Elizabeth Thilmany, Research Assistant
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Maryland
Cash rent lease agreements are the most popular type of 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 year-to-year. The tenant has the risk and returns from the crop and can make crop and livestock decisions.
Through USDA’s National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS), estimates of average cash rental rates per acre of irrigated cropland, non-irrigated cropland, and pastureland at the County, Ag District, and State level are posted where possible. This data is sourced from responses to annual farm level surveys. To learn more about the Cash Rents Survey from NASS, visit: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Surveys/Guide_to_NASS_Surveys/Cash_Rents_by_County/.
University of Maryland synthesizes the NASS data to assist Marylanders in seeing and understanding the trends in rental rates for different types of land use by different geographical areas within Maryland. Farmers and ranchers can use this updated data on rental rates in their area, “for their use in making decisions regarding renting and leasing farmland” as summarized by NASS on their Surveys page for Cash Rents.
The updated publication includes Maryland Total rental rates for non-irrigated cropland, irrigated cropland and pastureland visualized in moving-average line-graph from 2009-2019. As well as cash rental rates (2009-2019) for: non-irrigated land by county and Ag district, irrigated land by Ag district and the counties in the Lower and Eastern Shore Districts, and pastureland by Ag district and counties in the North Central and Western ag districts.
The publication is available at: https://extension.umd.edu/grainmarketing/lease-agreements.
