2023 Maryland Cash Rent
USDA, National Agriculture Statistics Service
Cash rent lease agreements are the most popular lease agreements in Maryland. Cash rent is a fixed amount on a per acre basis. In this agreement, the owner is relieved of operating and marketing decisions, and income is known yearly. The tenant has the risk and returns from the crop and can make crop and livestock decisions.
The USDA’s National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) provides the county rental rate data in response to requests from customers as well as a requirement of the Farm Bill. NASS annually releases estimates for the average cash rental rates per acre for irrigated cropland, non-irrigated cropland, and pastureland at the county and state level, whenever possible, in nominal value terms.
Data on cash rental rates are also available online through Quick Stats, NASS’s agricultural statistics database, at quickstats.nass.usda.gov. The following link provides access to rental rates for Maryland: https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/results/6F2A0E4C-D5AF-304A-9E17-F0A34539161A.
Included in this Report:
- Maryland Crop Rental Rates (2009-2023) includes a graph and table of Maryland rental rates in nominal dollars for non-irrigated cropland, irrigated cropland, and pastureland for each calendar year with additional information on general trends of rental rates over time in the State.
- Cash rental rates for non-irrigated land:
- A table of non-irrigated rental rates by county and trends in county averages (2017-23)
- A graph of non-irrigated rental rate values from 2008 through 2023 by Ag District and State
- A static map of 2021-23 average cash rental rates for non-irrigated land in Maryland by county
- An animated map of cash rental rates for non-irrigated land (2008 – 2022)
- Cash rental rates for irrigated land:
- A table of irrigate rental rate values in certain counties for 2020-23
- Discussion on general trends of irrigated rental rates for certain counties in the Lower and Eastern Shore
- Cash rental rates for pastureland:
- A table of pastureland rental rates by county and trends in county averages (2017-23)
- include average rental rates for pastureland by AG district and counties in the North Central and Western AG districts.
- A static map of 2021-23 average cash rental rates for pastureland for the North Central and Western ag districts in Maryland
- An animated map of cash rental rates for pastureland (2008 – 2023)
- A table of pastureland rental rates by county and trends in county averages (2017-23)
- User-Information of using web map layers depicting non-irrigated farmland, irrigated farmland, and pastureland (2008-2023)
For questions, please visit the Grain Marketing website or Elizabeth Thilmany at thilmany@umd.edu
Maryland Crop Rental Rates in Nominal Dollars $/Acre (2009 to 2023)
| MARYLAND CROP RENTAL RATES IN NOMINAL DOLLARS $/ACRE | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
| NON-IRRIGATED | 67 | 63 | 67 | 82 | 89 | 92 | 95 | 100 | 94 | 106 | 94 | 98 | 103 | 111 | 117 |
| IRRIGATED | 100 | 110 | 115 | 132 | 132 | 143 | 175 | 190 | 196 | 194 | 197 | 201 | 212 | ||
| PASTURE | 35 | 35 | 33 | 40 | 39.5 | 43.5 | 45 | 40 | 44 | 48 | 53 | 51 | 50.5 | ||
The linear trendlines (in the preceding graph) are employed because the state's annual cash rental rates, as reported in nominal terms by NASS, generally exhibit a linear trend for irrigated, non-irrigated, and pastureland. It can be helpful to evaluate these linear trends to estimate how Maryland’s cash rental rates change, on average, over time. The current state values for cash rental rate values indicate a discernible pattern of growth for the various types of land used for production:
- Cash rental rates for non-irrigated land in Maryland show an annual increase of about $3.36 per acre.
- Cash rental rates for irrigated land in Maryland are usually increasing by an estimated rate of $9.36 per acre each year.
- Cash rental rates for pastureland in Maryland are rising approximately $1.44 per acre each year.
