Kern County in California received $379.5M in USDA Farm Service Agency payments across 10,399 individual payments from 2017 to 2025.
📊 County Rank
Total Subsidies
$379.5M
Payments
10,399
Peak Year
2020
$150.7M
Avg Payment
$36K
687% above national avg
💡 Key Insight
Kern County's peak subsidy year was 2020 at $150.7M. COVID-era spending in 2020 ($150.7M) was 24.1× the 2017 baseline. The average payment of $36K is 687% above the national average.
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About Farm Subsidies in Kern County
Kern County, California is one of 3,087 U.S. counties receiving USDA farm subsidy payments. Over the nine-year period from 2017 to 2025, the county received $379.5M across 10,399 individual payments from Farm Service Agency programs including Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Price Loss Coverage (PLC), Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC), and emergency assistance programs.
Like many agricultural counties, Kern County saw its peak subsidy payments in 2020 when the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) distributed emergency payments to offset pandemic-related losses.
Data on this page comes from USDA Farm Service Agency payment files, which are public records available under the Freedom of Information Act. All payment data is aggregated at the county level — individual recipient details are available on our top recipients page.