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In 2021, 138 farmers in cities within Lewis County received a total of $382,306 in 178 farm subsidies, a 42.3% decrease compared to 2020, when the total was $663,050 in 376 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Fetters Jr. | $3,300 | $53,709 | 1,527.5% |
| Tom Fetters | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Leonard G. Mason | $52,247 | $36,981 | -29.2% |
| Darrell Smith | $0 | $26,206 | -- |
| Tommy Polley | $0 | $16,761 | -- |
| David Joseph Osborne | $30,891 | $11,734 | -62% |
| Bradley Polley | $0 | $10,904 | -- |
| Jacob Fetters | $0 | $10,285 | -- |
| Danny Polley | $0 | $9,887 | -- |
| Rodney Ruark | $2,933 | $8,549 | 191.5% |
| Martin Wallingford | $22,649 | $7,155 | -68.4% |
| Alan Ruark | $5,584 | $6,235 | 11.7% |
| Jerry A. Walker | $25,666 | $6,060 | -76.4% |
| Willis J. Blevins | $0 | $5,892 | -- |
| Jeremy Tully | $4,810 | $5,304 | 10.3% |
| Thomas C. Walker Jr. | $20,022 | $4,872 | -75.7% |
| Jonathon Fetters | $0 | $4,624 | -- |
| James Paul Stephens | $20,669 | $4,532 | -78.1% |
| Rex Elam | $30,448 | $4,481 | -85.3% |
| Tony Henderson | $18,971 | $3,411 | -82% |
| Mary A. Tully | $13,519 | $3,200 | -76.3% |
| Timmy Lykins | $39,743 | $2,909 | -92.7% |
| Bonnie McCann | $1,892 | $2,781 | 47% |
| Jack Thomas | $13,364 | $2,583 | -80.7% |
| Maurice Reeder Jr. | $12,691 | $2,570 | -79.7% |
| Donald Keith Kamer | $13,445 | $2,534 | -81.2% |
| Michael Iery | $0 | $2,530 | -- |
| Christopher A. Schneider | $14,109 | $2,394 | -83% |
| Donnie Rayburn | $3,791 | $2,326 | -38.6% |
| Runyan Enterprises, Inc. | $0 | $2,173 | -- |
| Luther A. Walker Jr. | $10,360 | $2,119 | -79.5% |
| Phillip Hull | $7,940 | $2,118 | -73.3% |
| Billy Enix | $1,419 | $1,994 | 40.5% |
| Randy Stamm | $3,041 | $1,932 | -36.5% |
| David Pelfrey | $2,278 | $1,890 | -17% |
| Michael Reis | $3,460 | $1,828 | -47.2% |
| Stanley Nichols | $8,413 | $1,733 | -79.4% |
| Hubert J. Polley | $11,270 | $1,636 | -85.5% |
| Gary L. Smith | $7,576 | $1,613 | -78.7% |
| Billy Kegley | $9,160 | $1,566 | -82.9% |
| Calvin R. Snow | $7,519 | $1,361 | -81.9% |
| Wendell Mason | $6,017 | $1,354 | -77.5% |
| Paul Applegate | $1,985 | $1,219 | -38.6% |
| Tyler Wayne Clark | $1,982 | $1,219 | -38.5% |
| Kenneth Ruark | $3,446 | $1,179 | -65.8% |
| Walter Robert Riffe Jr. | $0 | $1,120 | -- |
| Chris Elam | $8,887 | $1,042 | -88.3% |
| Ronald J. Lock | $3,179 | $1,001 | -68.5% |
| Rex Arthurs | $4,019 | $979 | -75.6% |
| Kenneth Carver | $3,395 | $968 | -71.5% |
| Thomas McKinney | $7,499 | $964 | -87.1% |
| Freddie Shannon Jamison | $4,944 | $911 | -81.6% |
| Arthur Rayburn | $4,897 | $900 | -81.6% |
| Jason L. Rayburn | $4,402 | $900 | -79.6% |
| Robbie Hord | $3,775 | $846 | -77.6% |
| Christian Matthew Osborne | $1,631 | $842 | -48.4% |
| Dean M. Osborne | $1,631 | $842 | -48.4% |
| Sharon E Bealert | $3,685 | $812 | -78% |
| Timothy C. Ginn | $2,684 | $792 | -70.5% |
| Karen Gale Fannin | $4,559 | $785 | -82.8% |
| John Erwin | $0 | $770 | -- |
| Melvin Wills | $4,352 | $768 | -82.4% |
| William M. Barnett | $4,286 | $736 | -82.8% |
| Donnie H. Ginn | $2,464 | $675 | -72.6% |
| William T. Goodwin | $3,316 | $662 | -80% |
| Randy Toller | $0 | $660 | -- |
| Tom Killen | $6,618 | $658 | -90.1% |
| John Gilliam | $3,234 | $644 | -80.1% |
| Randy Harlow | $4,962 | $631 | -87.3% |
| Dennis Tolliver | $2,046 | $573 | -72% |
| Timothy Greene | $2,541 | $557 | -78.1% |
| Val Harris | $3,008 | $553 | -81.6% |
| Bertha J. Cunningham | $2,717 | $550 | -79.8% |
| Douglas Wilson | $528 | $544 | 3% |
| Bobby Gibbs | $2,676 | $537 | -79.9% |
| John M. Roe | $3,539 | $528 | -85.1% |
| Shawn Ray Rayburn | $3,834 | $526 | -86.3% |
