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In 2021, 110 farmers in cities within Estill County received a total of $122,701 in 131 farm subsidies, a 78.4% decrease compared to 2020, when the total was $567,967 in 361 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jason S. Smith | $19,002 | $8,900 | -53.2% |
| Jason French | $52,220 | $8,480 | -83.8% |
| Steven Young | $0 | $6,142 | -- |
| David Baker | $0 | $5,980 | -- |
| Barry J. Williams | $13,319 | $5,419 | -59.3% |
| Fred Brown II | $16,232 | $4,134 | -74.5% |
| L. W. Beckley II | $15,342 | $3,546 | -76.9% |
| Otis W. Freeman | $17,126 | $3,040 | -82.2% |
| Tony A. Durbin | $9,169 | $2,974 | -67.6% |
| Gary Freeman | $11,425 | $2,506 | -78.1% |
| Jason E. Crowe | $11,118 | $2,092 | -81.2% |
| Barry L. Williams | $5,267 | $2,078 | -60.5% |
| James M. York | $2,210 | $1,995 | -9.7% |
| Roger L. Carter | $2,804 | $1,978 | -29.5% |
| Michael Tuttle | $7,918 | $1,908 | -75.9% |
| Park a Tevis | $10,135 | $1,862 | -81.6% |
| Gregory L. Hamm | $5,357 | $1,800 | -66.4% |
| Singer Cattle Company, LLC | $37,034 | $1,736 | -95.3% |
| Floyd Newton Jr. | $7,615 | $1,678 | -78% |
| Steven Harrison | $6,979 | $1,664 | -76.2% |
| Sue Beckley | $5,173 | $1,572 | -69.6% |
| Charlie Park | $7,972 | $1,532 | -80.8% |
| Larry Cox | $7,278 | $1,530 | -79% |
| Daniel A. Muchow | $8,738 | $1,394 | -84% |
| Jerry Kelley | $3,897 | $1,377 | -64.7% |
| Wayne Stevenson | $2,937 | $1,354 | -53.9% |
| Daniel Callahan | $6,216 | $1,290 | -79.2% |
| Kristen L. Kirkland | $3,971 | $1,251 | -68.5% |
| Jamie Hamm | $2,668 | $1,219 | -54.3% |
| T & T Cattle Company, LLC | $9,617 | $1,216 | -87.4% |
| David Newton | $5,424 | $1,197 | -77.9% |
| Thomas F. Barnes | $5,291 | $1,187 | -77.6% |
| Ezra Wilson Brandenburg | $4,279 | $1,176 | -72.5% |
| Dwight Earl Richardson | $5,824 | $1,156 | -80.2% |
| Billy Eugene Walters | $4,455 | $1,110 | -75.1% |
| Philip G. Newton | $2,046 | $1,064 | -48% |
| Paul H. King | $5,159 | $1,057 | -79.5% |
| Lloyd W. Beckley | $4,438 | $1,025 | -76.9% |
| Della R. Newton | $1,939 | $969 | -50% |
| Vaulty R Tyree | $5,617 | $913 | -83.7% |
| David Jenkins | $7,066 | $887 | -87.4% |
| Robert J. Freeman | $4,758 | $876 | -81.6% |
| Joel Stevenson | $3,240 | $856 | -73.6% |
| Darrell W. Johnson | $2,420 | $847 | -65% |
| Raymond Tipton | $2,695 | $845 | -68.6% |
| Wilson G. Plowman | $5,130 | $813 | -84.2% |
| Claude D. Rose | $5,100 | $803 | -84.3% |
| Ben Rose | $600 | $799 | 33.2% |
| Roy Dixon Jr. | $3,972 | $737 | -81.4% |
| Pitch Fork Hay & Grain, LLC | $11,573 | $684 | -94.1% |
| Danny Click | $7,224 | $664 | -90.8% |
| Roger D. Thomas | $4,372 | $658 | -84.9% |
| Austin Rogers | $5,915 | $642 | -89.1% |
| Stuart Martin | $2,596 | $630 | -75.7% |
| Donnie Arvin | $2,702 | $602 | -77.7% |
| Ralph Townsend | $4,985 | $599 | -88% |
| Bradley A. Hall | $2,055 | $590 | -71.3% |
| Greg Arvin | $1,859 | $578 | -68.9% |
| Kimberly A. Hall | $4,030 | $571 | -85.8% |
| Jerry L. Dixon | $2,596 | $550 | -78.8% |
| Mark L. Rose | $2,112 | $544 | -74.2% |
| Kenneth D. Edwards | $2,362 | $532 | -77.5% |
| James D. Johnson Sr. | $2,827 | $507 | -82.1% |
| Marcus Thacker Jr. | $1,493 | $506 | -66.1% |
| Jonathan W. Webb | $6,090 | $489 | -92% |
| Daniel E. Bourne Jr. | $4,426 | $480 | -89.2% |
| Sandra D. Hall | $2,219 | $466 | -79% |
| John W. Ballard | $1,793 | $445 | -75.2% |
| Melvin Alcorn | $2,532 | $438 | -82.7% |
| L. D. Harrison | $1,353 | $432 | -68.1% |
| Robin L. Bicknell | $1,961 | $416 | -78.8% |
| Jeffery Hensley | $3,208 | $402 | -87.5% |
| Wendell Brandenburg | $1,309 | $401 | -69.4% |
