Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock
In 2021, 123 farmers in cities within Bent County received a total of $2.7 million in 301 farm subsidies, a 36.9% decrease compared to 2020, when the total was $4.4 million in 428 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ridley Farms and Ranches LP | $479,821 | $298,853 | -37.7% |
| Mike Alvin Spady | $212,721 | $189,756 | -10.8% |
| Matthew F. Wilson | $245,614 | $186,654 | -24% |
| RCR Farms, LLC | $11,697 | $132,220 | 1,030.4% |
| Mark Wilson | $136,004 | $108,828 | -20% |
| Stace Davis | $42,276 | $100,976 | 138.8% |
| Karney Land & Cattle, Inc. | $237,493 | $97,023 | -59.1% |
| Jack Sniff Ranch, Inc. | $162,804 | $90,587 | -44.4% |
| Verhoeff Farms, Inc. | $64,288 | $81,063 | 26.1% |
| Miller Farms, Inc. | $45,363 | $79,591 | 75.5% |
| Netherton, Inc. | $118,233 | $75,846 | -35.9% |
| Davidson Ranch LLLP, Ltd. | $277,673 | $70,286 | -74.7% |
| Dustin A. Wallace | $53,583 | $63,103 | 17.8% |
| Max G. Wilson | $57,760 | $57,390 | -0.6% |
| Larry L. Gardner | $24,729 | $54,886 | 121.9% |
| Daniel G Direzza | $175,742 | $53,666 | -69.5% |
| James Japhet | $70,289 | $49,132 | -30.1% |
| Brown Brothers, Inc. | $84,189 | $48,918 | -41.9% |
| Findley Land and Cattle, Inc. | $47,768 | $48,381 | 1.3% |
| Thomas L. Wallace | $72,542 | $45,699 | -37% |
| Brett Mark Wilson | $72,997 | $45,697 | -37.4% |
| Mr Jeffrey Peaceful Valley Living Trust a Smith | $92,882 | $44,840 | -51.7% |
| Rebecca L. Six | $0 | $41,438 | -- |
| John Nathan Ebright | $55,405 | $35,136 | -36.6% |
| LL Apiaries, LLC | $3,882 | $34,567 | 790.4% |
| Cross Seven Ranch, LLP | $57,304 | $34,160 | -40.4% |
| Loyal and Ilene Stephens Revocable Trust | $60,124 | $33,700 | -43.9% |
| Rex Reyher | $40,402 | $31,280 | -22.6% |
| Faye E. Oberlander | $49,996 | $30,477 | -39% |
| Kerry Siefkas | $28,504 | $25,723 | -9.8% |
| James Lockhart | $23,556 | $25,684 | 9% |
| Larry Mitchell | $42,192 | $24,192 | -42.7% |
| Patrick Karney | $21,445 | $19,311 | -10% |
| Joseph F. Hawkins | $24,736 | $17,601 | -28.8% |
| Kris Hasser | $47,081 | $16,838 | -64.2% |
| Turner Cattle Company | $45,889 | $16,774 | -63.4% |
| Kevin Miller | $6,981 | $16,614 | 138% |
| Gary Hall II | $21,848 | $16,603 | -24% |
| Anthony Greenbank | $43,797 | $14,976 | -65.8% |
| David E. Morgan | $24,913 | $14,390 | -42.2% |
| Garrett Godfrey | $30,151 | $12,249 | -59.4% |
| Centennial Apiaries, LLC | $8,075 | $11,971 | 48.2% |
| Dale Jagger | $11,986 | $11,871 | -1% |
| Gary Hall | $14,446 | $10,612 | -26.5% |
| Dean L & C, Inc. | $16,417 | $9,736 | -40.7% |
| Teresa K Ratzlaff-Medina | $9,393 | $9,393 | 0% |
| Jack K. Miller | $11,498 | $9,249 | -19.6% |
| Renee Paulette McFarlane | $16,499 | $9,207 | -44.2% |
| Tamara R. Smith | $12,301 | $9,083 | -26.2% |
| Vern Faus | $9,114 | $8,962 | -1.7% |
| Kim Alan Siefkas | $21,815 | $8,814 | -59.6% |
| Yolanda C. Wilson | $16,567 | $8,402 | -49.3% |
| Loyde P Gardner Trust B | $14,070 | $7,526 | -46.5% |
| Frank Wallace | $13,376 | $7,183 | -46.3% |
| Mark A. Thatcher | $10,327 | $6,920 | -33% |
| Triple T Cattle, LLC | $58,879 | $6,912 | -88.3% |
| Lynn Sniff | $25,146 | $6,680 | -73.4% |
| Joe R. Blundell | $52,387 | $6,385 | -87.8% |
| Cross D Bar Ranch, LLC | $8,947 | $5,931 | -33.7% |
| Erin Karney | $14,292 | $5,724 | -59.9% |
| Bo Karney | $13,016 | $5,447 | -58.2% |
