In case you weren't keeping score, payments to the agricultural sector by the Federal government may exceed $40 billion in 2020. Dr. Pat Westhoff, Director of the University of Missouri, Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) commented "these record payments support farm income in a year when cash receipts from sales of agricultural commodities have been reduced by the COVID pandemic and other factors".
Farmers will receive payments through the Coronavirus Food and Agriculture Program (CFAP), Phases One and Two, the Farmers to Families Box Program in addition to $10 to $15 billion annually in traditional crop subsidies. FAPRI estimates that over a third of farm income will be derived from subsidies and support.
Dr. Rob Johansson, Chief Economist for the USDA noted that CFAP 2 payments will extend into 2021 coincident with expiry of programs to compensate for losses sustained in a trade war with China initiated in 2018.