Non-Irrigated Annual Rental Rate Costs from 2008 to 2023 in Nominal Dollars Per Acre
| NON-IRRIGATED RENTAL RATES BY MARYLAND COUNTY IN NOMINAL DOLLARS PER ACRE | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COUNTY | 2017 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2017-2020 avgs. | 2021-23 avgs. | Changes in avgs. from 2017-20 to 2021-23 | |
| DORCHESTER | 107.00 | 108.00 | 88.50 | 91.00 | 79.00 | 83.00 | 101.17 | 84.33 | -16.83 | -16.6% |
| SOMERSET | 88.50 | 76.00 | 81.50 | 81.50 | 102.00 | 108.00 | $82.00 | 97.17 | 15.17 | 18.5% |
| WICOMICO | 81.50 | 95.00 | 84.00 | 84.00 | 90.00 | 94.00 | $86.83 | 89.50 | 2.67 | 3.1% |
| WORCESTER | 88.50 | 87.50 | 92.50 | 95.00 | 112.00 | 96.50 | $89.50 | 101.17 | 11.67 | 13.0% |
| BALTIMORE | 75.00 | 92.50 | 98.50 | 97.00 | 83.75 | 97.75 | 14.00 | 16.7% | ||
| CARROLL | 136.00 | 106.00 | 105.00 | 99.00 | 92.00 | 92.00 | 115.67 | 94.33 | -21.33 | -18.4% |
| FREDERICK | 105.00 | 80.00 | 76.50 | 76.50 | 83.50 | 101.00 | 87.00 | 87.00 | 0.00 | 0.0% |
| HARFORD | 120.00 | 138.00 | 149.00 | 167.00 | 166.00 | 168.00 | 135.67 | 167.00 | 31.33 | 23.1% |
| HOWARD | 74.00 | 72.50 | 92.00 | 92.00 | 73.25 | 92.00 | 18.75 | 25.6% | ||
| MONTGOMERY | 63.00 | 49.50 | 84.00 | 105.00 | 56.25 | 94.50 | 38.25 | 68.0% | ||
| WASHINGTON | 75.00 | 88.00 | 74.50 | 80.50 | 85.50 | 90.50 | 79.17 | 85.50 | 6.33 | 8.0% |
| ANNE ARUNDEL | 69.50 | 85.00 | 77.25 | 77.25 | ||||||
| CALVERT | 64.50 | 41.50 | 41.00 | 37.50 | 53.00 | 39.25 | -13.75 | -25.9% | ||
| CHARLES | 39.00 | 40.50 | 40.50 | 36.50 | 49.50 | 53.00 | 40.00 | 46.33 | 6.33 | 15.8% |
| PRINCE GEORGE'S | 38.00 | 44.00 | 54.50 | 49.25 | 38.00 | 49.25 | 11.25 | 29.6% | ||
| ST. MARY'S | 45.00 | 51.00 | 52.00 | 59.50 | 45.50 | 48.00 | 52.33 | 4.33 | 9.0% | |
| CAROLINE | 110.00 | 101.00 | 101.00 | 105.00 | 126.00 | 117.00 | 104.00 | 116.00 | 12.00 | 11.5% |
| CECIL | 94.00 | 103.00 | 103.00 | 116.00 | 157.00 | 155.00 | 100.00 | 142.67 | 42.67 | 42.7% |
| KENT | 113.00 | 131.00 | 145.00 | 147.00 | 185.00 | 179.00 | 129.67 | 170.33 | 40.67 | 31.4% |
| QUEEN ANNE'S | 136.00 | 125.00 | 148.00 | 136.00 | 168.00 | 143.00 | 136.33 | 149.00 | 12.67 | 9.3% |
| TALBOT | 108.00 | 102.00 | 102.00 | 110.00 | 113.00 | 136.00 | 104.00 | 119.67 | 15.67 | 15.1% |
| ALLEGANY | 23.50 | 58.00 | 55.50 | 28.00 | 29.50 | 45.67 | 28.75 | -16.92 | -37.0% | |
| GARRETT | 32.50 | 37.00 | 35.50 | 35.00 | 37.00 | 40.50 | 35.00 | 37.50 | 2.50 | 7.1% |
Irrigated Rental Rate Values in Maryland Counites from 2020 through 2023 in Nominal Dollars per Acre
| IRRIGATED RENTAL RATE VALUES IN MARYLAND COUNTIES¹ FROM 2020 THROUGH 2023 IN NOMINAL DOLLARS PER ACRE | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOCATION | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2020-23 AVGS. |
| DORCHESTER | $197.00 | $199.00 | $228.00 | $208.00 | |
| WICOMICO | $190.00 | $210.00 | $196.00 | $198.67 | |
| CAROLINE | $219.00 | $203.00 | $239.00 | $210.00 | $217.75 |
| KENT | $164.00 | $193.00 | $178.50 | ||
| QUEEN ANNE'S | $206.00 | $234.00 | $208.00 | $236.00 | $221.00 |
| OTHER COUNTIES | $163.00 | $186.00 | $156.00 | $168.33 | |
| MARYLAND STATE VALUE | $194.00 | $197.00 | $201.00 | $212.00 | $201.00 |
- The absence of valuable trends, charts, or graphs derived from the NASS irrigated rental rates at the county level in Maryland can be attributed to the limited county data available between 2014-2020 and NASS's recent transition in reporting structure, which shifted away from aggregating up to ag districts after 2020.
