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In 2021, 154 farmers in cities within Meade County received a total of $761,492 in 257 farm subsidies, a 64.6% decrease compared to 2020, when the total was $2.2 million in 538 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hager Farms, Inc. | $372,148 | $149,941 | -59.7% |
| Jeff L. McGehee | $160,413 | $102,946 | -35.8% |
| Joseph R. Barger | $215,101 | $74,700 | -65.3% |
| Fred L. Sipes Jr. | $221,449 | $71,617 | -67.7% |
| Jerry D. Sipes | $63,732 | $30,178 | -52.6% |
| W a Hobbs & Sons, Inc. | $106,039 | $29,568 | -72.1% |
| ALR Farms, LLC | $105,596 | $28,189 | -73.3% |
| Homer Richardson Meade Stock Farm | $81,273 | $26,656 | -67.2% |
| William R. Morgan | $54,698 | $22,576 | -58.7% |
| Hager Brothers, LLC | $15,868 | $21,266 | 34% |
| Lydia Pearl Richardson-Coomes | $72,760 | $18,715 | -74.3% |
| Watts Properties, LLC | $11,601 | $11,601 | 0% |
| Danny Redmon | $24,779 | $11,200 | -54.8% |
| Dale Basham | $37,741 | $9,711 | -74.3% |
| Edward L. Hardesty | $29,340 | $9,654 | -67.1% |
| Mary D. Vincent | $9,130 | $9,130 | 0% |
| Jacob M. Miller | $21,133 | $7,657 | -63.8% |
| Shaun L. Hardesty | $21,636 | $6,313 | -70.8% |
| David C. Allgood | $16,073 | $4,427 | -72.5% |
| Richard Chapman Jr. | $12,913 | $4,356 | -66.3% |
| George G. Hager | $15,338 | $4,143 | -73% |
| Homer Lee Richardson | $18,553 | $3,636 | -80.4% |
| Robert Jenkins | $20,823 | $3,424 | -83.6% |
| Chris Chapman | $7,842 | $3,328 | -57.6% |
| Jerome L. Huffines | $15,929 | $3,298 | -79.3% |
| Russell G. Williams | $9,701 | $2,997 | -69.1% |
| Cameron S. Redmon | $11,792 | $2,989 | -74.7% |
| Stephen Barr | $1,569 | $2,689 | 71.4% |
| Paul Argabright | $7,468 | $2,613 | -65% |
| Rena M. Singleton | $9,867 | $2,419 | -75.5% |
| Fred H. Neafus | $9,144 | $2,143 | -76.6% |
| Land and Farm, LLC | $6,885 | $2,070 | -69.9% |
| Mark Redmon | $6,403 | $2,066 | -67.7% |
| Adolfo Hernandez | $14,368 | $2,044 | -85.8% |
| Wcm-Land, LLC | $5,881 | $1,817 | -69.1% |
| Bernard Gagel | $8,917 | $1,808 | -79.7% |
| Curtis Ray Morgan | $5,978 | $1,671 | -72% |
| Wayne Johnston | $7,362 | $1,632 | -77.8% |
| Harold T. Triplett | $434 | $1,561 | 259.7% |
| Benjamin O. Wilson | $10,309 | $1,486 | -85.6% |
| Gary Lancaster | $6,612 | $1,470 | -77.8% |
| Gloria Benham | $6,305 | $1,442 | -77.1% |
| John D. McCoy | $6,205 | $1,421 | -77.1% |
| W. A. Sipes | $6,720 | $1,374 | -79.6% |
| Wilson Family Livestock Partnership | $5,401 | $1,367 | -74.7% |
| Thomas H Gerkins | $4,431 | $1,342 | -69.7% |
| Stephen T. Beavin | $5,380 | $1,328 | -75.3% |
| Terry R. Miller | $4,340 | $1,324 | -69.5% |
| Joseph L. Fackler | $10,389 | $1,317 | -87.3% |
