⁍ President Donald Trump is assuring a bumper year for farmers as the Nov. 3 election approaches.
⁍ Record government subsidies projected to make up more than a third of farm income in 2020.
⁍ The aid programs could be key to Trump’s chances of success in swing states such as Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa and Minnesota.
– With less than two weeks to go before the midterm elections, President Trump is trying to make the case that farmers will be key to his re-election success, Reuters reports. Trump’s latest effort is a $14 billion farm aid package announced Sept. 17. The government’s share of farmers’ net cash income is expected to rise to 39.7%, the biggest in 20 years. The Agriculture Department forecast net farm income would rise 4% in 2020 from last year even before the most recent aid announcement. The government payments, combined with rising crop prices, will allow growers to stabilize their balance sheets, pay down debt, and get access to loans that will allow them to buy seed and equipment for 2021. “If you went by yard signs around where I live, Trump has got it by a landslide,” says farmer Jim Hefner, who grows corn and soybeans in Lima, Ohio. “I’m very much concerned that if Biden-Harris gets elected … I do not have the confidence that we will be taken care of as well, at least short-term.’
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-farmers-aid/trumps-payments-to-farmers-hit-all-time-high-ahead-of-election-idUSKBN2741D4