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In 2021, 149 farmers in cities within Pickens County received a total of $2.1 million in 181 farm subsidies, a 6.9% decrease compared to 2020, when the total was $2.2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas L. Orr | $4,096 | $314,706 | 7,583.3% |
| Donald B. Craft | $0 | $301,093 | -- |
| Derek F. McGahey | $594 | $136,648 | 22,904.7% |
| Dee Farm | $568,405 | $131,035 | -76.9% |
| Foxtrap Farms Partnership | $159,254 | $79,288 | -50.2% |
| John S. Pearson | $0 | $67,212 | -- |
| Circle S Farms, Inc. | $0 | $64,712 | -- |
| Rodney L. Hallman | $12,050 | $54,235 | 350.1% |
| Susan Grace | $0 | $53,615 | -- |
| Vail's Construction & Maintenance, Inc. | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| R Schultz Logging, Inc. | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Triple a Trucking | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Backwood Timber, Inc. | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Todd L. Wakefield | $153,942 | $51,929 | -66.3% |
| HI-Yield Logging, LLC | $0 | $51,296 | -- |
| Eric Smith | $111,278 | $50,995 | -54.2% |
| David Lane Wright | $0 | $46,981 | -- |
| Meadowview Ranch, Inc. | $183,862 | $38,741 | -78.9% |
| Soggy Bottom Farms, LLC | $0 | $30,855 | -- |
| Michael Wayne Blythe | $0 | $24,710 | -- |
| Chad I. Boese | $128,584 | $23,734 | -81.5% |
| Charles Grimsley | $19,773 | $19,773 | 0% |
| Gerald Todd Hall | $0 | $17,374 | -- |
| Tombigbee Conservation Lands, LLC | $17,599 | $15,826 | -10.1% |
| John P. Hagerman Jr. | $35,593 | $14,727 | -58.6% |
| Steve Skelton | $14,397 | $14,134 | -1.8% |
| van Boese | $51,952 | $14,125 | -72.8% |
| Erin F. Smith | $69,410 | $13,005 | -81.3% |
| Grady Hal White | $12,284 | $12,284 | 0% |
| James H. Gentry Jr. | $14,270 | $11,887 | -16.7% |
| Cow Creek Ranch, LLC | $51,016 | $11,879 | -76.7% |
| David B. Gentry | $13,358 | $10,990 | -17.7% |
| Independent Gin & Warehouse Company | $10,944 | $10,944 | 0% |
| Bubber Cameron & Sons, Inc. | $17,091 | $10,456 | -38.8% |
| Owens Summerville Family Partnership, LLC | $9,667 | $9,518 | -1.5% |
| D/B/A Koon Farms | $0 | $9,087 | -- |
| Jeff McClure | $11,377 | $8,347 | -26.6% |
| Jerry T. Fitch | $33,240 | $7,465 | -77.5% |
| Boyd W. Koon | $17,430 | $6,350 | -63.6% |
| Wayne Cooper | $6,225 | $6,225 | 0% |
| Cedar Ridge Ranch, LLC | $8,252 | $5,985 | -27.5% |
| Donald M. Sanders | $32,841 | $5,883 | -82.1% |
| R & S Farms, LLC | $14,875 | $5,401 | -63.7% |
| Boese Land Management, LLC | $3,245 | $4,731 | 45.8% |
| Gary Witten | $12,937 | $4,180 | -67.7% |
| Kenneth H. Owens Jr. | $4,950 | $3,697 | -25.3% |
| Michael Jolly | $11,038 | $3,515 | -68.2% |
| Richard G. Howell | $12,568 | $3,340 | -73.4% |
| Timmy C. Gates | $18,917 | $3,334 | -82.4% |
| Ralph A. Junkin Jr. | $12,579 | $3,118 | -75.2% |
| Mark McDaniel | $12,474 | $3,072 | -75.4% |
| Elizabeth F. Pate | $3,550 | $2,998 | -15.5% |
| Jordan R. McCrackin | $13,085 | $2,951 | -77.4% |
| Keith Dyer | $9,145 | $2,810 | -69.3% |
| Donald Sherrod | $12,320 | $2,704 | -78.1% |
| Flatwood Farm, LLC | $13,094 | $2,620 | -80% |
| Gail B. Griffin | $2,505 | $2,505 | 0% |
| Brian Lewis | $4,851 | $2,492 | -48.6% |
| Hilary W. Russell | $13,490 | $2,383 | -82.3% |
| Arnold D. Lewis | $2,374 | $2,374 | 0% |
| Travis Bailey | $3,927 | $1,986 | -49.4% |
| Timothy O. Shirley | $6,787 | $1,797 | -73.5% |
| James T. Kelley | $11,202 | $1,782 | -84.1% |
| John Earl Lancaster | $5,984 | $1,777 | -70.3% |
| Bertis Mayo Schultz JR | $7,333 | $1,760 | -76% |
| James P. Henders Jr. | $4,156 | $1,731 | -58.3% |
| Freddie Ammons | $5,928 | $1,469 | -75.2% |
| Herbert Duke Henders | $1,442 | $1,442 | 0% |
| Scarlett S. Parker | $2,182 | $1,401 | -35.8% |
| Randy C. Peeks | $10,904 | $1,386 | -87.3% |
| Pauline Hall | $1,350 | $1,350 | 0% |
| Timothy S. Brown | $4,851 | $1,344 | -72.3% |
| Paul T. Faulkner | $3,682 | $1,330 | -63.9% |
| Earlie L. Little | $4,180 | $1,320 | -68.4% |