| Robert W. Puckett | $1,963 | $394 | -79.9% |
| Mike Kerby | $1,859 | $380 | -79.6% |
| Douglas Dennis | $2,233 | $371 | -83.4% |
| Jacob Rose | $1,868 | $371 | -80.1% |
| Sue Bunch | $1,958 | $371 | -81.1% |
| David L. Burns | $993 | $332 | -66.6% |
| Bobby Tipton | $4,301 | $329 | -92.4% |
| William L. Rogers | $2,091 | $326 | -84.4% |
| Jeremy Shane Galloway | $1,897 | $308 | -83.8% |
| Mark T. Puckett | $1,258 | $298 | -76.3% |
| Charles Noble | $759 | $294 | -61.3% |
| Larry Sparks | $792 | $291 | -63.3% |
| Kendall Ray Rogers | $1,056 | $285 | -73% |
| Billy Ormes Jr. | $1,657 | $273 | -83.5% |
| Jonathan T. Fore | $4,214 | $242 | -94.3% |
| Tony Darin Flynn | $1,111 | $238 | -78.6% |
| Joseph D. Rose | $1,408 | $235 | -83.3% |
| Scotty Winkler Estate | $1,477 | $228 | -84.6% |
| Tracy J. Glasson | $1,986 | $228 | -88.5% |
| Patricia Tipton | $880 | $224 | -74.5% |
| Charles Stanley Harrison | $429 | $214 | -50.1% |
| Jack Stickney | $17,669 | $196 | -98.9% |
| Leonard Harris | $1,194 | $173 | -85.5% |
| Matthew Kirby | $484 | $171 | -64.7% |
| John Stuart Arvin | $1,142 | $156 | -86.3% |
| Derrick L. Hamm | $821 | $146 | -82.2% |
| Thomas H. Hart | $1,056 | $140 | -86.7% |
| David Worrell | $815 | $131 | -83.9% |
| Gary Marshall | $396 | $121 | -69.4% |
| Lonnie Lee Clem | $605 | $121 | -80% |
| Ronnie G. Abney Jr. | $845 | $97 | -88.5% |
| Billy Don McKinney | $1,679 | $76 | -95.5% |
| Marvin G. Hunt | $380 | $66 | -82.6% |
| Seth Farris | $792 | $63 | -92% |
| Daisy Tuttle | $746 | $17 | -97.7% |
| Mildred Cox | $109 | $4 | -96.3% |
| Marie Dixon | $71 | $1 | -98.6% |
| Anthony Newton | $179 | $0 | -100% |
| Bertha Lynn McCreary | $2,754 | $0 | -100% |
| Bonnie Robinson | $24 | $0 | -100% |
| Brenda M. Puckett | $135 | $0 | -100% |
| Christine Newton | $386 | $0 | -100% |
| Clifton E. Baker | $688 | $0 | -100% |
| Cynthia Callahan | $441 | $0 | -100% |
| Dallas Townsend | $4 | $0 | -100% |
| Donald Rose | $451 | $0 | -100% |
| Douglas L. Kirby | $422 | $0 | -100% |
| E. B. Samples | $85 | $0 | -100% |
| Frank Bryan Thompson III | $306 | $0 | -100% |
| Garrett E. Ballard | $95 | $0 | -100% |
| Gene A. Bunch Jr. | $966 | $0 | -100% |
| Glenn R. Wise | $111 | $0 | -100% |
| Glynn Brandenburg | $2,090 | $0 | -100% |
| James B. Noland | $5,509 | $0 | -100% |
| James M. Bicknell | $83 | $0 | -100% |
| Jason Wade French | $2,864 | $0 | -100% |
| Jesse G. Bogie | $241 | $0 | -100% |
| Jimmy R. Hardy | $220 | $0 | -100% |
| John D. Arvin | $1,052 | $0 | -100% |
| Jon Kirby | $829 | $0 | -100% |
| Joyce Thomas | $18 | $0 | -100% |
| Keith Purdue | $143 | $0 | -100% |
| Larry Riddell | $175 | $0 | -100% |
| Leon Clark | $233 | $0 | -100% |
| Margaret A. Pitts | $177 | $0 | -100% |
| Mark Knopp | $393 | $0 | -100% |
| Pamela H. Woolery | $66 | $0 | -100% |
| Patricia Ball | $59 | $0 | -100% |
| Randy Lainhart | $805 | $0 | -100% |
| Rhonda Lisle | $411 | $0 | -100% |
| Rice Brothers | $167 | $0 | -100% |
| Ricky Brandenburg | $2,035 | $0 | -100% |
| Ronnie G. Abney | $3,162 | $0 | -100% |
| Roy G. Arvin | $2,110 | $0 | -100% |
| Scotty Murphy | $44 | $0 | -100% |
| Shirley D. Clevenger | $51 | $0 | -100% |
| Steve Abney | $168 | $0 | -100% |
| Steve Northern | $146 | $0 | -100% |
| Steven Baber | $156 | $0 | -100% |
| Susan K. Hardy | $192 | $0 | -100% |
| Tammy Townsend | $292 | $0 | -100% |
| Wanda Horn | $55 | $0 | -100% |
| Frederick Clay Ginter | $168 | $0 | -100% |
| Jo Ann McIntosh | $28 | $0 | -100% |
| Total subsidies | $567,967 | $122,701 | -78.4% |
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