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In 2021, 89 farmers in cities within Chester County received a total of $543,987 in 124 farm subsidies, a 73.4% decrease compared to 2020, when the total was $2 million in 325 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ronald H. Stephenson | $537,473 | $140,234 | -73.9% |
| Joey Wilson | $113,689 | $51,723 | -54.5% |
| Guy F. Darby Jr. | $205,303 | $43,434 | -78.8% |
| Herbert D. Lutz Jr. | $50,968 | $37,878 | -25.7% |
| Joe S. Gaston Jr. | $66,111 | $23,788 | -64% |
| Kemp Summerfield Wilson | $49,634 | $20,734 | -58.2% |
| Cotton Hills Farm, LLC | $126,843 | $19,514 | -84.6% |
| Ronald J. Stevens Jr. | $1,056 | $18,956 | 1,695.1% |
| Richard B. Baker | $11,636 | $16,249 | 39.6% |
| Reed Rogers | $46,319 | $14,653 | -68.4% |
| Ron Stephenson Jr. | $65,241 | $14,330 | -78% |
| Jason S. Turner | $9,943 | $12,482 | 25.5% |
| William D Greek Estate | $21,695 | $12,078 | -44.3% |
| H. J. Millen Jr. | $48,373 | $11,749 | -75.7% |
| John R. Lewis | $114,321 | $9,890 | -91.3% |
| Clifton Earl Thrailkill Jr. | $43,956 | $9,505 | -78.4% |
| Lori J. Lester | $0 | $8,504 | -- |
| Jarvis Colvin Logging | $0 | $6,727 | -- |
| Mary Stephenson Jolley | $23,221 | $6,220 | -73.2% |
| John F Telligman | $10,451 | $4,243 | -59.4% |
| Gary A. Watson | $36,142 | $4,013 | -88.9% |
| John R. Williams III | $20,639 | $2,976 | -85.6% |
| Richard G. Evans Jr. | $7,739 | $2,822 | -63.5% |
| Ann S. McNerney | $23,903 | $2,731 | -88.6% |
| W. L. Abernathy III | $7,700 | $2,538 | -67% |
| Joe Houston | $28,551 | $2,303 | -91.9% |
| Allen L. Beer | $10,358 | $1,972 | -81% |
| William H. Caldwell | $28,731 | $1,949 | -93.2% |
| Jarvis Colvin | $6,567 | $1,864 | -71.6% |
| West C Stevenson III | $20,464 | $1,771 | -91.3% |
| J. G. Knox IV | $11,278 | $1,751 | -84.5% |
| Donald Steve Mobley Jr. | $8,558 | $1,712 | -80% |
| Gary K. Jennings Sr. | $11,346 | $1,677 | -85.2% |
| Robert L. Jones | $2,673 | $1,635 | -38.8% |
| James M. Gaston | $9,587 | $1,375 | -85.7% |
| Thomas L. Steen | $3,322 | $1,190 | -64.2% |
| Michael S. Ritchie | $11,240 | $1,170 | -89.6% |
| William J Telligman | $29,241 | $1,148 | -96.1% |
| William F. Wishert | $5,120 | $1,126 | -78% |
| Roger Smith | $2,673 | $1,049 | -60.8% |
| Jack Dove | $7,426 | $1,046 | -85.9% |
| Joseph W. Tate | $10,031 | $1,043 | -89.6% |
| William R. Hindman Sr. | $2,398 | $988 | -58.8% |
| Paul D. Hicklin | $3,674 | $964 | -73.8% |
| Brandon Horn | $5,718 | $948 | -83.4% |
| L and D Farm, LLC | $6,156 | $946 | -84.6% |
| William P. Carpenter III | $925 | $925 | 0% |
| Charlie O Barber | $5,421 | $882 | -83.7% |
| Kenneth D. Hudson | $6,300 | $811 | -87.1% |
| Thomas A. Jackson Jr. | $4,140 | $808 | -80.5% |
| John W. Stevenson | $5,868 | $764 | -87% |
| Kim B. Smith | $2,989 | $659 | -78% |
| William C. Crosby | $3,432 | $624 | -81.8% |
