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In 2021, 133 farmers in cities within Sharp County received a total of $650,990 in 152 farm subsidies, a 53.2% decrease compared to 2020, when the total was $1.4 million in 336 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| County Line Poultry, LLC | $0 | $138,240 | -- |
| L&C Farms, LLC | $0 | $59,253 | -- |
| Davis Poultry Farm, Inc. | $0 | $44,385 | -- |
| Sheila A. Tate | $0 | $28,850 | -- |
| Brandon Clint Johnson | $9,925 | $24,068 | 142.5% |
| Tom Finley | $5,885 | $23,080 | 292.2% |
| Phillip B Smith Farms, Inc. | $83,038 | $22,744 | -72.6% |
| Bobby Glen Goodman Jr. | $2,750 | $20,952 | 661.9% |
| Arch A. Westmoreland | $95,976 | $19,437 | -79.7% |
| Alex Moody | $128,160 | $18,973 | -85.2% |
| Con T. Battles | $95,075 | $18,106 | -81% |
| Cynthia Arnn | $39,519 | $17,214 | -56.4% |
| Colton Asberry | $8,401 | $14,916 | 77.6% |
| Pat Watson | $62,268 | $13,831 | -77.8% |
| Tim Battles | $45,880 | $10,420 | -77.3% |
| Klmno Farm, LLC | $26,597 | $7,683 | -71.1% |
| Chance T. Battles | $24,389 | $5,850 | -76% |
| James H. Hopkins | $26,389 | $5,799 | -78% |
| Franky Sharp | $28,133 | $5,611 | -80.1% |
| Joseph D. Colvin | $4,532 | $5,559 | 22.7% |
| Dale Foley | $23,176 | $5,216 | -77.5% |
| James Davis | $25,200 | $5,144 | -79.6% |
| Terry R. Trivitt | $19,837 | $5,014 | -74.7% |
| Jennifer Finley | $17,833 | $4,980 | -72.1% |
| Lonnie L. Haley | $14,531 | $4,750 | -67.3% |
| Joseph Slade | $26,303 | $4,510 | -82.9% |
| Jeff Qualls | $23,861 | $4,008 | -83.2% |
| Carolee Allen | $10,956 | $3,780 | -65.5% |
| Marcel Vandenberg | $14,015 | $3,624 | -74.1% |
| Ray Bradley | $15,607 | $3,354 | -78.5% |
| Vickie A. Mynatt | $15,309 | $3,321 | -78.3% |
| Phillip W. Johnson | $13,777 | $3,157 | -77.1% |
| Kevin Tate | $15,374 | $3,033 | -80.3% |
| Gray Livestock & Cattle Company | $14,685 | $2,924 | -80.1% |
| Teddy Watson | $15,843 | $2,907 | -81.7% |
| Rebecca Taylor | $14,787 | $2,820 | -80.9% |
| Jim L. Fowler | $11,080 | $2,476 | -77.7% |
| Ricky Spurlock | $11,544 | $2,339 | -79.7% |
| T. J. Sullins | $2,805 | $2,265 | -19.3% |
| Tim Finley | $15,029 | $2,207 | -85.3% |
| Noble Dwight Smith | $9,260 | $2,166 | -76.6% |
| Denise H. Bailey | $10,621 | $2,051 | -80.7% |
| Richard Downing | $8,474 | $1,998 | -76.4% |
| Randolph K. Ratliff | $12,076 | $1,944 | -83.9% |
| Russell Westmoreland | $8,888 | $1,936 | -78.2% |
| Walter Arnold | $2,658 | $1,763 | -33.7% |
| Dalton C. Turner | $31,645 | $1,748 | -94.5% |
| Robert C. Willey II | $4,074 | $1,719 | -57.8% |
| Linda Bradley | $9,513 | $1,651 | -82.6% |
| Coy Womack | $5,742 | $1,592 | -72.3% |
| Labecca Brasel | $5,896 | $1,492 | -74.7% |
| Dakota Ray Billingsley | $16,770 | $1,470 | -91.2% |
| Edward L. Klemish | $6,534 | $1,447 | -77.9% |
| Elaine Moody | $5,748 | $1,433 | -75.1% |
| Ronald L. Bray | $6,898 | $1,413 | -79.5% |
| Linda C. Cooper | $6,655 | $1,276 | -80.8% |
| Todd J. Norris Sr. | $7,040 | $1,257 | -82.1% |
| Jim Wright | $6,502 | $1,232 | -81.1% |
| Tommy W. Bolt | $5,753 | $1,195 | -79.2% |
| Granville M. Smith | $5,856 | $1,183 | -79.8% |
| Deborah A. Baird | $4,994 | $1,168 | -76.6% |
| Carol J. Wilkes | $5,228 | $1,158 | -77.9% |
| Landen S. Gilmore | $5,515 | $1,141 | -79.3% |
| Gwen Battles | $6,864 | $1,128 | -83.6% |
| Kolby Carver King | $726 | $1,081 | 48.9% |
