Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock
In 2021, 137 farmers in cities within Fayette County received a total of $992,219 in 185 farm subsidies, a 46.6% decrease compared to 2020, when the total was $1.9 million in 341 farm subsidies.
Though farm subsidies support agriculture in the U.S., pumping $7 trillion into the economy, they are not without controversy.
The American Action Forum discovered that the most highly subsidized crops - corn, soy, wheat, and rice - are often consumed in highly processed ways, which leads to unhealthy eating habits and obesity, while the fruits and vegetables needed for a healthy diet are rarely subsidized.
"We are consuming more calories, fats, sodium, and sugars, and not enough beneficial nutrients and vitamins," Tara O'Neill Hayes wrote. "It is critical that both policymakers and the American public understand the influence that federal agricultural subsidies have on our food supply and diet and, in turn, our nutrition and health."
Farm subsidies have also been criticized for assisting the highest-earning agricultural businesses, not local farmers on their family farms who are barely getting by.
Kimberly Amadeo of The Balance said farmer subsidies "help high-income corporations, not poor rural farmers. Most of the money goes toward large agribusinesses."
The U.S. has provided farm subsidies since the Great Depression to assist farmers who weather price fluctuations and disasters, to help maintain consistent farming across the country.
| Farmer | Total Received in 2020 | Total Received in 2021 | % Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whitehead Farms | $521,549 | $288,123 | -44.8% |
| Hughes Brothers Farms, LLC | $221,029 | $73,262 | -66.9% |
| Donald Oswalt Jr. | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Zebco Forestry, LLC | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Floyd Malcom Gilreath | $171 | $50,515 | 29,440.9% |
| Scott Madison | $0 | $49,025 | -- |
| J E Walker & Son, Inc. | $137,289 | $48,694 | -64.5% |
| John F. Wakefield | $61,827 | $35,370 | -42.8% |
| Jay Lawrence Farms | $73,301 | $27,808 | -62.1% |
| Alva M. Grimsley III | $27,289 | $27,289 | 0% |
| Greg Fields Logging, LLC | $0 | $22,993 | -- |
| Clark Lawrence | $110,389 | $22,154 | -79.9% |
| Richard Wakefield | $39,401 | $21,355 | -45.8% |
| Lawrence R. Farms | $46,780 | $21,142 | -54.8% |
| Carl T. Ham | $49,893 | $20,881 | -58.1% |
| Lanny J. McCaleb | $19,262 | $18,430 | -4.3% |
| Jacob W. Simmons | $35,428 | $17,649 | -50.2% |
| Neil Hindman | $22,181 | $8,761 | -60.5% |
| Glenn Hollingsworth | $25,157 | $7,862 | -68.7% |
| C & J Farms, LLC | $17,607 | $4,913 | -72.1% |
| James H. Trice III | $13,690 | $4,825 | -64.8% |
| Sammy Hindman | $16,806 | $4,601 | -72.6% |
| Steven R. Ballard | $3,333 | $4,581 | 37.4% |
| Thomas L. Fields | $25,246 | $4,432 | -82.4% |
| Dabney S. Gray | $10,489 | $4,124 | -60.7% |
| Clatus K Junkin | $16,852 | $3,916 | -76.8% |
| Albert West | $19,361 | $3,836 | -80.2% |
| Galloway Farms | $10,290 | $3,794 | -63.1% |
| Brian Fleenor | $21,878 | $3,154 | -85.6% |
| Chad Gilreath | $13,216 | $3,099 | -76.6% |
| Lowell Dwayne Colburn | $3,237 | $3,043 | -6% |
| James B. Pugh Jr. | $12,198 | $2,727 | -77.6% |
| Kyle Jeffery Sullivan | $9,263 | $2,580 | -72.1% |
| Judy C. Bartholomew | $3,994 | $2,536 | -36.5% |
| Heath Wallace | $9,603 | $2,264 | -76.4% |
| Jerry L. Hallman | $8,620 | $1,909 | -77.9% |
| David P. Unger | $1,898 | $1,898 | 0% |
| Harry O. Unger III | $1,898 | $1,898 | 0% |
| Jody C. Randolph | $3,957 | $1,791 | -54.7% |
| Vick Real Estate, LLC | $1,714 | $1,714 | 0% |
| William T. Ham | $4,368 | $1,706 | -60.9% |
| Andrew S West | $21,402 | $1,585 | -92.6% |
| Mitchell J. Waldrop | $5,093 | $1,435 | -71.8% |
| Bobby L Tangle | $4,365 | $1,422 | -67.4% |
| David W. Shepherd | $7,121 | $1,350 | -81% |
| Robert Whitley | $8,491 | $1,297 | -84.7% |
| JL & C Farms, LLC | $790 | $1,247 | 57.8% |
| Sara F. Price | $1,459 | $1,247 | -14.5% |
| Patricia Diane Pendley | $6,127 | $1,229 | -79.9% |
| Timothy G. Nelson | $5,533 | $1,224 | -77.9% |
