On The Map

The value of direct payments depends on historical production and local yields

The legislated payment rates are commodity dependent—averaging about $1 per acre for oats and close to $100 per acre for rice. Payments are concentrated in the major producing areas: they are highest in California, where rice and cotton are produced; in the southeastern coastal plain, where cotton and peanuts are produced; and along the lower Mississippi River, where cotton and rice are produced. Payments per acre are also high in the midwestern corn belt, where corn and soybeans are the predominant crops.