Maryland Cash Rent
USDA, National Agriculture Statistics Service
Cash rent lease agreements are the most popular type of lease agreement 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 year to year. The tenant has the risk and returns from the crop and can make crop and livestock decisions.
The USDA, National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) provides the county data in response to requests from customers as well as a requirement of the Farm Bill. Estimates of average cash rental rates per acre for irrigated cropland, non-irrigated cropland, and pastureland are published at the County, District, and State level where possible. This is based on responses to annual farm-level surveys.
Data on cash rental rates is also available online through Quick Stats, NASS’s agricultural statistics database.
Users will be able to access cash rental rates at the state, county, or crop reporting district level.
Report Information:
- Summary of Crop Rental Rates (2009-2021) includes average Maryland Total rental rates for non-irrigated cropland, irrigated cropland, and pastureland for the calendar year.
- Cash rental rates for non-irrigated (2009-2021) includes average rental rates for non-irrigated cropland by county and AG District.
- Cash rental rates for irrigated land (2009-2021) includes average rental rates for irrigated cropland by AG district and the counties in the Lower and Eastern Shore.
- Cash rental rates for pastureland (2009-2021) includes average rental rates for pastureland by AG district and counties in the North Central and Western AG districts.
For questions, please visit the Grain Marketing website or Elizabeth Thilmany at thilmany@umd.edu
Summary of Crop Rental Rates
| SUMMARY OF CROP RENTAL RATES (AVG) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2016 | 2017 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
| NON-IRRIGATED | $67.00 | $63.00 | $67.00 | $82.00 | $89.00 | $92.00 | $100.00 | $94.00 | $100.00 | $98.00 | $103.00 |
| IRRIGATED | $100.00 | $110.00 | $115.00 | $132.00 | $132.00 | $143.00 | $175.00 | $190.00 | $196.00 | $194.00 | $197.00 |
| PASTURE | $40.00 | $35.00 | $33.00 | $40.00 | $39.50 | $43.50 | $45.00 | $40.00 | $44.00 | $48.00 | $53.00 |
Rent, Cash, Cropland, Non-Irrigated-Expense, Measured in $/Acre
| RENT, CASH, CROPLAND, NON-IRRIGATED-EXPENSE, MEASURED IN $/ACRE | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STATE & COUNTY | AG DISTRICT | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2016 | 2017 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| DORCHESTER | Lower Eastern Shore | $75.50 | $66.00 | $83.00 | $95.50 | $107.00 | $108.00 | $88.50 | $91.00 | $91.00 |
| SOMERSET | Lower Eastern Shore | $69.50 | $73.00 | $74.00 | $76.50 | $88.50 | $76.00 | $81.50 | $81.50 | $92.00 |
| WICOMICO | Lower Eastern Shore | $67.50 | $84.50 | $80.50 | $77.50 | $81.50 | $95.00 | $84.00 | $84.00 | $84.00 |
| WORCESTER | Lower Eastern Shore | $77.00 | $82.00 | $92.50 | $84.50 | $88.50 | $87.50 | $92.50 | $95.00 | $103.00 |