| Jeffery F. Richards | $5,005 | $1,208 | -75.9% |
| Douglas John Stanton | $6,259 | $1,199 | -80.8% |
| Charles A. Lafoy | $1,785 | $1,143 | -36% |
| Owen Sweatt | $5,158 | $1,125 | -78.2% |
| Ken Davis | $3,487 | $1,110 | -68.2% |
| Charles N. Langley | $1,078 | $1,063 | -1.4% |
| Barbara B. Cross | $1,055 | $1,027 | -2.7% |
| George Porter | $4,510 | $1,019 | -77.4% |
| Donald E. Baker | $3,482 | $998 | -71.3% |
| Chris Cannon | $4,092 | $974 | -76.2% |
| Foster Earnest | $4,388 | $938 | -78.6% |
| Paul Davidson | $2,970 | $922 | -69% |
| Reda R West | $920 | $920 | 0% |
| John Peter Gant | $5,136 | $909 | -82.3% |
| Dana C. Gilliam | $906 | $906 | 0% |
| Ashley Long | $5,830 | $899 | -84.6% |
| David Bryan Hughes | $2,926 | $897 | -69.3% |
| Phillip R. Cochran | $3,883 | $854 | -78% |
| Joe L. Smith | $2,090 | $850 | -59.3% |
| Steve Colburn | $2,750 | $846 | -69.2% |
| William H. Oswalt | $1,937 | $824 | -57.5% |
| Lonnie Gant | $4,114 | $822 | -80% |
| Jerry L. Shelton | $4,659 | $791 | -83% |
| Clarence D. McCool | $4,436 | $776 | -82.5% |
| Bradley Mark Duckworth | $4,576 | $762 | -83.3% |
| Reginald D. Beard | $3,849 | $758 | -80.3% |
| Melinda McCaleb | $1,680 | $704 | -58.1% |
| Gregg E. Allen | $1,716 | $682 | -60.3% |
| Joyce Hubbert | $634 | $634 | 0% |
| David Hindman | $2,101 | $602 | -71.3% |
| Michael Newsome | $663 | $582 | -12.2% |
| Scotty Dewayne Morgan | $2,046 | $576 | -71.8% |
| Joseph O. Holliman | $4,513 | $566 | -87.5% |
| Danny T. McDonald | $1,756 | $560 | -68.1% |
| April Sanford | $1,892 | $544 | -71.2% |
| William S. Kendrick | $2,717 | $532 | -80.4% |
| Alexander Lawrence Whitehead | $1,762 | $528 | -70% |
| Carl D. Wallace | $2,178 | $514 | -76.4% |
| Kenneth Smith | $3,456 | $513 | -85.2% |
| Charlie Dale Jones | $4,227 | $513 | -87.9% |
| Robert W. Clark | $372 | $496 | 33.3% |
| Anthony Gant | $2,035 | $481 | -76.4% |
| Jonathan C. Pasley | $2,255 | $470 | -79.2% |
| Michael K. Freeman | $463 | $463 | 0% |
| Linda Edwards | $2,253 | $458 | -79.7% |
| Linda Kay Jones | $0 | $457 | -- |
| Beverly W. Jones | $1,426 | $438 | -69.3% |
| Samuel S. Wheat | $968 | $428 | -55.8% |
| James F. Sands Jr. | $419 | $419 | 0% |
| Ronnie J. Black | $1,463 | $416 | -71.6% |
| Ethan Allen Stepan | $3,166 | $390 | -87.7% |
| Cyrus Dwayne Bolton | $1,023 | $381 | -62.8% |
| Joan Weaver | $0 | $368 | -- |
| Robert McCaleb | $3,515 | $364 | -89.6% |
| Austin James Wolverton | $2,094 | $363 | -82.7% |
| Todd Gilliam | $1,265 | $335 | -73.5% |
| Benny T. Everette | $1,858 | $335 | -82% |
| Larry Clements | $3,296 | $301 | -90.9% |
| Bill W. Newton | $320 | $300 | -6.3% |
| Carl D. Nalls | $1,001 | $293 | -70.7% |
| Donald R. Gwin | $1,309 | $284 | -78.3% |
| Jason Porter | $927 | $278 | -70% |
| Lann T. Stewart | $0 | $270 | -- |
| Jerry W. Higgins | $264 | $264 | 0% |
| Evelyn Bagwell | $530 | $259 | -51.1% |
| John H. Dover | $1,381 | $256 | -81.5% |
| James N. Crowley | $247 | $247 | 0% |
| Cheryl Leonard | $1,337 | $232 | -82.6% |
| Carl Porter | $968 | $194 | -80% |
| Juanita Crawford | $352 | $170 | -51.7% |
| Frankie Walton | $515 | $168 | -67.4% |
| Thomas Ellard | $1,005 | $105 | -89.6% |
| Martha Jo Christian | $361 | $86 | -76.2% |
| Merlin Joe Spanfellner | $875 | $76 | -91.3% |
| Greta D. Perry | $159 | $65 | -59.1% |
| Ronald H. Cargile | $209 | $52 | -75.1% |
| Carol H. Abernathy | $188 | $49 | -73.9% |
| Libby Hubbert | $8,765 | $34 | -99.6% |
| Gene Deal | $144 | $33 | -77.1% |
| Johney M Hubbert | $110 | $29 | -73.6% |
| Marilyn W. Lawrence | $47 | $24 | -48.9% |
| James T. Long | $68 | $23 | -66.2% |
| Lavonia Patton | $38 | $19 | -50% |
| Maxine A. Carroll | $57 | $7 | -87.7% |
| Carol Ann Jones | $14 | $5 | -64.3% |
| Mattie B. Nalls | $9 | $2 | -77.8% |
| Naomi Nalls | $10 | $2 | -80% |
| Cornelius Blanding | $330 | $0 | -100% |
| Ethel S. Bigham | $885 | $0 | -100% |
| Tommy R. Bonner | $165 | $0 | -100% |
| Bobby Joe Maddox | $1,925 | $0 | -100% |
| Dwight Moore | $56 | $0 | -100% |
| James D. Tate | $192 | $0 | -100% |
| Julius A. Nichols | $2,044 | $0 | -100% |
| Total subsidies | $1,858,145 | $992,219 | -46.6% |
Alerts Sign-up