Pursuit's Take
In 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) made about $2.7 billion in payments to farmers or farming operations. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), “Under the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Farm Bill), each member of a farming operation that is a general partnership can generally receive directly or indirectly up to $125,000 per year through the applicable programs if the member meets eligibility requirements, including being determined to be actively engaged in farming.”
This report is an overview of the payments USDA makes every year:
- The $2.7 billion in payments was distributed to 95,417 entities such as corporations, general partnerships, joint ventures, and limited liability companies.
- USDA distributed an average of $884,495 in payments to the 50 farming operations receiving the highest payments for 2015.