Grazing rates by state, 2025
$ per month · tap a column to sort · — = not published
| Nebraska | $47.50 | $56 | $46.50 | +1.1% | $29.50 | 0.62 |
| South Dakota | $36.50 | $44 | $42 | +2.8% | $31 | 0.85 |
| Montana | $29.50 | $32.50 | $29 | +1.7% | $9.10 | 0.31 |
| Kansas | $27 | $33 | $30 | −10.0% | $24 | 0.89 |
| Wyoming | $27 | $27.50 | $26.50 | +3.8% | $7.30 | 0.27 |
| California | $26 | — | $26 | −1.9% | $16.50 | 0.63 |
| North Dakota | $25 | — | — | +8.7% | $23.50 | 0.94 |
| Colorado | $23.50 | $28 | $25 | +6.8% | $7.60 | 0.32 |
| Utah | $21 | — | $22 | +2.4% | $8.20 | 0.39 |
| Idaho | $20.50 | $23 | $22 | +2.5% | $17 | 0.83 |
| Oregon | $20 | — | — | +2.6% | $13.50 | 0.68 |
| Washington | $17 | — | $19 | +6.3% | $8.30 | 0.49 |
| Oklahoma | $11 | — | $14 | +4.8% | $18 | 1.64 |
| Arizona | — | — | — | — | $2.80 | — |
| Nevada | — | — | — | — | $14 | 1.00 |
| New Mexico | — | — | $19 | — | $4.20 | 0.24 |
| Texas | — | — | $17 | — | $8.60 | 0.59 |
Per AUM, pair and head are NASS's 2025 monthly rates for private, non-irrigated grazing land. Pasture $/acre is the state's latest NASS cash rent per acre a year (2026). Break-even AUM/acre is pasture rent ÷ the state's per-AUM rate (2025 or 2024): if your ground carries fewer AUMs an acre than that, renting by the acre costs more than paying the going rate per AUM.
A decade of grass prices
Per-AUM rate by state, every year NASS published one, on one shared scale. Gaps are years NASS withheld.
- Arizona$10 (2020)
$9 in 2015 · +11.1%
- California$26
$19.10 in 2015 · +36.1%
- Colorado$23.50
$17 in 2015 · +38.2%
- Idaho$20.50
$17 in 2015 · +20.6%
- Kansas$27
$19 in 2015 · +42.1%
- Montana$29.50
$23 in 2015 · +28.3%
- Nebraska$47.50
$39 in 2015 · +21.8%
- Nevada$14 (2024)
$10 in 2016 · +40.0%
- New Mexico$17.50 (2024)
$15.50 in 2015 · +12.9%
- North Dakota$25
$20.50 in 2015 · +22.0%
- Oklahoma$11
$12.50 in 2016 · −12.0%
- Oregon$20
$16.50 in 2015 · +21.2%
- South Dakota$36.50
$32 in 2015 · +14.1%
- Texas$14.50 (2024)
$12.50 in 2016 · +16.0%
- Utah$21
$16 in 2015 · +31.3%
- Washington$17
$13 in 2015 · +30.8%
- Wyoming$27
$21 in 2015 · +28.6%
Show the full per-AUM table by year +Hide the table −
| State | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | $9 | $9 | $9.50 | $10 | $9.50 | $10 | — | — | — | — | — |
| California | $19.10 | $23 | $20.60 | $22.40 | $21.40 | $23.50 | $22 | $22.80 | $24.50 | $26.50 | $26 |
| Colorado | $17 | $17.50 | $19 | $19.50 | $18.50 | $19.50 | $19.50 | $19.50 | $20 | $22 | $23.50 |
| Idaho | $17 | $18 | $18 | $18 | $18 | $18.50 | $19 | $19 | $19 | $20 | $20.50 |
| Kansas | $19 | $18.50 | $21 | $21 | $18.50 | $20.50 | $22.50 | $23 | $26 | $30 | $27 |
| Montana | $23 | $24 | $24.50 | $24.50 | $24.50 | $23.50 | $26.50 | $27 | $27.50 | $29 | $29.50 |
| Nebraska | $39 | $41 | $39.80 | $46 | $40.70 | $47 | $49 | $44 | $44.50 | $47 | $47.50 |
| Nevada | — | $10 | $9.90 | $9.50 | $10 | — | — | — | — | $14 | — |
| New Mexico | $15.50 | $14 | $15.50 | $16 | $16 | $16.50 | $16.50 | $16.50 | $16.50 | $17.50 | — |
| North Dakota | $20.50 | $21 | $19 | $24.50 | $18 | $21 | $23 | $23.50 | $25 | $23 | $25 |
| Oklahoma | — | $12.50 | $12.50 | $12.50 | $11.50 | $12.50 | $11 | $10 | $11 | $10.50 | $11 |
| Oregon | $16.50 | $17 | $16.50 | $17.50 | $18.50 | $18 | $18.50 | $19 | $19.50 | $19.50 | $20 |
| South Dakota | $32 | $31.50 | $31.50 | $31.50 | $29.50 | $27.50 | $33 | $37 | $36 | $35.50 | $36.50 |
| Texas | — | $12.50 | $12.50 | $12.50 | $12.50 | $11.50 | $10 | $12 | $12 | $14.50 | — |
| Utah | $16 | $16.50 | $16.50 | $17 | $18 | $18 | $18.50 | $19 | $19.50 | $20.50 | $21 |
| Washington | $13 | $14 | $14 | $14.50 | $14.50 | $14.50 | $14.50 | $16 | $16 | $16 | $17 |
| Wyoming | $21 | $21.50 | $21.50 | $22 | $22.50 | $22.50 | $24.50 | $24.50 | $25 | $26 | $27 |
Per acre or per AUM? Run it both ways
A per-acre lease puts the drought risk on the tenant: the rent stays the same whether the grass grows or not. A per-AUM or per-head lease pays for the forage the cattle actually eat. Put in the acres, the rent and an honest carrying capacity to see what each AUM really costs.
