SW Kansas News

Farms throughout cities in Stanton County received $1.1 million less in subsidies in 2021 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture compared to the year before.

In 2021, 54 farmers in cities within Stanton County received a total of $1.4 million in 134 farm subsidies, a 43.4% decrease compared to 2020, when the total was $2.5 million in 202 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
Sipes Land & Cattle, Inc.	$304,448	$267,793	-12%
Lime Creek Four	$234,123	$114,643	-51%
ABC Farms, Inc.	$323,952	$106,020	-67.3%
Chesna Hume	$96,264	$65,782	-31.7%
Bryce Wilkerson	$142,982	$58,342	-59.2%
Larry J. Bitner	$91,473	$56,285	-38.5%
Chris Steimel	$102,559	$55,025	-46.3%
Ronald L. Sipes	$94,866	$54,984	-42%
Beau Wilkerson	$109,774	$51,228	-53.3%
Robert Z. Hume	$69,550	$49,142	-29.3%
Dennis D. Stewart	$69,784	$43,898	-37.1%
Terry L. Batterton	$63,072	$37,243	-41%
Jerry Bonham	$68,736	$36,037	-47.6%
Sarah Hume B. Nutter	$38,614	$30,844	-20.1%
Daniel Z. Hume	$46,335	$30,679	-33.8%
Lyndell D. Herron	$69,786	$27,899	-60%
Ruth Loader	$29,994	$27,171	-9.4%
James Sipes	$47,029	$27,081	-42.4%
Robert Figgins Living Trust	$44,801	$25,518	-43%
Triple H Enterprises, Inc.	$71,766	$23,191	-67.7%
Sand Arroyo Ranch, Inc.	$8,200	$22,693	176.7%
Kenneth Graham-Kenneth L Graham Rev Trust L Graham	$26,758	$21,538	-19.5%
Jack Burrows	$0	$20,700	--
Beauford W. Wilkerson	$18,804	$18,804	0%
Matthew D. Hume	$20,752	$18,750	-9.6%
Donald Frownfelter - Donald L Frownfelter Liv Trust	$74,789	$18,732	-75%
Catherine Ann Griffith Mckinley Rev Trust	$0	$17,948	--
Lynn Batterton Trust	$33,756	$12,863	-61.9%
Edna Mae Herron Trust	$26,862	$12,494	-53.5%
LMS Farms	$41,534	$11,104	-73.3%
Laura K. Hume	$9,675	$9,375	-3.1%
Betty Bitner	$10,785	$8,814	-18.3%
Big Bear Ranch, Inc.	$23,749	$8,677	-63.5%
Lonnie J. Walker	$10,760	$7,405	-31.2%
Lewis Michael Toole	$13,221	$5,954	-55%
Linda D. Steimel	$4,571	$4,172	-8.7%
Sipes Seed	$7,356	$4,010	-45.5%
Tammy R. Loader	$6,334	$3,929	-38%
Charles P Herron Trust	$8,958	$3,228	-64%
Deborah K. Walker	$10,572	$2,411	-77.2%
Dana England E. Herron	$2,838	$2,347	-17.3%
RLH Corporation	$6,241	$2,326	-62.7%
E & B Farms	$3,115	$1,761	-43.5%
Dean Bearce	$4,337	$1,658	-61.8%
Lewis M Elder Trust No 1	$1,240	$1,240	0%
L & C Cogburn Farms	$2,050	$822	-59.9%
Joshua B. Allen	$4,923	$714	-85.5%
David J. Allen	$1,183	$579	-51.1%
Joshua Martin	$1,187	$412	-65.3%
Kyle E. Christiansen	$0	$329	--
Troy Brickman	$791	$285	-64%
Ronald Toole	$533	$261	-51%
Judy K O'Bryan Trustee Share Uad 05/08/2002	$475	$214	-54.9%
Caleb Carter Sipes	$0	$202	--
Catherine Ann Griffith R. McKinley	$29,725	$0	-100%
Total subsidies	$2,535,982	$1,435,556	-43.4%