Big Farm Raked in Record Profits
This Yr. As Farm Land Soars, But They Harvested $10B in Handouts
By Mark Perry
According to the USDA, net income
from U.S. farms is expected to set a new record this year of $103.6 billion on
record cash receipts of $370.4 billion.
The record farm income this year is 31% above last year's income, and
marks the first time in history that the combined income of U.S. farms has
exceeded $100 billion.
The USDA also estimates that the
total value of farm real estate will approach $2 trillion this year, an
increase of 7.12% from last year.
Separately, CNN is reporting record farmland prices based on Federal
Reserve data, with 25% increases in Midwest farmland (and 31% in Iowa), the
largest annual gains in three decades.
Even with record-level income,
revenues and farm land values, farmers "harvested" more than $10
billion in direct government (taxpayer) payments (subsidies) this year.
Whenever oil prices and "Big
Oil" profits are high, politicians call for imposing "windfall
profits taxes" and ending oil subsidies (even though oil companies don't
actually get any direct government payments and only get the same tax
deductions and cost recovery allowances that are available to all U.S.
manufacturers), so maybe it's time for equal treatment of Big Farm?
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