Farm program payments, by year
USDA has published 22 years of Farm Service Agency payment files, and 18 of them cover a whole year. Across those, payments ran from $10.2 billion in 2008 to a peak of $38.3 billion in 2020, and $24.4 billion in 2025. 4 years are not drawn as totals, because what USDA published for them is part of a year or part of FSA, and each is named below.
American Factbook Research
What the Farm Service Agency disbursed, by calendar year of the file
Farm program payments peaked at $38.3 billion in 2020, against $24.4 billion in 2025
What the Farm Service Agency disbursed under farm programs in each calendar year, as its own files record it. A total is net: FSA books a repayment as a negative disbursement.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency — USDA Farm Service Agency — farm program payment files
The figures behind this chart
| Year | Paid | Recipients | Programs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | partial file | partial file | 2 |
| 2005 | partial file | partial file | 8 |
| 2006 | partial file | partial file | 8 |
| 2007 | partial file | partial file | 3 |
| 2008 | $10.2 billion | 1,419,194 | 63 |
| 2009 | $10.0 billion | 1,286,541 | 62 |
| 2010 | $10.6 billion | 1,278,576 | 64 |
| 2011 | $8.1 billion | 1,461,831 | 65 |
| 2012 | $8.3 billion | 1,378,893 | 58 |
| 2013 | $8.6 billion | 1,330,130 | 54 |
| 2014 | $7.4 billion | 700,719 | 56 |
| 2015 | $8.5 billion | 843,421 | 58 |
| 2016 | $11.0 billion | 1,027,998 | 54 |
| 2017 | $9.7 billion | 986,680 | 57 |
| 2018 | $12.2 billion | 965,445 | 54 |
| 2019 | $20.2 billion | 1,050,512 | 64 |
| 2020 | $38.3 billion | 1,313,500 | 73 |
| 2021 | $16.0 billion | 1,199,941 | 76 |
| 2022 | $12.7 billion | 680,369 | 75 |
| 2023 | $9.2 billion | 745,832 | 78 |
| 2024 | $6.5 billion | 770,441 | 76 |
| 2025 | $24.4 billion | 1,030,325 | 71 |
Breaks in comparability
- 2004: USDA's file for 2004 covers 4 of the year's twelve months (106 payments), so it is a fragment of a year and not a low one.
- 2005–2007: USDA's files cover all twelve months but name 8, 8 and 3 accounting programs, against a median of 60 across the 22 years. What they hold is a fraction of what FSA paid, not years it paid little.
- 2025: 2025 is the year every other farm page leads with: the newest year that is over by the calendar, covers all twelve months, and names at least half the series’ median program count. A year still running is never it, however many months its file has.
Paid, net
| Period | USD, net |
|---|---|
| 2008 | $10.2 billion |
| 2009 | $10.0 billion |
| 2010 | $10.6 billion |
| 2011 | $8.1 billion |
| 2012 | $8.3 billion |
| 2013 | $8.6 billion |
| 2014 | $7.4 billion |
| 2015 | $8.5 billion |
| 2016 | $11.0 billion |
| 2017 | $9.7 billion |
| 2018 | $12.2 billion |
| 2019 | $20.2 billion |
| 2020 | $38.3 billion |
| 2021 | $16.0 billion |
| 2022 | $12.7 billion |
| 2023 | $9.2 billion |
| 2024 | $6.5 billion |
| 2025 | $24.4 billion |
Recipients
| Period | recipients |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 1,419,194 |
| 2009 | 1,286,541 |
| 2010 | 1,278,576 |
| 2011 | 1,461,831 |
| 2012 | 1,378,893 |
| 2013 | 1,330,130 |
| 2014 | 700,719 |
| 2015 | 843,421 |
| 2016 | 1,027,998 |
| 2017 | 986,680 |
| 2018 | 965,445 |
| 2019 | 1,050,512 |
| 2020 | 1,313,500 |
| 2021 | 1,199,941 |
| 2022 | 680,369 |
| 2023 | 745,832 |
| 2024 | 770,441 |
| 2025 | 1,030,325 |
Accounting programs in the file
| Period | accounting program codes |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 2 |
| 2005 | 8 |
| 2006 | 8 |
| 2007 | 3 |
| 2008 | 63 |
| 2009 | 62 |
| 2010 | 64 |
| 2011 | 65 |
| 2012 | 58 |
| 2013 | 54 |
| 2014 | 56 |
| 2015 | 58 |
| 2016 | 54 |
| 2017 | 57 |
| 2018 | 54 |
| 2019 | 64 |
| 2020 | 73 |
| 2021 | 76 |
| 2022 | 75 |
| 2023 | 78 |
| 2024 | 76 |
| 2025 | 71 |
What this data cannot show
- A year is the calendar year of USDA’s file, not the program year a payment was made under: a 2019 program can pay out in 2020.
- Every total is net. FSA records a repayment as a negative disbursement, and it stays in the year it was booked.
- What a year’s file covers is USDA’s choice and it changes. 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 name a fraction of the programs the other years do, and are not drawn as totals.
- A recipient is a name and a mailing address as USDA printed it, so the recipient count is of those, and one operation paid through three companies counts three times.
- Crop insurance is administered by the Risk Management Agency and is in none of these files.
Related
Sources
- USDA Farm Service Agency — farm program payment files — U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency · U.S. Government work · retrieved September 24, 2026
- Census Bureau county population estimates — U.S. Census Bureau · U.S. Government work · retrieved September 23, 2026
Data retrieved