USDA Predicts Farm Household Median Income To Drop

The USDA has forecasted a 9% decline in overall net cash farm income this year.  So, what does that mean for the farm household median income?

“We are expecting in 2020 overall for median farm household income to decline,” said USDA Senior Analyst, Ashley Hungerford.  She added they expect that drop to be around 0.3%.  That means the farm household income median moves down to $76,590, a $220 drop from last year.

“Well, we're not seeing the government payments that we were, and we're also seeing that increase in production expenses,” Hungerford continued.

Most farm households income get income from off the farm; many of them get MOST of their income from off the farm jobs.  USDA forecasting 2020 off-farm income up about 2%, this comes after a more than 2% hike last year.