| BALTIMORE | North Central | $75.00 | $78.50 | $88.50 | $122.00 | $75.00 | $92.50 | $89.00 | $83.50 | $96.50 |
| CARROLL | North Central | $58.00 | $79.50 | $89.00 | $88.00 | $136.00 | $106.00 | $105.00 | $99.00 | $96.00 |
| FREDERICK | North Central | $55.50 | $67.00 | $77.50 | $77.00 | $105.00 | $80.00 | $76.00 | $76.50 | $90.50 |
| HARFORD | North Central | $78.00 | $72.50 | $114.00 | $164.00 | $120.00 | $138.00 | $149.00 | $167.00 | $156.00 |
| HOWARD | North Central | $66.00 | $67.00 | $76.50 | $76.50 | $74.00 | $72.50 | $89.00 | $83.50 | $96.00 |
| MONTGOMERY | North Central | $49.00 | $56.00 | $80.50 | $76.50 | $63.00 | $49.50 | $89.00 | $83.50 | $66.50 |
| WASHINGTON | North Central | $56.50 | $74.50 | $76.00 | $76.00 | $75.00 | $88.00 | $74.50 | $80.50 | $96.00 |
| ANNE ARUNDEL | Southern | $47.00 | $47.00 | $100.00 | $51.00 | $48.50 | $43.50 | $61.00 | $51.00 | $65.00 |
| CALVERT | Southern | $47.00 | $47.00 | $37.50 | $57.00 | $64.50 | $41.50 | $61.00 | $51.00 | $45.00 |
| CHARLES | Southern | $36.00 | $32.00 | $30.50 | $39.00 | $39.00 | $40.50 | $40.50 | $36.50 | $42.50 |
| PRINCE GEORGE'S | Southern | $35.00 | $31.50 | $37.50 | $51.00 | $48.50 | $43.50 | $38.00 | $44.00 | $51.75 |
| ST. MARY'S | Southern | $39.00 | $36.50 | $40.50 | $54.50 | $45.50 | $45.00 | $51.00 | $52.00 | $58.50 |
| CAROLINE | Upper Eastern Shore | $73.50 | $78.50 | $90.50 | $95.50 | $110.00 | $101.00 | $101.00 | $105.00 | $112.00 |
| CECIL | Upper Eastern Shore | $71.00 | $85.50 | $103.00 | $89.50 | $94.00 | $103.00 | $103.00 | $116.00 | $138.00 |
| KENT | Upper Eastern Shore | $80.00 | $122.00 | $103.00 | $111.00 | $113.00 | $131.00 | $145.00 | $147.00 | $159.00 |
| QUEEN ANNE'S | Upper Eastern Shore | $81.00 | $113.00 | $116.00 | $122.00 | $136.00 | $125.00 | $148.00 | $136.00 | $144.00 |
| TALBOT | Upper Eastern Shore | $77.50 | $105.00 | $114.00 | $109.00 | $108.00 | $102.00 | $102.00 | $110.00 | $113.00 |
| ALLEGANY | Western | $30.50 | $32.00 | $29.50 | $26.00 | $23.50 | $58.00 | $55.50 | $28.00 | $29.00 |
| GARRETT | Western | $37.00 | $31.00 | $31.50 | $35.50 | $32.50 | $37.00 | $35.50 | $35.00 | $37.50 |
| MARYLAND (ALL COUNTIES) AVERAGE | $67.00 | $82.00 | $89.00 | $92.00 | $100.00 | $94.00 | $100.00 | $98.00 | $103.00 | |
SUMMARY STATISTICS |
||||||||||
| MINIMUM | $30.50 | $31.00 | $29.50 | $26.00 | $23.50 | $37.00 | $35.50 | $28.00 | $29.00 | |
| MEDIAN | $66.00 | $72.50 | $80.50 | $77.00 | $81.50 | $87.50 | $88.50 | $83.50 | $94.00 | |
| MAXIMUM | $81.00 | $122.00 | $116.00 | $164.00 | $136.00 | $138.00 | $149.00 | $167.00 | $159.00 | |
- Bolded text cells (through 2020) represent when the "other (combined)" average is used, based on the Ag District.
- In 2021, NASS did not record Ag District values, the numbers are italicized represent a calculated median of the other ag districts. However, for Allegany, historical data was used in Forecast-Exponential Smoothing algorithm that can be seen in the "Historic non-irrigated" tab. Note, this will impact the summary statistics.
