Trump's payments to farmers hit all-time high ahead of election

US President Donald Trump is assuring a bumper year for farmers as the Nov. 3 election approaches, with record government subsidies projected to make up more than a third of farm income in 2020.

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.