| Kenneth K. Haught | $4,882 | $1,257 | -74.3% |
| Ronald D. Williams | $6,045 | $1,243 | -79.4% |
| John Johnston | $4,691 | $1,242 | -73.5% |
| Steven Cart | $6,840 | $1,241 | -81.9% |
| Ronald W. Henry | $8,890 | $1,208 | -86.4% |
| John A. Flaherty | $6,030 | $1,200 | -80.1% |
| Gerard Alva Matthews | $7,335 | $1,158 | -84.2% |
| Joseph R. Stull | $2,312 | $1,156 | -50% |
| Ronald L and Barbara J Greenwell Trust | $2,591 | $1,146 | -55.8% |
| Wayne J. Stull | $2,555 | $1,138 | -55.5% |
| Clarence Foushee | $2,582 | $1,079 | -58.2% |
| Glenn E. Redmon | $9,634 | $1,039 | -89.2% |
| William Ernest Poole | $5,520 | $970 | -82.4% |
| Dennis Wayne Poole | $5,487 | $962 | -82.5% |
| Earl Roach | $3,840 | $939 | -75.5% |
| Adam J. Benham | $803 | $920 | 14.6% |
| John J. Hager | $675 | $900 | 33.3% |
| D. C. Allgood II | $8,661 | $882 | -89.8% |
| Anthony G. Staples | $2,948 | $846 | -71.3% |
| Benjamin Joseph Smith | $4,712 | $844 | -82.1% |
| Michael E. Bennett | $3,637 | $796 | -78.1% |
| Diana R. Harris | $3,674 | $790 | -78.5% |
| Charles A. Redmon | $3,994 | $784 | -80.4% |
| Cody M. Mattingly | $3,080 | $774 | -74.9% |
| Robert L. Reeder Jr. | $3,900 | $754 | -80.7% |
| David Lee Wilkins | $4,998 | $726 | -85.5% |
| James C. Roberts | $3,813 | $720 | -81.1% |
| Robert E. Stith | $2,810 | $715 | -74.6% |
| Larry Gagel | $4,164 | $661 | -84.1% |
| Matthew Spencer | $6,730 | $661 | -90.2% |
| Lindsey Shain | $3,349 | $633 | -81.1% |
| Vernon Pike | $3,868 | $624 | -83.9% |
| Joseph T. Hutchins Jr. | $2,963 | $621 | -79% |
| Dennis M. Halcomb | $2,777 | $614 | -77.9% |
| Wm R. Robinson | $4,069 | $602 | -85.2% |
| Miles J. McNeal | $0 | $586 | -- |
| Greg Lawson | $1,261 | $566 | -55.1% |
| Deborah Shumate | $1,954 | $515 | -73.6% |
| Patrick B. Powers | $1,284 | $514 | -60% |
| Janet Foushee | $730 | $495 | -32.2% |
| Cole C. Durham | $2,211 | $474 | -78.6% |
| Joe A. Goins Jr. | $2,200 | $470 | -78.6% |
| Brittany C. Collins | $2,194 | $444 | -79.8% |
| Paul Novak | $2,112 | $433 | -79.5% |
| Tim Kendall | $1,892 | $422 | -77.7% |
| Kenneth Darnall | $1,830 | $420 | -77% |
| Jerry L. Chee | $2,799 | $419 | -85% |
| Jody Compton | $1,551 | $400 | -74.2% |
| Stanley Heslep | $300 | $400 | 33.3% |
| Gene Thompson | $1,563 | $371 | -76.3% |
| Kathy Thompson | $1,089 | $360 | -66.9% |
| Dwight Price | $1,947 | $357 | -81.7% |
| Ronald D. Greenwell | $1,592 | $356 | -77.6% |
| Greg Board | $1,320 | $347 | -73.7% |
| Dennis Farmer | $1,309 | $342 | -73.9% |
| Herbert W. Chism II | $858 | $336 | -60.8% |
| Tracy Thompson | $5,229 | $331 | -93.7% |
| Whitson E. Daley | $2,105 | $318 | -84.9% |
| James D. McCoy | $1,620 | $280 | -82.7% |
