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In 2021, 135 farmers in cities within Rutherford County received a total of $473,784 in 169 farm subsidies, a 33.1% decrease compared to 2020, when the total was $708,274 in 346 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thompson Timber Enterprises, Inc. | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| D&M Logging | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| MN Logging, LLC | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Southern States Timber, Inc. | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| McCurry Brothers | $0 | $44,277 | -- |
| Conner & Sons Logging | $0 | $21,951 | -- |
| Chadwick Devin McCurry | $0 | $18,219 | -- |
| Bruce R. Caldwell | $26,741 | $12,567 | -53% |
| Russell Parker | $9,499 | $9,472 | -0.3% |
| Tommy McCurry | $15,618 | $9,031 | -42.2% |
| Danny Hix Toney | $13,321 | $8,915 | -33.1% |
| Stuart Beam | $9,933 | $7,164 | -27.9% |
| Joseph Reese McNeill | $6,647 | $6,647 | 0% |
| Jerry E. Cordell | $13,112 | $3,800 | -71% |
| Jeffrey Howard Wells | $19,020 | $3,672 | -80.7% |
| Max E. Burgin | $32,966 | $3,663 | -88.9% |
| Larry T. Bailey | $11,686 | $3,629 | -68.9% |
| Donald Harold Murray Jr. | $7,660 | $3,567 | -53.4% |
| Norman H. McDaniel | $9,731 | $3,530 | -63.7% |
| Darrel Lynn Conley | $26,026 | $3,415 | -86.9% |
| Sherry P. Lawson | $10,137 | $3,177 | -68.7% |
| Jeff H. Lawson | $7,680 | $3,099 | -59.6% |
| Calton Dairy | $14,335 | $3,045 | -78.8% |
| Scott Boone | $12,355 | $2,572 | -79.2% |
| Krista Addington Jolley | $0 | $2,475 | -- |
| Richard D. Cole | $8,624 | $2,463 | -71.4% |
| Charles D. Stroud | $2,368 | $2,368 | 0% |
| William R. Wells | $3,093 | $2,333 | -24.6% |
| Kennith W. Grier | $2,254 | $2,254 | 0% |
| Jackie B. McEntyre | $7,294 | $2,206 | -69.8% |
| Sheldon Walker | $3,564 | $2,162 | -39.3% |
| Burch Farms, LLC | $5,859 | $1,953 | -66.7% |
| Samuel C. Bingham | $7,719 | $1,939 | -74.9% |
| Edwin B. Holland | $6,765 | $1,926 | -71.5% |
| Charles T. Bovender | $6,446 | $1,857 | -71.2% |
| Ted McGee | $15,167 | $1,803 | -88.1% |
| Leslie Diane Willis Melton | $0 | $1,727 | -- |
| Kenneth Appling | $5,134 | $1,720 | -66.5% |
| David F. Williams | $7,948 | $1,632 | -79.5% |
| John W. McFadden | $10,657 | $1,506 | -85.9% |
| Jerry Michael Smith | $11,642 | $1,486 | -87.2% |
| Jerry S. Boone III | $5,377 | $1,454 | -73% |
| Spencer Weeks | $4,898 | $1,380 | -71.8% |
| Carl Mccurry Edgerton II | $9,362 | $1,376 | -85.3% |
| Joanne Eaker | $2,916 | $1,342 | -54% |
| Jerry S. Hall | $3,399 | $1,336 | -60.7% |
| Stanley Derick Wilson | $6,503 | $1,307 | -79.9% |
| Theodore Allen Blaske | $3,523 | $1,285 | -63.5% |
| William J. Elliott Jr. | $2,640 | $1,237 | -53.1% |
| Nancy Littlejohn | $6,083 | $1,158 | -81% |
| Ronald Hawkins | $5,111 | $1,042 | -79.6% |
| Raymond Nelson McCurry | $4,400 | $1,032 | -76.5% |
| Olin W. Freeman | $4,125 | $1,015 | -75.4% |
| Linda S. Camper | $5,935 | $952 | -84% |
| Donald R. Simpson | $4,565 | $943 | -79.3% |
| Kitty S. McCammon | $3,691 | $907 | -75.4% |
| Alvin Ray Dedmon | $0 | $892 | -- |
| Tanner Thomas | $0 | $880 | -- |
| Glenn Wesley Reid | $3,446 | $870 | -74.8% |
| William B. Higgins | $3,516 | $867 | -75.3% |
| George W. Harrill | $2,395 | $833 | -65.2% |
| Iris Annette Head | $3,080 | $830 | -73.1% |
| Michael Lee Duncan | $3,256 | $813 | -75% |
| Jeff Belflower | $4,102 | $803 | -80.4% |
| Sonya M. Stott | $3,593 | $783 | -78.2% |
| Michael Lugo | $2,890 | $772 | -73.3% |
| James E. Bridges | $0 | $730 | -- |
| William Clinton Green | $3,025 | $724 | -76.1% |
| Johnny K. Bradley | $2,956 | $722 | -75.6% |
| Jack Lee | $2,024 | $705 | -65.2% |
| Andrew J. Moss | $4,211 | $702 | -83.3% |
| Russell Lane | $3,751 | $696 | -81.4% |
| Amy Galla | $168 | $692 | 311.9% |
| Joseph Rule | $168 | $692 | 311.9% |
| Mary H. Freeman | $3,016 | $671 | -77.8% |
| Dennis Patrick | $662 | $662 | 0% |
| Dennis Colin Goodrich | $2,728 | $654 | -76% |
| TJR, Ltd. | $3,941 | $640 | -83.8% |
| Jerry D. Hopper | $2,310 | $619 | -73.2% |
| Randy L. Calton | $582 | $582 | 0% |
| Patrice L. Mintz | $3,572 | $581 | -83.7% |
| Patsy B. Freeman | $9,924 | $570 | -94.3% |
| Aaron Bradley | $15,309 | $562 | -96.3% |
| Jody Jenkins | $4,890 | $542 | -88.9% |
| James Dobbins | $2,090 | $538 | -74.3% |
| Robert T. Dobbins | $1,551 | $536 | -65.4% |
| Gordon Scott Champion | $2,466 | $534 | -78.3% |
| Margaret J. Parker | $9,339 | $531 | -94.3% |
| Rebecca O. Guffey | $1,682 | $511 | -69.6% |
| Carroll L. Womack | $2,411 | $500 | -79.3% |
| Annie Mae Page | $1,245 | $485 | -61% |
| Neil Danner | $1,447 | $465 | -67.9% |
| Carroll T. Jones | $1,880 | $456 | -75.7% |
| Jeffrey B. Edwards | $3,146 | $450 | -85.7% |
| Phillip H. Godfrey | $2,013 | $442 | -78% |
| John A. Quinn | $2,984 | $440 | -85.3% |
| Marcus White | $1,903 | $422 | -77.8% |
| Gary Hill | $1,254 | $420 | -66.5% |
| Terry Self | $1,023 | $412 | -59.7% |
| Scott McKinney | $1,595 | $403 | -74.7% |
| Alison E. Mintz | $1,672 | $400 | -76.1% |
| Judy Brantley | $3,837 | $396 | -89.7% |
| Robert M. Pohlman | $1,243 | $392 | -68.5% |
| Kay Brooks | $2,204 | $380 | -82.8% |
| Douglas H. Nethaway | $1,452 | $346 | -76.2% |
| Bob L. Hunt | $2,681 | $328 | -87.8% |
| Preston Green | $3,304 | $328 | -90.1% |
| Donald F. Morrow | $792 | $322 | -59.3% |
| Glenn C. Shinn III | $587 | $289 | -50.8% |
| Robert H. Shuford | $2,538 | $280 | -89% |
| George Robbins | $1,232 | $276 | -77.6% |
| Billy D. Honeycutt | $1,353 | $276 | -79.6% |
| James W. Greene | $1,637 | $273 | -83.3% |
| Susan Jennifer West | $647 | $258 | -60.1% |
| Steven Morrow | $594 | $249 | -58.1% |
| Catherine R. Berry | $1,056 | $248 | -76.5% |
| Chivous O Bradley | $1,341 | $248 | -81.5% |
| Ron Simpson | $1,210 | $242 | -80% |
| Michael Joey Wright | $1,348 | $228 | -83.1% |
| Claude R. Wells Jr. | $712 | $220 | -69.1% |
| Adam Hensley | $808 | $190 | -76.5% |
| Charlie A. Jolley | $1,349 | $190 | -85.9% |
| Glenn W. Reid | $1,788 | $183 | -89.8% |
| Andrew W. Roberson | $462 | $180 | -61% |
| Evelyn Louise Lane | $781 | $166 | -78.7% |
| Daniel N. Camp | $2,409 | $155 | -93.6% |
| Betty L. Parker | $537 | $144 | -73.2% |
| Joan Harmon Blake | $228 | $107 | -53.1% |
| Megan Harshman | $352 | $69 | -80.4% |
| James Aaron Guillermo | $0 | $65 | -- |
| Craig Lawing | $209 | $60 | -71.3% |
| Shane E. Wilson | $57,135 | $60 | -99.9% |
| Thomas F. Helton | $238 | $56 | -76.5% |
| Tyler Reid | $576 | $34 | -94.1% |
| Darlene Lawson | $122 | $24 | -80.3% |
| Freda S. Jessen | $52 | $0 | -100% |
| James P. Davis | $17,628 | $0 | -100% |
| Hilda H. Whisnant | $292 | $0 | -100% |
| John W. Tedder Jr. | $2,860 | $0 | -100% |
| Reid Helton | $445 | $0 | -100% |
| Roger L. McSwain | $1,811 | $0 | -100% |
| Victor Wright | $1,540 | $0 | -100% |
| Alvin Ray Dedmon | $4,848 | $0 | -100% |
| Wade Eugene Flack | $2,640 | $0 | -100% |
| Kathleen M. Crocker | $17,799 | $0 | -100% |
| David Leroy Gowan | $918 | $0 | -100% |
| Jon Klimstra | $1,341 | $0 | -100% |
| Justin Scott Bailey | $1,256 | $0 | -100% |
| Margaret R. Burns | $2,873 | $0 | -100% |
| Rebecca G. Bradley | $2,464 | $0 | -100% |
| Total subsidies | $708,274 | $473,784 | -33.1% |
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