Trump's Payments to Farmers Hit All-Time High Ahead of Election

The aid programs could be key to Trump's chances of success in swing states such as Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa and Minnesota. Such states are hotly contested because their population can swing either to Republicans or Democrats and play a decisive role in presidential elections. Farmers favored the Republican president by a wide margin in the 2016 election.

Trump has banked on that support to endure through trade wars that his administration fought with key U.S. commercial partners since he took office. Reprisals from China and other trade partners to Trump's tariffs on imports led to the loss of billions of dollars in U.S. agricultural exports.

Government payments, ranging from longstanding crop insurance payments to new programs compensating farmers for lost sales during the U.S.-China trade war, have risen every year of Trump's presidency.