Maryland → Howard
Howard County, Maryland
Pasture here rented for $23.50 an acre in 2023. That's the 22nd percentile among the 9 Maryland counties reporting that year, and the 56th percentile nationally.
NASS has no 2026 pasture cash rent result for this county (suppressed or not surveyed that year). Showing this county's most recent available year (2023) instead — not a 2026 figure.
Across Maryland's counties, the middle half of county averages in 2026 runs $36 to $60.75 an acre. Individual leases spread wider than county averages do — grass, water, fencing, and term length all move the number — but an offer far outside this band should come with a reason the other side can name out loud.
Since 2016, this county's rate has fallen 66 percent: $70 then, $23.50 in 2023. A lease that hasn't been revisited over that stretch has been repricing itself by default — just not on paper.
The counties next door
The comparison that actually gets made at the kitchen table isn't the state median — it's what the neighbors get. This year, rates just across the county line run $21 to $87 an acre. Every bordering county NASS tracks, at its most recent published rate:
| County | $/acre |
|---|---|
| Frederick | $87 |
| Carroll | $59 |
| Baltimore | $44 (2025) |
| Montgomery | $42 |
| Anne Arundel | $21 |
Every year on record
| Year | $/acre |
|---|---|
| 2016 | $70 |
| 2023 | $23.50 |
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