Farmland Atlas · county record

Vilas County, Wisconsin

Vilas County, WI: crop insurance loss ratio 0.79 since 1989. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 55125. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Vilas County had no acres published in farms in the 2022 census. County averages here describe very little farmland; read them with care.

Freeze and frost is the largest cause of crop insurance indemnities in Vilas County, at 66 percent, out of 3 million dollars paid 1989-2023. July nightly lows have stayed flat, 53.4 F in 2017-2026 against a 53.4 F normal for 1991-2020, with a trend of 0.11 F per decade and no clear direction since 1976. No July since 1900 has averaged a low at or above 70 F. No solar or wind capacity operates or is proposed here.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
—
county not in the NASS cash rents survey frame
Land and buildings
—
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
WI median $5,565
Rent as % of land value
—
not shown: land value suppressed for the census year
Corn yield, median
—
NASS publishes no county corn yield series for this county
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$3.65
2016–2025, closed crop years
WI median $5.09
Farmland rented
—
suppressed by NASS

Cash rent

Cash rent— county not in the NASS cash rents survey frame

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022—/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$5,352/ac
Census 2017$5,913/ac
Dry rent ÷ census value— land value suppressed for the census year

Corn yield

County corn yield— NASS publishes no county corn yield series for this county

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$3.65
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.45claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.79$3.0 million paid
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2023freeze 66% · heat and drought 20% · hail 11%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020250230

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, 2000–202566 of 1,357 weeks5% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200923 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20259 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202653.4 °F1991–2020 normal 53.4 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.11 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September21.9 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 108% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.9 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 2022— NASS suppressed the irrigated acres to protect individual farms
Drained by tile, 202219% of cropland315 ac
198619911996200120062011201620210130

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

CRP enrolled, 20250 ac
Irrigation wells on record8Wisconsin DNR high-capacity wells (active sources)
Median well depth101 ft

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueClaims per $100
Vilas County——$3.65
Gogebic County, MI—$3,602—
Iron County, MI—$4,200—
Forest County$40$4,747—
Iron County—$4,086—
Oneida County$42 2024$5,553$6.15
Price County$37$3,063$6.34
Median next door$39 2 co.$4,143$6.25 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. Vilas County, Wisconsin. 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/wisconsin/vilas-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.