The article outlines conceptual foundations, features and contradictions of the financial mechanism of agricultural enterprise functioning. Global problems of financial support for the agricultural business, as well as specific financial problems of agricultural enterprises in Russia are identified. Analysis of the main financial indicators of agricultural enterprises of the Russian Federation is carried out, which reveals significant annual fluctuations in the financial results of enterprises, a significant differentiation in the level of profitability of livestock and crop production, dependence of the operating and investment activities of the agricultural sector on external funding sources, an insignificant contribution of state into the financial support of agricultural sphere. Systemic measures for optimizing the state financial support mechanism for agriculture in the context of individual instruments (budget, credit, and tax) are proposed.