| Dowl Thomas | $4,895 | $1,042 | -78.7% |
| Jaegar Mccoy Sullins | $7,206 | $1,029 | -85.7% |
| John O. Kunkel | $4,961 | $1,027 | -79.3% |
| Casey M. Shaw | $5,559 | $1,018 | -81.7% |
| Jacob Johnson | $4,158 | $979 | -76.5% |
| J. C. Qualls | $5,874 | $954 | -83.8% |
| Herman H Runsick JR | $3,916 | $949 | -75.8% |
| John a Hufmaster | $2,640 | $945 | -64.2% |
| Taylor W. Woods | $4,682 | $920 | -80.4% |
| Ronny Rush | $2,486 | $916 | -63.2% |
| James H. French | $4,963 | $893 | -82% |
| Barry Farris | $3,813 | $837 | -78% |
| James Bristow | $4,474 | $792 | -82.3% |
| Kris A. Maillet | $3,377 | $788 | -76.7% |
| Benny D. Mynatt | $4,975 | $782 | -84.3% |
| Danny J. McFarlin | $3,234 | $775 | -76% |
| Robert N. Hutchison | $3,766 | $768 | -79.6% |
| Larry Jackson | $3,300 | $756 | -77.1% |
| Colby Martin | $3,487 | $737 | -78.9% |
| Kathryn Ray | $3,553 | $720 | -79.7% |
| Cody S. Bailey | $3,278 | $700 | -78.6% |
| Carolyn T. Duncan | $2,244 | $689 | -69.3% |
| Russell Downing | $3,542 | $677 | -80.9% |
| Whitney S. Lord | $4,697 | $675 | -85.6% |
| Johnny V. Love | $2,420 | $647 | -73.3% |
| Robin Thomson-Rush | $3,106 | $640 | -79.4% |
| Sharon L. Montgomery | $0 | $633 | -- |
| Autry C. Arnold | $3,280 | $611 | -81.4% |
| Mary Ellen Henley | $2,720 | $609 | -77.6% |
| David Ladd | $0 | $605 | -- |
| Charles D. Wiles | $1,837 | $568 | -69.1% |
| Kimberly R. Redwine | $2,176 | $567 | -73.9% |
| Reta Foree | $3,846 | $555 | -85.6% |
| Tim R. Martin | $3,309 | $542 | -83.6% |
| Billy Lee Collins | $557 | $527 | -5.4% |
| Paul A. Bacon | $2,994 | $512 | -82.9% |
| Melody Freeman | $1,760 | $510 | -71% |
| Michael W. Medlock | $3,052 | $499 | -83.7% |
| Hailey Cheyenne Stigall | $2,889 | $498 | -82.8% |
| Amanda Allen | $3,965 | $483 | -87.8% |
| Millie Ida Blalock | $866 | $454 | -47.6% |
| Randal Runsick | $2,929 | $424 | -85.5% |
| James Shands | $1,361 | $394 | -71.1% |
| Katherine Elizabeth Wood | $1,760 | $392 | -77.7% |
| Kohn Runsick | $1,818 | $380 | -79.1% |
| Jimmie Don Kunkel | $2,224 | $366 | -83.5% |
| Paden Day | $8,730 | $360 | -95.9% |
| Lois Lowrance | $1,496 | $343 | -77.1% |
| Steven E. Pope Jr. | $1,668 | $318 | -80.9% |
| Jason Hale | $1,232 | $310 | -74.8% |
| Evan Paul Higginbottom | $1,386 | $308 | -77.8% |
| Wilma Smith | $1,243 | $301 | -75.8% |
| Diana L. Martin | $2,583 | $287 | -88.9% |
| Mark Dustin Johnson | $1,386 | $277 | -80% |
| Thomas M. Thompson | $439 | $239 | -45.6% |
| Jon Hunter Adams | $660 | $238 | -63.9% |
| Linda Campbell | $1,067 | $236 | -77.9% |
| Robert Wollschlager | $880 | $230 | -73.9% |
| Jeffery C. Cornish | $620 | $204 | -67.1% |
| Jerry Henry | $1,304 | $202 | -84.5% |
| Marian Wofford Vance | $537 | $176 | -67.2% |
| Mariah Joann Miller | $0 | $167 | -- |
| Adam Cates | $374 | $134 | -64.2% |
| Toni M. Cavitt | $605 | $132 | -78.2% |
| Jason Cheatham | $451 | $129 | -71.4% |
| Dasen Ray Conway | $297 | $69 | -76.8% |
| Thomas J. Harrington | $330 | $56 | -83% |
| Natalie Kay Lester | $510 | $48 | -90.6% |
| David Joel Biewer | $2,762 | $0 | -100% |
| Jerry Benoit | $495 | $0 | -100% |
| Lavonna Taylor | $495 | $0 | -100% |
| Stowers Farms, LLC | $1,210 | $0 | -100% |
| William J. Lankford | $660 | $0 | -100% |
| Jeannie Jansen | $495 | $0 | -100% |
| Total subsidies | $1,390,263 | $650,990 | -53.2% |
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