| Gus Poulos | $4,291 | $611 | -85.8% |
| Mack Paul | $4,428 | $596 | -86.5% |
| Wesley T. Carter | $11,006 | $585 | -94.7% |
| Donald A. Young | $2,653 | $578 | -78.2% |
| Justin Mayhugh | $4,459 | $540 | -87.9% |
| Nathaniel D. Greek | $1,544 | $532 | -65.5% |
| Charles William Sudol | $3,999 | $523 | -86.9% |
| Oscar L. Peay | $4,090 | $492 | -88% |
| Kenneth S. Dodds | $2,038 | $476 | -76.6% |
| Samuel Wayne Anderson | $1,584 | $452 | -71.5% |
| Dorothy J. Young | $2,426 | $436 | -82% |
| William E. Lipscomb | $2,720 | $436 | -84% |
| William B. Jones | $3,281 | $416 | -87.3% |
| John James Dodds III | $2,504 | $398 | -84.1% |
| Donald A. Todd | $1,422 | $395 | -72.2% |
| Ralph H. Brooks | $2,875 | $384 | -86.6% |
| James McKenzie | $1,716 | $363 | -78.8% |
| Davis Jones Beam III | $1,236 | $300 | -75.7% |
| Michael Johnson | $715 | $292 | -59.2% |
| Carl A. Glenn | $1,988 | $280 | -85.9% |
| Henry Lester Shugart Jr. | $1,155 | $273 | -76.4% |
| John Edward Wilks | $806 | $214 | -73.4% |
| Neal D. Counterman | $1,498 | $202 | -86.5% |
| Joshua Glenn | $1,222 | $152 | -87.6% |
| Susan K. Helms | $793 | $145 | -81.7% |
| Farm Service Agency/Commodity Credit Corporation | $0 | $141 | -- |
| Margaret M. Hausman | $330 | $132 | -60% |
| Charles Kenton Thames | $9,487 | $97 | -99% |
| Linda Diane Hall Atkinson | $336 | $88 | -73.8% |
| Herbert D. Lutz | $1,850 | $69 | -96.3% |
| Gerald T. Locke | $687 | $67 | -90.2% |
| J. E. Roberts III | $0 | $64 | -- |
| Lee Counterman | $403 | $59 | -85.4% |
| Lois B. Hall | $115 | $53 | -53.9% |
| Catherine L. Robb | $482 | $47 | -90.2% |
| Thomas R. Ligon | $57 | $28 | -50.9% |
| Benjamin B. Going | $1,491 | $0 | -100% |
| Brice Douglas | $3,672 | $0 | -100% |
| Byron D. Hager | $766 | $0 | -100% |
| Donald L. Wood Jr. | $3,828 | $0 | -100% |
| Douglas R. Shannon | $1,465 | $0 | -100% |
| Farm Service Agency/Commodity CRE | $7,243 | $0 | -100% |
| Harry Thomas Clayton | $770 | $0 | -100% |
| James L. Stephenson | $1,256 | $0 | -100% |
| Jeffery Scott Thomas | $1,815 | $0 | -100% |
| Jennifer Pipia | $683 | $0 | -100% |
| Joe H. Ligon | $1,045 | $0 | -100% |
| John H. Colvin | $4,171 | $0 | -100% |
| Joseph Harvey Stephenson III | $9,214 | $0 | -100% |
| Logan Farm, LLC | $3,193 | $0 | -100% |
| Lonnie Faust | $5,929 | $0 | -100% |
| Mark T. Hunter | $2,546 | $0 | -100% |
| Michael T. Wild | $220 | $0 | -100% |
| Ralph D. Clack | $2,510 | $0 | -100% |
| Robert McCleave | $573 | $0 | -100% |
| Robert Michael Ritchie | $3,300 | $0 | -100% |
| Wild Hope Farm, LLC | $468 | $0 | -100% |
| Jack J. Morton Jr. | $528 | $0 | -100% |
| As Hot as Possible, LLC | $3,001 | $0 | -100% |
| Gibson School, LLC | $933 | $0 | -100% |
| John A. Alt | $3,811 | $0 | -100% |
| Marianne Paradise | $2,116 | $0 | -100% |
| Total subsidies | $2,043,286 | $543,987 | -73.4% |
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