| Sarah Wilson | $8,965 | $5,139 | -42.7% |
| Wallace Ranch, LLC | $7,053 | $4,520 | -35.9% |
| Stephanie Ebright | $19,461 | $4,501 | -76.9% |
| Cody Wilson | $56,940 | $4,122 | -92.8% |
| Bernard L. Ricken | $1,947 | $4,117 | 111.5% |
| Ryan Siefkas | $5,034 | $4,049 | -19.6% |
| William E. Spitz | $22,614 | $4,025 | -82.2% |
| Brian Elder | $127,652 | $3,568 | -97.2% |
| Linda S. Spady | $31,729 | $3,302 | -89.6% |
| Caroline Morlan | $6,787 | $3,186 | -53.1% |
| Donald Koenig | $3,945 | $3,007 | -23.8% |
| Frederick Ratzlaff | $7,318 | $2,804 | -61.7% |
| Dawn C. Orr | $7,088 | $2,664 | -62.4% |
| Schmeiser Farm | $4,047 | $2,569 | -36.5% |
| Connie R. Ede | $4,198 | $2,443 | -41.8% |
| JSR Farm, Inc. | $7,749 | $2,246 | -71% |
| Whitney Wilson | $3,580 | $2,133 | -40.4% |
| Thomas L Japhet Family Legacy Trust | $2,760 | $2,054 | -25.6% |
| Clayton K. Miller | $7,302 | $2,046 | -72% |
| Eva Phillips | $5,908 | $2,038 | -65.5% |
| Jason Hasser | $13,232 | $1,987 | -85% |
| Rodney J. Coulter | $10,465 | $1,880 | -82% |
| Janet Leann Castelano | $3,169 | $1,868 | -41.1% |
| James D. Martin | $9,550 | $1,825 | -80.9% |
| Frank Jones | $3,725 | $1,769 | -52.5% |
| Margaret E. Lestina | $1,697 | $1,696 | -0.1% |
| Lola Baublits | $1,659 | $1,659 | 0% |
| Darren Ridley | $9,951 | $1,629 | -83.6% |
| Glen A. Brown | $0 | $1,622 | -- |
| Fred A. Darnell | $2,475 | $1,387 | -44% |
| Troy T. Stephens | $1,319 | $1,211 | -8.2% |
| David Gardner | $2,798 | $1,073 | -61.7% |
| Charles T. Pointon | $3,903 | $1,069 | -72.6% |
| Walter G. Bland | $10,872 | $1,060 | -90.3% |
| Bryan L. Simmons | $8,753 | $1,001 | -88.6% |
| David J. Miller | $0 | $903 | -- |
| Raymond Fritz | $1,246 | $861 | -30.9% |
| Michael McFarlane | $2,689 | $858 | -68.1% |
| Brent J. Pierce | $3,872 | $832 | -78.5% |
| Davis Ranch, LLC | $0 | $824 | -- |
| Brock Sniff | $4,968 | $793 | -84% |
| Kathryn Brown | $2,912 | $768 | -73.6% |
| Lori A. Elam | $2,233 | $457 | -79.5% |
| Ronald Jay Cook | $2,211 | $454 | -79.5% |
| Jacob Martin Smith | $3,949 | $442 | -88.8% |
| Jasper Ross Hoffman | $4,442 | $436 | -90.2% |
| Patrick L. Greenbank | $1,932 | $418 | -78.4% |
| James L. Wright | $2,250 | $376 | -83.3% |
| Jack Goble | $1,870 | $374 | -80% |
| Clay Davis | $1,815 | $364 | -79.9% |
| Joshua Japhet | $1,727 | $357 | -79.3% |
| Brandon Martin | $1,815 | $335 | -81.5% |
| Ronald Hoffman | $0 | $299 | -- |
| Judy Thomeczek | $0 | $267 | -- |
| Karen DE Maio-Hays | $1,078 | $206 | -80.9% |
| Troy M. Ramsey | $254 | $180 | -29.1% |
| Douglas C. Banister | $506 | $167 | -67% |
| Brye Martin | $773 | $125 | -83.8% |
| Mitch D. Garcia | $70 | $93 | 32.9% |
| Mary Anne Gallegos | $540 | $51 | -90.6% |
| Daylon Allen Elder | $5,322 | $28 | -99.5% |
| Robin Karney | $20,747 | $15 | -99.9% |
| Bob Denton | $15,182 | $0 | -100% |
| Charity Larhey Markus | $1,045 | $0 | -100% |
| Dennis Netherton | $3,307 | $0 | -100% |
| Guy F. Wagner | $737 | $0 | -100% |
| GW Cattle, Inc. | $1,045 | $0 | -100% |
| James Erle Miller | $1,650 | $0 | -100% |
| Larry R. Anderson | $3,383 | $0 | -100% |
| Marian Wilson | $10,230 | $0 | -100% |
| Michele Tafoya | $1,265 | $0 | -100% |
| Norma L. Price | $118 | $0 | -100% |
| Rockin JR, LLC | $49,776 | $0 | -100% |
| Walter Garcia | $3,433 | $0 | -100% |
| William J. Elder | $556 | $0 | -100% |
| Total subsidies | $4,359,818 | $2,749,668 | -36.9% |
Alerts Sign-up