F I N AN C I A L CH A L L E NG E S
In January 2021, the National Farmers Coalition and the American Farm Bureau released the results of a survey of 2000 adults in rural areas conducted in December 2020 (Morning Consult, 2020). The study compared results to a similar study conducted in April 2019. Across all adults, 60% said they were concerned about financial issues; 51% about the future; 54%of losing the farm; and 50% said the farm economy was impacting farmers’ mental health Farm Income. From 2016 to 2018 annual median farm household income fell from $76,250 to $72,481. In 2019, income rose to $83,111. In 2020 and 2021 a slight rise was forecasted $86,086 and $86,917 respectively. This information is documented by the 2021 USDA Economic Research Service, Farm household income and characteristics: Principal farm operator household finances, 2016-21F and can be found at https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/farm-household-income-and-characteristics/. However, a comparison of median farm income, off-farm income and total income of the farm operator shows the reliance of off-farm income for households to be financially secure and farms to be viable. As shown in Figure 1 , during the years 2016-2018 median farm income was below zero and showed a value slightly above zero for years 2019, 2020 and forecasted
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