| Kevin R. Medley | $1,186 | $279 | -76.5% |
| Nathan Barr Turner | $2,733 | $278 | -89.8% |
| Charles E. Whelan | $1,265 | $259 | -79.5% |
| Gary L. Benham | $1,116 | $256 | -77.1% |
| John E. Jones | $1,594 | $256 | -83.9% |
| Garrett-Ray L Morgan | $191 | $255 | 33.5% |
| Barry E. Franke | $191 | $255 | 33.5% |
| Laura Gayle Stith | $961 | $252 | -73.8% |
| Donny Blankenship | $1,265 | $242 | -80.9% |
| Patricia Greenwell | $1,258 | $240 | -80.9% |
| Charles R. Allgeier | $396 | $230 | -41.9% |
| Natalie D. Brown | $427 | $228 | -46.6% |
| James G. Arnold | $1,001 | $222 | -77.8% |
| Jason Scott | $1,056 | $222 | -79% |
| Charles E. Wilkins Jr. | $1,566 | $206 | -86.8% |
| Jeffrey L. Adkisson | $363 | $185 | -49% |
| Donald Jason Wentz | $803 | $180 | -77.6% |
| Edward R. Hart | $440 | $179 | -59.3% |
| Cheryl Pike | $470 | $175 | -62.8% |
| Betty Faye Wentz | $792 | $170 | -78.5% |
| Brian Chism | $396 | $166 | -58.1% |
| Gary Darnall | $977 | $166 | -83% |
| Jeffrey A. Roberts | $642 | $165 | -74.3% |
| Fairleigh Yates | $759 | $163 | -78.5% |
| James M. Wedding | $272 | $156 | -42.6% |
| Henry A. Hathorne | $437 | $150 | -65.7% |
| Charles E. Robinson | $539 | $140 | -74% |
| Charles Timothy Livers | $578 | $134 | -76.8% |
| Paul Samuel Baysinger | $1,381 | $132 | -90.4% |
| Joseph L. Shelman | $1,286 | $127 | -90.1% |
| Neisha Nevitt | $594 | $118 | -80.1% |
| Cheryl D. Gibson | $478 | $110 | -77% |
| David Todd Branson | $1,365 | $104 | -92.4% |
| Robert James Ray | $161 | $100 | -37.9% |
| Mary James Masden | $231 | $100 | -56.7% |
| David W. Padgett | $618 | $98 | -84.1% |
| Robert R. Fackler | $451 | $80 | -82.3% |
| Chet Allen Flaherty | $101 | $78 | -22.8% |
| Julie Nevitt | $157 | $56 | -64.3% |
| Chris McGehee | $4,006 | $46 | -98.9% |
| Karen Cook | $162 | $45 | -72.2% |
| Monica Padgett | $66 | $24 | -63.6% |
| William J. Coleman | $648 | $21 | -96.8% |
| Dorothea Gilliland | $33 | $16 | -51.5% |
| Daniel L. Garcia | $21 | $6 | -71.4% |
| Esther Marie Sipes | $3 | $1 | -66.7% |
| Delbert Walls | $8,415 | $0 | -100% |
| Harold Kirkwood | $782 | $0 | -100% |
| Jane Dooley | $1,274 | $0 | -100% |
| Jeremy T. Compton | $1,738 | $0 | -100% |
| John Allgeier | $345 | $0 | -100% |
| John S. O'Bryan | $201 | $0 | -100% |
| Mary L. Stull | $1,259 | $0 | -100% |
| Richard A. Popham | $1,851 | $0 | -100% |
| Thomas M. Powell | $433 | $0 | -100% |
| William Basham | $231 | $0 | -100% |
| James H. Scott | $148 | $0 | -100% |
| Jeffrey McKinney | $517 | $0 | -100% |
| Lorraine Medley | $189 | $0 | -100% |
| Richard A. Medley | $43 | $0 | -100% |
| Total subsidies | $2,152,440 | $761,492 | -64.6% |
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