| Michael A. Wilkins | $4,070 | $1,163 | -71.4% |
| John Mark Randall | $6,218 | $1,162 | -81.3% |
| James E. Tilley | $3,685 | $1,156 | -68.6% |
| Angie N. McDaniel | $7,263 | $1,130 | -84.4% |
| Billy R. Taylor | $7,077 | $1,109 | -84.3% |
| Snow Swedenburg | $4,400 | $1,090 | -75.2% |
| Leroy Bryant | $4,631 | $1,075 | -76.8% |
| Johnny Crimm | $4,810 | $1,021 | -78.8% |
| Patti Presley Fuller | $6,619 | $1,021 | -84.6% |
| Frankie Sherrod | $5,719 | $1,000 | -82.5% |
| JBL Alabama Properties, LLC | $1,413 | $990 | -29.9% |
| Edward J. Shepherd | $3,810 | $974 | -74.4% |
| Waymon E. Tilley | $4,922 | $971 | -80.3% |
| Allen W. McDaniel Jr. | $3,982 | $942 | -76.3% |
| Charles Lloyd Shirley | $10,372 | $940 | -90.9% |
| Ben Ezelle | $3,905 | $931 | -76.2% |
| Dennis E. Gilliam | $3,429 | $924 | -73.1% |
| Charles W. Bell Jr. | $4,419 | $914 | -79.3% |
| Kenneth J. Stephens Sr. | $3,234 | $914 | -71.7% |
| Martha H. Lang | $0 | $906 | -- |
| Paul D. Campbell | $4,905 | $823 | -83.2% |
| Danny F. Smith | $777 | $777 | 0% |
| Bob Lewis Jr. | $2,662 | $741 | -72.2% |
| Wesley Gates | $1,914 | $724 | -62.2% |
| William J. Washington | $3,849 | $688 | -82.1% |
| James E. Godwin | $675 | $675 | 0% |
| Chinita a Hinton | $2,772 | $663 | -76.1% |
| Prairie Hill Farm, LLC | $2,124 | $637 | -70% |
| Samuel Turner | $1,463 | $626 | -57.2% |
| Robert Jackson Jr. | $3,728 | $625 | -83.2% |
| Charles Ellis | $1,524 | $598 | -60.8% |
| Terry E. Patrick | $2,464 | $594 | -75.9% |
| Joe R. Sanders | $3,227 | $536 | -83.4% |
| Johnny C. Hinton | $3,402 | $535 | -84.3% |
| Willie Gilleylen | $2,701 | $518 | -80.8% |
| Sammie Hinton | $1,540 | $518 | -66.4% |
| Larry H. Gibson Jr. | $481 | $481 | 0% |
| Roger Minton | $470 | $470 | 0% |
| Joseph A. Lee Jr. | $3,463 | $460 | -86.7% |
| Vessie L Hinton | $1,958 | $453 | -76.9% |
| Sara A. Peebles | $3,209 | $447 | -86.1% |
| Jacob Tilley | $2,248 | $435 | -80.6% |
| Henry McMullen Jr. | $825 | $431 | -47.8% |
| Terrence T. Williams | $3,006 | $431 | -85.7% |
| James Bostick Dyer | $2,603 | $416 | -84% |
| Tommy Dwayne Jones | $2,651 | $398 | -85% |
| Jerry Chad Lowe | $2,582 | $398 | -84.6% |
| Dennis R. Sanford | $1,961 | $395 | -79.9% |
| Jeanette Lewis | $1,375 | $380 | -72.4% |
| Willie Hinton Jr. | $2,981 | $374 | -87.5% |
| Margaret W. Bryant | $1,130 | $349 | -69.1% |
| Hubert Lark | $1,177 | $346 | -70.6% |
| Tony Junkin | $660 | $345 | -47.7% |
| Demontez R Hinton | $902 | $332 | -63.2% |
| Glenn C. Lee | $2,024 | $325 | -83.9% |
| Jerry C. Patterson | $4,456 | $322 | -92.8% |
| Gregory N. Tubbs | $561 | $293 | -47.8% |
| Kenneth Keat Dyer | $1,364 | $284 | -79.2% |
| Richard S. Jacobs Jr. | $1,485 | $256 | -82.8% |
| Jeffrey Seymer | $462 | $242 | -47.6% |
| David Keating | $1,005 | $226 | -77.5% |
| Rex Carmon Kirk | $438 | $214 | -51.1% |
| Rodney E. Noland | $1,001 | $207 | -79.3% |
| Monty Montgomery | $704 | $173 | -75.4% |
| Randall Scott Phillips | $1,411 | $172 | -87.8% |
| Jeffrey W. Bridges | $1,111 | $156 | -86% |
| Daniel K. Wilson | $1,302 | $155 | -88.1% |
| Henry Washington | $880 | $142 | -83.9% |
| Charles Wesley Fuller | $264 | $138 | -47.7% |
| James D. Doughty III | $5,664 | $138 | -97.6% |
| Ricky L. Jacobs | $731 | $114 | -84.4% |
| George W. Ballard | $231 | $83 | -64.1% |
| Barbara Lancaster | $205 | $83 | -59.5% |
| Clifton Chad Britt | $281 | $76 | -73% |
| John P. McGee | $307 | $27 | -91.2% |
| Jim L. Parker | $113 | $0 | -100% |
| John Earl Paluzzi | $488 | $0 | -100% |
| Corder Estate/John a Young JR | $1,201 | $0 | -100% |
| Luther F. Pippen | $3,219 | $0 | -100% |
| Thomas Ricky Williams | $503 | $0 | -100% |
| William H. Lang Jr. | $525 | $0 | -100% |
| Alton Pannell | $255 | $0 | -100% |
| Justin Abrams | $440 | $0 | -100% |
| Mccool Farms, Inc. | $21,929 | $0 | -100% |
| Ezell Sherrod | $3,300 | $0 | -100% |
| Total subsidies | $2,245,936 | $2,091,427 | -6.9% |
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