- Despite the lack of data, there are notable linear county trends. All the counties with more than four years of observations from 2009 through 2023 have a statistically significant linear trend over time. The linear relationship of irrigated rental rates by available county can be estimated and interpreted as follows: over time, the rental rate for irrigated land in:
- Dorchester County is usually increasing by $7.61 a year
- Wicomico County is usually increasing by $7.84 a year
- Caroline County is usually increasing by $9.33 a year
- Kent County is usually increasing by $6.02 a year
- Queen Anne’s County is usually increasing by $12.47 a year
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¹All available county-level data from 2020-2023 provided by NASS is recorded and displayed.
²The coefficient of determination (R^2) for the linear trend between the year and NASS nominal county rental rate exceeds 0.85.
Pastureland County Rental Rates from 2017 through 2023 in Nominal Dollars per Acre
| PASTURELAND COUNTY RENTAL RATES FROM 2017 THROUGH 2023 IN NOMINAL DOLLARS PER ACRE | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COUNTY | 2017 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | AVG. (2017-20) | AVG. (2021-23) | CHANGE IN AVGS. FROM 2017-20 TO 2021-23 | PERCENT CHANGE IN AVGS. FROM 2017-20 TO 2021-23 |
| BALTIMORE | $33.00 | $95.00 | $45.00 | $64.00 | ||||||
| CARROLL | $40.00 | $47.50 | $47.50 | $56.50 | $42.00 | $62.50 | $45.00 | $53.67 | $(8.67) | -19.3% |
| FREDERICK | $38.00 | $52.50 | $60.00 | $54.50 | $65.50 | $61.50 | $50.17 | $60.50 | $(10.33) | -20.6% |
| HARFORD | $55.50 | $39.00 | $39.00 | $33.50 | $44.50 | |||||
| HOWARD | $23.50 | |||||||||
| MONTGOMERY | $59.50 | $49.50 | $23.50 | |||||||
| WASHINGTON | $42.00 | $41.00 | $41.00 | $42.00 | $54.50 | $53.50 | $41.33 | $50.00 | $(8.67) | -21.0% |
| ALLEGANY | $17.50 | $9.90 | ||||||||
| GARRETT | $25.50 | $30.00 | $21.00 | |||||||
Carroll, Frederick, and Washington counties are the only counties with sufficient data to estimate county-specific trends in average rental rates for pastureland between 2017-2020 and 2021-2023. These three counties have an estimated decrease in rental rates of approximately 20% from 2017 -2020 to 2021-2023.
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³These counties are the only counties with at least two years of data in the two time periods of interest (2012-2020) and (2021-2023).
⁴Since no county-level data for irrigated land in 2018 is available, 2017 county values are utilized to compute a three-year average trend.
The maps in this report are animated layers depicting yearly changes in non-irrigated and pastureland rental rates in Maryland counties. These layers and the irrigated rental rates layer are available in a Web Map format. Use the following link (https://go.umd.edu/rentalratemap) to open the Web Map. Navigate to the “Layers” section on the gray ribbon on the left side of the map. The “Layers” section should look like the following. Each layer can be made visible or hidden by clicking the eye icon. It is best to view the map with one layer visible at a time. Each colored county can be clicked on to prompt a pop-up with the county’s first available rental rate value in dollars ($), the NASS Data Item Type, and the Year of that rental rate value for the selected county. In the top right-hand corner (circled in red in the screenshot below), click the arrows to go forward or back in time to see how the rental rates for that county change.
Note - the time slider at the bottom of the map is not activated; selecting between years will not do anything to the map or data.
These layers were created by completing a table join between the data in the above charts with Maryland’s county shapefiles – essentially assigning each county’s rental rate values with the recorded NASS values to the county’s geographic shape.
You can download either a printable PDF or an interactive Microsoft Word file.
2023 Cash Rental Rates Printable Report (PDF) 2023 Cash Rental Rates Microsoft Word Document (maps are interactive)