Crop prices, which hit near-record levels in 2022, have since plummeted. For instance, farm-level corn and wheat prices have dropped nearly 40 percent.
Meanwhile, input costs remain high, with the cost to produce an acre of corn rising about 30 percent since 2020. Many U.S. farmers are now facing their third year of losses on every acre planted.
On May 7, USDA announced that 487,177 U.S. farms had received a total of $7.3 billion in ECAP payments. In Idaho, $43.5 million was distributed to 2,862 applicants, with $23.6 million going to wheat growers, $7.4 million to barley farmers, and $7 million to corn growers.
Other crops receiving funds included canola, oats, chickpeas, safflower, lentils, peas, mustard, and sorghum. However, Idaho’s top crop, potatoes, is not eligible for ECAP.
Teton farmer Dwight Little commented, “Input costs have risen so drastically and (farm-level) commodity prices don’t cover what our expenses are any more. Like any business, we can’t continue to operate under those type of circumstances.” He added that while ECAP won’t save most farms, it does provide some help.
Hamer farmer Justin Place agreed, stating, “It doesn’t pay a lot, but the guys who are struggling, it’s going to help them quite a bit.”
Resnick emphasized that ECAP “will bring much-needed relief to farmers across the country, who are staring down their third year of negative returns on every acre they plant in a time of intense trade-related uncertainty.”