Median Farm Income Expected To Increase In 2022

USDA is projecting net farm income to fall below last year's figures, by almost $5.5-billion, or a drop of 4.5%. Will this pull down the median incomes of farm households? ERS Administrator Spiro Stefanou says no.

"The median total farm household income is forecast to be $88,234 in 2022.  That's a 5.9% increase [when compared to last year]."

Most farm households get their money from the farm business, but also from jobs off the farm. Stefanou says the income for the farm operation is expected to drop this year, as you might expect. But:

"Off farm income is forecast to increase by 4.4%."

He said part of this because in non-metro areas, unemployment now is back down to where it was before the pandemic hit.

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