Less government aid and higher production costs to partially offset higher farm income in 2021, USDA predicts

USDA map shows regions used in forecasting farm income, To enlarge, click on it.

American farms will mostly make more income this year, but less government aid and higher production costs will eat into that, according to the Agriculture Department's Economic Research Service in its most recent Farm Income Forecast.

You can read the whole thing here, but below are some of the highlights:

• Net farm income, a broad measure of profits, is estimated at $116.8 billion in 2021, its highest level since 2013.
• In inflation-adjusted dollars, that's an $18.4 billion increase from 2020, or18.7%.
• Net cash farm income, a more precise measure of profits, is forecast to increase by $12.6 billion, or 10.5%, in inflation adjusted dollars to $133 billion. That would mark its highest point since 2014.
• The average net cash farm income is predicted to increase by $3,000, or 3.5%, to $89,100 per farm.
• Projections for net cash farm income vary by region. Farms in the Heartland, Northern Great Plains, Prairie Gateway, Eastern Uplands, and Mississippi Portal are predicted to see net cash farm income increase, while farms in the Northern Crescent, Southern Seaboard, Basin and Range, and Fruitful Rim (some coastal and border states) are predicted to see a decrease.
• Cash receipts from agricultural commodities sales are predicted to increase by $64.7 billion to $427.3 billion. That would drive most of the increase in both net income measures.
• However, lower direct government aid and higher production expenses are expected to partially offset higher cash receipts (Spending on nearly all categories of expenses is expected to rise).
• Direct government payments are predicted to fall by $18.5 billion, or 40.4%, to $27.2 billion.
• Total production expenses, including farmers' housing expenses, are forecast to increase by $29.8 billion, or 8.3%, to $387.6 billion.
• Farm assets are predicted to increase by 2.8% to $3.26 trillion in 2021, mostly because of increased real estate value. When adjusted for inflation farm assets and equity are projected to fall 1.0%. 
• Farm debt is projected to decline by 0.8% in inflation-adjusted dollars.
• Farms' debt-to-asset ratio is forecast to remain fairly steady at 13.91.
• Farms' working capital, or money available for operating expenses after paying off debt, is predicted to increase 9.6% from 2020.
• Total median farm household income is projected at $82,315, a 0.9% decline when adjusted for inflation.