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In 2021, 102 farmers in cities within Perry County received a total of $1.4 million in 115 farm subsidies, a 14.8% increase from 2020, when the total was $1.3 million in 229 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Oaks Farm | $597,207 | $428,685 | -28.2% |
| Great Southern Farms, LLC | $71,123 | $91,360 | 28.5% |
| Chanthy Kung | $0 | $69,829 | -- |
| Maxwell Foreman | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| HGH Trucking, LLC | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| C & L Freeman Logging, LLC | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Efird Land & Timber Company, Inc. | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Glen Henderson Logging & Trucking, Inc. | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Gregory Stuart Logging | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| H Delane Tucker Logging, Inc. | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| JCM Timber, LLC | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Triple C Timber, LLC | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Tucker Thinning, Inc. | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Troy D. Thompson | $660 | $34,846 | 5,179.7% |
| Shane L. Jordan | $0 | $31,868 | -- |
| William Kevin Shows | $5,517 | $27,773 | 403.4% |
| Kenneth T. Smith | $30,365 | $21,489 | -29.2% |
| Christopher Neil Byrd | $1,243 | $20,277 | 1,531.3% |
| Cecil D. Dunn | $693 | $18,122 | 2,515% |
| Ready Poultry, Inc. | $0 | $15,785 | -- |
| Leonard Box | $0 | $14,820 | -- |
| Belinda A. Freeman | $0 | $13,513 | -- |
| Malcolm C. Edwards | $28,214 | $11,383 | -59.7% |
| Michael G. Brewer | $7,436 | $6,370 | -14.3% |
| Howard R. Jordan Jr. | $29,274 | $6,294 | -78.5% |
| Mercer Cattle, LLC | $37,414 | $5,862 | -84.3% |
| David Brewer | $7,469 | $5,655 | -24.3% |
| Jerry C. Mills | $21,371 | $4,518 | -78.9% |
| Scott Elmore | $10,761 | $4,405 | -59.1% |
| Wayburn D Smith JR | $13,343 | $3,815 | -71.4% |
| Claude L. Hinton | $15,908 | $3,648 | -77.1% |
| Wallace C. Smith | $15,296 | $3,628 | -76.3% |
| Mark R. Holland | $15,840 | $3,517 | -77.8% |
| Glen Henderson | $10,383 | $3,225 | -68.9% |
| Wendell Backstrom | $9,582 | $2,899 | -69.7% |
| Scott R. Herring | $7,789 | $2,811 | -63.9% |
| Joel R. Garner | $14,832 | $2,686 | -81.9% |
| R. van Holland | $14,853 | $2,578 | -82.6% |
| Joshua T. Smith | $9,239 | $2,548 | -72.4% |
| Marshall L. Goodnight | $7,260 | $2,510 | -65.4% |
| Ronald G. Edwards | $11,511 | $2,487 | -78.4% |
| Peter Timothy Wise | $9,086 | $2,450 | -73% |
| Larry Dean McLain | $10,209 | $2,337 | -77.1% |
| Dorthy Cole | $8,125 | $2,159 | -73.4% |
| Jerry Lane Hinton | $13,168 | $2,123 | -83.9% |
| Steven H. Waites | $8,745 | $1,858 | -78.8% |
| Ronald L. Byrd | $5,505 | $1,744 | -68.3% |
| Charles Richard Keller | $9,537 | $1,673 | -82.5% |
| Rizk Cattle Company, LLC | $6,732 | $1,626 | -75.8% |
| Jacob Lamar Garner | $6,380 | $1,508 | -76.4% |