The going rate is pre-filled with the 2025 median across surveyed states ($25). Swap in your state's rate from the table above.
Educational estimate, not legal or financial advice. Carrying capacity varies by field and by year; get a field-level figure from NRCS or your extension office, and have an attorney review any lease.
Full calculator and method →Run your numbers
Example values are loaded to show how the tool works. Replace every field with your own records or planning assumptions. Nothing entered here leaves your browser.
What the assumptions produce
Cash rent per acre ÷ AUMs per acre: what each month of forage costs under the per-acre lease.
Total AUMs ÷ grazing months: 1,000-lb cows with calves the ground carries.
Cash rent per acre × acres.
Going rate per AUM × total AUMs, against the per-acre lease.
Compare your result with the 2025 surveyed-state median rate.
Grazing rates: the questions people ask
What is the average grazing rate per AUM in 2025?
Across the 13 states where USDA NASS published a 2025 rate, the median is $25 per animal unit month on private, non-irrigated land. Nebraska is highest at $47.50 and Oklahoma lowest at $11.
How much is pasture rent per cow-calf pair per month?
NASS published a 2025 per-pair rate for 7 states. The median is $32.50 per cow-calf pair per month; the highest are Nebraska ($56), South Dakota ($44), Kansas ($33).
What is the going rate per head per month for grazing?
The 2025 median across 13 states is $25 per head per month. The highest are Nebraska ($46.50), South Dakota ($42), Kansas ($30).
What is an AUM?
An animal unit month is the forage one animal unit eats in a month. Iowa State’s Ag Decision Maker defines the animal unit as a 1,000-lb cow with a calf up to four months old, so 10 pairs grazed for three months use 30 AUMs. Bigger cows and yearlings are scaled up or down from that.
How do I convert pasture rent per acre to rent per AUM?
Divide the per-acre rent by the AUMs an acre carries for the season. $20 an acre on ground that carries 0.75 AUM an acre is $26.67 per AUM. Going the other way, rate per AUM × AUMs per acre gives a per-acre rent. The calculator on this page does both.
Did grazing rates go up?
11 of the 13 states with both a 2024 and a 2025 per-AUM rate went up. Over the full window back to 2015, the median state rate rose +22.0%.
Why isn’t my state listed?
NASS surveys private grazing rates only in the 17 western and Plains states where per-head and per-AUM leasing is common, and withholds a state's figure in years with too few reports (no 2025 per-AUM rate for Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas). Every state has county pasture rent per acre on our pasture rent page.
Where these numbers come from
- Grazing rates are USDA NASS survey estimates of the monthly rate paid to graze privately owned, non-irrigated land, published per animal unit, per cow-calf pair and per head in the January Agricultural Prices report and charted on NASS's grazing fees page. We pull the 2015–2025 state series from Quick Stats.
- NASS withholds a state's rate in years with too few reports. Those show as a dash; we do not estimate, average or fill them in.
- Pasture rent per acre comes from the separate NASS Cash Rents Survey (the same figures as our county pages), so it can be a different year from the grazing rate. Break-even AUM/acre is our arithmetic on the two published numbers.
- The AUM definition and the carrying-capacity method follow Iowa State's Computing a Pasture Rental Rate (Ag Decision Maker C2-23).
- Data last refreshed October 27, 2026.