| John McKinney | $5,205 | $518 | -90% |
| Eddie Stamm | $2,420 | $506 | -79.1% |
| Roger Lykins | $3,501 | $498 | -85.8% |
| Stanley Earl Scheidler | $2,286 | $481 | -79% |
| Joe Paul Gilbert | $1,419 | $479 | -66.2% |
| Alexander Greiner | $2,217 | $467 | -78.9% |
| Carter Lee Morgan | $297 | $465 | 56.6% |
| Dottie A. Carper | $2,090 | $458 | -78.1% |
| Albert Stamm | $1,144 | $452 | -60.5% |
| Walter A. Butler | $2,473 | $441 | -82.2% |
| Scott Stewart | $0 | $440 | -- |
| Tommy Von Luhrte | $1,551 | $432 | -72.1% |
| Billy Clark | $3,799 | $416 | -89% |
| Ricky Crawford | $2,093 | $408 | -80.5% |
| Dallas Burriss | $106 | $403 | 280.2% |
| Jerry Bloomfield | $1,873 | $401 | -78.6% |
| Diane Craig | $1,519 | $377 | -75.2% |
| Douglas Hampton | $2,433 | $373 | -84.7% |
| Donnie Greene | $9,330 | $346 | -96.3% |
| Michael Flinders | $1,661 | $343 | -79.3% |
| Greg Miracle | $1,177 | $336 | -71.5% |
| Robert Owens | $1,977 | $335 | -83.1% |
| Norman Oliver Roe | $1,595 | $329 | -79.4% |
| Rodney Frye | $1,586 | $322 | -79.7% |
| Wayne Howe | $1,139 | $312 | -72.6% |
| David Goodwin | $2,857 | $308 | -89.2% |
| Orville McKinney | $1,276 | $308 | -75.9% |
| Amos H. Nolen | $1,134 | $298 | -73.7% |
| Matthew O. McKinney | $1,579 | $294 | -81.4% |
| Nancye Hilterbrandt | $814 | $294 | -63.9% |
| David S. Bradner | $4,682 | $284 | -93.9% |
| Robert P. Jones | $1,178 | $253 | -78.5% |
| Palmer Dwight Ruark | $1,450 | $249 | -82.8% |
| Ervin Howard | $1,056 | $242 | -77.1% |
| Shirley Henderson | $902 | $242 | -73.2% |
| Raymond R. Gilliam | $1,001 | $232 | -76.8% |
| Tyler Riffe | $1,067 | $231 | -78.4% |
| Donna F. Moore | $594 | $228 | -61.6% |
| Donald Cooper | $814 | $228 | -72% |
| Mike Thomas | $913 | $225 | -75.4% |
| Angela Gail Abrams | $1,089 | $218 | -80% |
| Janet Cooper | $726 | $214 | -70.5% |
| Kendall Kegley | $836 | $186 | -77.8% |
| John Jordan | $671 | $166 | -75.3% |
| Lewis C. Brewer | $3,214 | $154 | -95.2% |
| Cary Applegate | $1,777 | $140 | -92.1% |
| Ryan C. Guilfoyle | $913 | $138 | -84.9% |
| Billy F. Stamm | $693 | $138 | -80.1% |
| Danny Enix | $506 | $129 | -74.5% |
| Shanna Bolander | $517 | $124 | -76% |
| Chester S. Taylor | $605 | $121 | -80% |
| Greg Erwin | $528 | $120 | -77.3% |
| Harold Stapleton | $198 | $120 | -39.4% |
| Jeremy Montieth | $366 | $107 | -70.8% |
| Farreah Greiner | $0 | $91 | -- |
| Greg McKee | $573 | $86 | -85% |
| Mark Erwin | $308 | $83 | -73.1% |
| Jeff A. Richmond | $1,349 | $63 | -95.3% |
| Paul Bruce Swearingen | $792 | $63 | -92% |
| Brenda Lykins | $0 | $58 | -- |
| Donna Rebecca Lock | $0 | $39 | -- |
| Bill E. Gayheart | $495 | $0 | -100% |
| Cassie Coronado | $1,045 | $0 | -100% |
| Clarence Hall | $495 | $0 | -100% |
| Joseph Dale Bentley | $660 | $0 | -100% |
| Ray Ervin | $1,430 | $0 | -100% |
| Bradley K. Kegley II | $642 | $0 | -100% |
| Cary Applegate Jr. | $172 | $0 | -100% |
| Corey Porter | $826 | $0 | -100% |
| Darrion Clemons | $11,616 | $0 | -100% |
| Everett E. Tully | $1,045 | $0 | -100% |
| Freddy Rayburn | $1,485 | $0 | -100% |
| Gary Curtis | $97 | $0 | -100% |
| James W. Esham | $196 | $0 | -100% |
| Jeff Cunningham | $143 | $0 | -100% |
| Jenny Applegate | $3 | $0 | -100% |
| Jerry L. Love | $550 | $0 | -100% |
| Johnnie McCann | $330 | $0 | -100% |
| Lillian Rose | $64 | $0 | -100% |
| Linda S. Kennedy | $97 | $0 | -100% |
| Mike Cooper | $400 | $0 | -100% |
| Rhonda Laney | $660 | $0 | -100% |
| Robert Heddleston Jr. | $140 | $0 | -100% |
| Shirley Porter | $1,806 | $0 | -100% |
| Tom Cox | $206 | $0 | -100% |
| William C. Clark | $660 | $0 | -100% |
| Total subsidies | $663,050 | $382,306 | -42.3% |
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