May 21, 2020

Report: Kansas farm income up amid government payments

Posted May 21, 2020 7:30 PM
<a href="https://www.c-span.org/person/?ivankatrump">President Trump&nbsp;</a>met with ranchers and farmers in the Roosevelt Room of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.c-span.org/organization/?929/White">White House</a>&nbsp;to talk about the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. Other participants included Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.c-span.org/organization/?929/White">White House</a>&nbsp;adviser Ivanka Trump-photo courtesy White House
President Trump met with ranchers and farmers in the Roosevelt Room of the White House to talk about the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. Other participants included Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and White House adviser Ivanka Trump-photo courtesy White House

BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — Propped up by government payments, net farm income in Kansas last year rose to an average of $110,380 per farm, a new report shows.

The Kansas Farm Management Association released this week its annual economic data based on the 970 agricultural operations that their economists advised on financial decisions.

Farm balance sheets were heavily subsidized by government payments with more than 72% of the income Kansas farmers received last year coming from the government, their figures show.

On average, each Kansas farm received more than $80,000 from the government last year. The biggest chunk came from the more than $60,000 per farm funneled through a federal program that aimed to help producers hurt by retaliatory tariffs in trade disputes.

That payment, known as the Market Facilitation Program, is not expected to be renewed in 2020. However, farmers will be able to tap this year into the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, which provides direct payments to farmers and ranchers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Average net farm income last year was up from $101,274 in 2018 as well as higher than the $66,456 in 2017 and the $46,717 in 2016, their figures show. A tough year for Kansas farms was 2015 when net income was $6,744.