[Objective] The ecological value of cultivated land and compensation standards at multiple scales in a watershed was measured and analyzed in order to provide scientific reference for improving the compensation mechanism for cultivated land protection and promoting coordinated regional development. [Methods] The Liaohe River basin in Jilin Province was taking as an example, and used the equivalent sub-method, the market substitution method, and a landscape pattern index were used to establish a multi-scale cultivated land ecological value accounting system for the basin. The quantity and spatial allocation of cultivated land, differences in cultivated land quality, and the negative ecological externality of cultivated land were taken into account. On this basis, the cultivated land ecological compensation standard was formulated. [Results] ① Cultivated land had very important ecological values in the Liaohe River basin of Jilin Province, and the ecological values had significant spatial differences and scale-dependent effects. ② In 2020, the ecological value of cultivated land in the watershed was 20 502.78 yuan/ha, and the ecological value of cultivated land in each district and county had values between 4 261.97 and 16 873.59 yuan/ha, with values in the northwest region being higher than in the southeast region. ③ The compensation standard for cultivated land protection in the watershed was 4 319.36 yuan/ha, and the compensation standard of each district and county ranged from 814.68 to 3 471.85 yuan/ha. [Conclusion] For different spatial scales, differentiated ecological compensation standards and programs for cultivated land protection should be established, taking into account the ecological value of cultivated land and regional realities.