Farmland Atlas · county record

Whatcom County, Washington

Whatcom County, WA: non-irrigated cash rent $181 an acre (2026); land and buildings $20,475 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 53073. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Cash rent, non-irrigated

$181/ac

2026 county average
WA median $64 · 2nd highest of 22

Cash rent, irrigated

$514/ac

2026 county average
WA median $350 · highest of 14

Land and buildings

$20,475/ac

2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
WA median $5,067 · 4th highest of 34

Corn yield, median

—

fewer than 8 published county corn yields

Claims paid per $100 of coverage

$7.45

2016–2025, closed crop years
WA median $8.03 · 9th lowest of 21

Farmland rented

32%

2022 census, rented from others
WA median 34% · 16th lowest of 34

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$181/ac

Change 2014 to 2026+10.4%nominal, $164 to $181

Irrigated, 2026$514/ac

Pasture, 2024$60/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$20,475/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price

Census 2012$11,554/ac

Census 2017$16,794/ac

Change 2017 to 2022+21.9%+4.0% a year, nominal

Dry rent ÷ census value— about 60% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

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 1995. 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$7.45

Loss ratio, 2016–20250.92claims ÷ total premium

Loss ratio, 1995–20250.89$16.1 million paid

Worst year2023ratio 2.46

Largest causes of loss, 2000–2025freeze 33% · heat and drought 27% · price decline (revenue policies) 21%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, 2000–202571 of 1,357 weeks5% of weeks

Year with the most D2+ weeks202321 weeks

Last five years, 2021–202537 weeks

July average of daily lows, 2017–202650.6 °F1991–2020 normal 49.5 °F

Trend in July lows since 1976+0.62 °F a decadewarming

Rain, April to September18.0 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 88% of it

Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.0 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202260%

Drained by tile, 202216% of cropland10,161 ac

Farmed no-till, 20221% of cropland787 ac

Cover crops, 20229% of cropland6,023 ac

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

CRP enrolled, 20251,181 ac2.1% of harvested cropland + CRP

CRP expiring FY2026–2028517 ac44% of enrolled acres

CRP average rental payment, FY2025$683/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

Solar and wind operating, 20250 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860

Cattle and calves, 202263,387−24.1% since 2017

Farmland rented from others, 202232%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

County	Dry rent	Irr. rent	Land value	Claims per $100
Whatcom County	$181	$514	$20,475	$7.45
Okanogan County	$30	$253	$1,929	$9.81
Skagit County	$256	$425	$14,280	$6.39
Median next door	$143 2 co.	$339 2 co.	$8,105 2 co.	$8.10 2 co.

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. Whatcom County, Washington. 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/washington/whatcom-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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