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Abstract
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its associated economic effects had implications for U.S. farms, the households that operate them, and the value of the land being farmed. Farm operations received record-level direct Government payments in 2020 largely due to financial assistance from COVID-19-related programs. Farm households, many of which rely on off-farm employment to supplement their total household income, were susceptible to higher nonfarm unemployment rates in 2020. And, although the pandemic had the potential to adversely affect farmland values, evidence suggests the demand for farmland remained high in 2020 and into 2021. This report examines the distribution of pandemic-related assistance for farm operations, farm household susceptibility and resilience to off-farm unemployment periods, and developments in farmland rental and real estate markets during the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic.