479.189.4143.8median 117.6

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

Median, 2010–2025117.6 bu/ac8 published years
Lowest published year2020: 79.1 bu/ac67% of median

Crop insurance record

198919941999200420092014201920241.203.760.481.00: claims equal premium

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$12.93
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.74claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.87$441.4 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium17 of 37
Worst year1993ratio 3.76
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 66% · heat and drought 14% · freeze 7%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250410

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, 2000–202570 of 1,357 weeks5% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks202141 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202552 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202656.9 °F1991–2020 normal 54.9 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.80 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September14.8 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 91% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger1.9 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 2022none reported
Drained by tile, 2022none reported
Farmed no-till, 20225% of cropland22,589 ac
Cover crops, 20223% of cropland16,151 ac
1986199119962001200620112016202119366,30328,136

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

CRP enrolled, 202528,136 ac6.7% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–20287,318 ac26% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$53/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Cattle and calves, 20223,578−61.3% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202252%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Towner County$64$1,929—$12.93
Benson County$69$1,514115.2$10.35
Cavalier County$84$2,507—$12.14
Pierce County$65$1,765—$13.97
Ramsey County$66$1,885114.0$14.56
Rolette County$54$1,661—$13.81
Median next door$66$1,765114.6 2 co.$13.81

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. Towner 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/towner-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.