Rent, Cash, Cropland, Irrigated-Expense, Measured in $/Acre
| RENT, CASH, CROPLAND, IRRIGATED-EXPENSE, MEASURED IN $/ACRE | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AG DISTRICT | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2016 | 2017 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| LOWER EASTERN SHORE | $111.00 | $138.00 | $138.00 | $144.00 | $179.00 | $151.00 | |||
| NORTH CENTRAL | $110.00 | ||||||||
| UPPER EASTERN SHORE | $118.00 | $136.00 | $146.00 | $213.00 | $182.00 | ||||
| OTHER COUNTIES | $163.00 | ||||||||
| MARYLAND (ALL COUNTIES) AVERAGE | $115.00 | $132.00 | $132.00 | $143.00 | $175.00 | $190.00 | $196.00 | $194.00 | $197.00 |
LOWER EASTERN SHORE COUNTY BREAKDOWN |
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| DORCHESTER | $100.00 | $152.00 | $160.00 | $161.00 | $197.00 | $199.00 | |||
| WICOMICO | $135.00 | $137.00 | $140.00 | $190.00 | |||||
| WORCHESTER | $100.00 | $104.00 | |||||||
UPPER EASTERN SHORE COUNTY BREAKDOWN |
|||||||||
| CAROLINE | $118.00 | $156.00 | $161.00 | $219.00 | $203.00 | ||||
| KENT | $147.00 | $164.00 | |||||||
| QUEEN ANNE'S | $117.00 | $136.00 | $206.00 | $234.00 | |||||
- Note: Southern and Western Ag Districts are not on the table due to limited NASS data.
Rent, Cash, Cropland, Patureland-Expenses, Measured in $/Acre
| RENT, CASH, CROPLAND, PASTURLAND-EXPENSE, MEASURED IN $/ACRE | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AG DISTRICT | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2016 | 2017 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| LOWER EASTERN SHORE | $32.50 | $35.00 | $43.00 | $56.50 | $65.00 | |||||
| NORTH CENTRAL | $36.50 | $35.50 | $44.00 | $51.00 | $49.00 | $45.00 | $50.00 | $35.50 | $49.50 | |
| SOUTHERN | $32.50 | $25.00 | $26.00 | $20.50 | $30.50 | $28.50 | ||||
| UPPER EASTERN SHORE | $38.00 | $36.00 | $47.00 | $68.50 | $55.00 | $55.00 | ||||
| WESTERN | $30.00 | $26.50 | $27.00 | $18.50 | $16.00 | $25.50 | $23.50 | $19.50 | $20.00 | $19.95 |
| OTHER COUNTIES | $68.00 | |||||||||
| MARYLAND (ALL COUNTIES) AVERAGE | $35.00 | $33.00 | $40.00 | $39.50 | $43.50 | $45.00 | $40.00 | $44.00 | $48.00 | $53.00 |
NORTH CENTRAL COUNTY BREAKDOWN |
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| BALTIMORE | $31.00 | $36.00 | $35.00 | $44.00 | $50.00 | $31.50 | $33.00 | $95.00 | $45.00 | |
| CARROLL | $42.50 | $35.50 | $54.00 | $52.50 | $50.00 | $26.50 | $40.00 | $47.50 | $47.50 | $56.50 |
| FREDERICK | $38.50 | $36.00 | $36.00 | $40.00 | $47.50 | $50.00 | $38.00 | $52.50 | $60.00 | $54.50 |
| HARFORD | $29.00 | $35.50 | $55.50 | $49.00 | $48.50 | $28.00 | $55.50 | $39.00 | $39.00 | |
| HOWARD | $42.50 | $35.50 | $54.00 | $49.00 | $48.50 | $70.00 | ||||
| MONTGOMERY | $35.50 | $35.50 | $41.00 | $41.50 | $41.50 | $69.50 | $59.50 | |||
| WASHINGTON | $33.50 | $34.50 | $49.00 | $49.00 | $59.00 | $57.50 | $42.00 | $41.00 | $41.00 | $42.00 |
WESTERN COUNTY BREAKDOWN |
||||||||||
| ALLEGANY | $27.00 | $23.50 | $23.00 | $16.00 | $15.00 | $17.50 | $9.90 | |||
| GARRETT | $31.50 | $30.00 | $30.00 | $20.50 | $18.00 | $25.50 | $30.00 | |||
Note: Bold text in cells represent our calculated averages of available counties within the Ag District.