| Donald Hinton | $6,105 | $1,500 | -75.4% |
| James Donald Agee | $5,727 | $1,359 | -76.3% |
| Thomas V. Walley Jr. | $7,780 | $1,299 | -83.3% |
| Bobby D. Bunnell | $7,248 | $1,291 | -82.2% |
| Robert Shows Jr. | $5,648 | $1,284 | -77.3% |
| Ammon B. Herring | $12,552 | $1,212 | -90.3% |
| John F. Loper | $5,632 | $1,209 | -78.5% |
| Jerold Henderson Logging, Inc. | $7,118 | $1,196 | -83.2% |
| Clifton E. Freeman | $5,065 | $1,179 | -76.7% |
| Darrell James | $4,796 | $1,056 | -78% |
| Warren Strickland | $6,503 | $984 | -84.9% |
| William Larry McCardle | $3,080 | $968 | -68.6% |
| Thomas L. Riles | $2,794 | $956 | -65.8% |
| Turkey Creek Farms, Inc. | $6,454 | $920 | -85.7% |
| Edmond Boyd Lott | $4,865 | $919 | -81.1% |
| Lee A. Henderson | $4,587 | $914 | -80.1% |
| Heather Kaye West | $1,881 | $840 | -55.3% |
| Gary Dale Crowder | $3,028 | $775 | -74.4% |
| Stanley Lee Brewer | $1,320 | $727 | -44.9% |
| Rebecca West | $2,325 | $696 | -70.1% |
| Kelvin Freeman | $5,467 | $675 | -87.7% |
| Wendell Stan Backstrom | $1,843 | $660 | -64.2% |
| Jamie Rudolph Brewer | $2,035 | $615 | -69.8% |
| Britton Freeman | $2,244 | $598 | -73.4% |
| Joel Herring | $2,915 | $561 | -80.8% |
| Robert Shows | $4,020 | $548 | -86.4% |
| Robert Turner | $3,870 | $540 | -86% |
| James Carlton Smith | $3,622 | $536 | -85.2% |
| Hilry D Dyess | $4,140 | $519 | -87.5% |
| Annie McSwain | $1,369 | $518 | -62.2% |
| Hollins B. Clark Jr. | $2,175 | $515 | -76.3% |
| Steve I. Walley | $2,277 | $507 | -77.7% |
| Gary L. Malone | $759 | $438 | -42.3% |
| Malcolm Larue Clark | $10,704 | $406 | -96.2% |
| Keith Ashley Elmore | $4,552 | $396 | -91.3% |
| J. R. Brewer | $2,264 | $370 | -83.7% |
| Billy J. Mills | $2,532 | $346 | -86.3% |
| David Earl Miller | $1,188 | $342 | -71.2% |
| Marty E. Herring | $1,584 | $311 | -80.4% |
| Roger D. Jones | $1,089 | $300 | -72.5% |
| Christopher S. Freeman | $1,183 | $288 | -75.7% |
| George Markam Smith | $785 | $283 | -63.9% |
| Jimmy Travis Hinton | $1,133 | $280 | -75.3% |
| Kenneth Lance Wells | $1,947 | $266 | -86.3% |
| Michael W. Hession | $2,131 | $243 | -88.6% |
| Arlis G. Hicks | $1,210 | $242 | -80% |
| Darrick Edwards | $2,207 | $210 | -90.5% |
| Phillip Wesley Shelby | $982 | $200 | -79.6% |
| Linda B. Jordan | $0 | $155 | -- |
| J. W. Cooper | $539 | $146 | -72.9% |
| Matthew Carlton Smith | $2,130 | $141 | -93.4% |
| John D. Smith | $2,843 | $17 | -99.4% |
| Debbie Pipkin | $1,100 | $0 | -100% |
| William F. Waites III | $297 | $0 | -100% |
| Alice Victoria Britt | $940 | $0 | -100% |
| Arthur Roddy Scarbrough | $97 | $0 | -100% |
| Crawford Byrd Jr. | $154 | $0 | -100% |
| Jerry Edwards | $2,255 | $0 | -100% |
| Johnny Smith | $660 | $0 | -100% |
| Krista Deanna Garrett | $788 | $0 | -100% |
| Lester Hinton | $126 | $0 | -100% |
| Milton McSwain | $165 | $0 | -100% |
| Ronnie Landrum | $760 | $0 | -100% |
| Total subsidies | $1,261,659 | $1,448,890 | 14.8% |
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