The United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service (USDA-ERS) released the September Farm Income and Wealth Statistics Report on September 2, 2021. The report provided estimates of Net Farm Income (NFI), for each state, in 2020. NFI for the nation was approximately $94.6 billion in 2020, which was the highest since 2014. A key driver of this increase is due to the amount of direct government payments, which was approximately $45.7 billion. Government payments were up from $22.4 billion in 2019. The 2020 government payments account for 48.3% of NFI. Specifically, payments in the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) both increased, but the largest increase was supplemental and ad hoc disaster payments. These types of payments include payments from the Coronavirus Food Assistance Programs and other USDA Pandemic Assistance for Producers, loans from the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and payments from the Wildfire and Hurricane indemnity Program (WHIP+), Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) Program and other farm bill designated disaster programs (USDA-ERS, 2021).
Figure 1 displays the 2020 NFI totals by state for the Southern region. The region totaled approximately $19.4 billion in 2020, with the highest total being Texas, at approximately $5.6 billion. While grain crop, cattle, and hog incomes were steady or up in 2020, states with poultry production sustained a decrease in poultry income.
Figure 1. Map of 2020 Net Farm Income Totals ($1000s) (source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. Farm Income and Wealth Statistics)
Martinez, Charley. “2020 Net Farm Income.” Southern Ag Today 1(46.3). November 10, 2021. Permalink
