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In 2021, 148 farmers in cities within Telfair County received a total of $1.5 million in 214 farm subsidies, a 32% decrease compared to 2020, when the total was $2.2 million in 340 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ernest Selph Sr. | $129,049 | $250,632 | 94.2% |
| C & M Farms | $304,411 | $127,105 | -58.2% |
| TSL Farms, LLC | $108,277 | $103,631 | -4.3% |
| Marty D. Kinnett | $167,641 | $96,285 | -42.6% |
| Leslie C. Jones III | $129,343 | $57,869 | -55.3% |
| Dopson All Terrain Timber Company, Inc. | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Ocmulgee River Logging, LLC | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Hart Logging, LLC | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Kirk Cravey Trucking, LLC | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Walker Forest Resources, LLC | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Wesmat Trucking, LLC | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| James Lamont Graham | $0 | $34,628 | -- |
| Owen Frank Ray | $45,886 | $33,062 | -27.9% |
| Spires Farms, LLC | $63,818 | $28,680 | -55.1% |
| Garry Spires | $41,281 | $27,261 | -34% |
| T&M Farms and Sons | $138,849 | $25,878 | -81.4% |
| Norman Larry Varnadoe Jr. | $0 | $25,508 | -- |
| Shawn Lee Ray | $51,240 | $22,509 | -56.1% |
| Jeffrey Stapleton | $41,854 | $19,827 | -52.6% |
| Jerry Powell Farms, Inc. | $40,360 | $16,275 | -59.7% |
| Joe Cliff Fussell | $22,146 | $15,029 | -32.1% |
| Carey M. Knowles | $21,287 | $14,243 | -33.1% |
| John G. Davis Jr. | $36,694 | $14,200 | -61.3% |
| Brittany Lowe Patrick | $26,012 | $14,196 | -45.4% |
| Floyd Knowles Jr. | $27,630 | $13,451 | -51.3% |
| Terry Samuel Lewis | $87,058 | $10,844 | -87.5% |
| Charles J. Boone | $19,896 | $8,667 | -56.4% |
| Mark Stanley | $0 | $8,218 | -- |
| Calvin J. Underwood | $0 | $8,070 | -- |
| Charles R. Taylor | $17,023 | $7,768 | -54.4% |
| William C. Graham | $0 | $7,672 | -- |
| Marsha A. Wright | $7,733 | $7,306 | -5.5% |
| Tracy Lynn Fussell | $18,315 | $6,467 | -64.7% |
| Homer Jimmy Boone | $11,916 | $5,355 | -55.1% |
| Randy Brewer | $19,808 | $5,080 | -74.4% |
| Ernest Selph Jr. | $32,750 | $4,871 | -85.1% |
| Gregory T. Kinnett | $5,809 | $4,600 | -20.8% |
| Andrew Thomas Fussell | $29,321 | $4,496 | -84.7% |
| George T. Giddens | $7,701 | $4,325 | -43.8% |
| Tammy R. Selph | $4,670 | $4,297 | -8% |
| Andrew Marshall Cook | $5,599 | $4,265 | -23.8% |
| William H. Smith | $3,750 | $4,216 | 12.4% |
| G & B Melons, LLC | $85,873 | $4,123 | -95.2% |
| Roy C. Howard III | $37,924 | $4,020 | -89.4% |
| Carol Yawn Banks | $6,060 | $4,017 | -33.7% |
| Joe W. Padgett | $4,871 | $3,820 | -21.6% |
| James D. Cliett III | $15,029 | $3,632 | -75.8% |
| William David Cartwright | $12,849 | $3,550 | -72.4% |
| Welborne Thomas Fussell | $11,798 | $3,531 | -70.1% |
| Zan Joyce Yarbrough | $3,530 | $3,530 | 0% |
| Queen E. Lester | $6,085 | $3,383 | -44.4% |
| William Jason Powell | $5,316 | $3,347 | -37% |
| Michael Yeomans | $12,516 | $3,147 | -74.9% |
| Waylon Steve Spires | $10,439 | $2,985 | -71.4% |
| Zack Padgett | $18,780 | $2,722 | -85.5% |
| Allen Selph | $2,881 | $2,651 | -8% |
| Ira J. Spencer | $3,749 | $2,571 | -31.4% |
| Guy D. Bland | $3,755 | $2,402 | -36% |
| Alden Bowen | $3,012 | $2,376 | -21.1% |
| Murphy L. McRae | $0 | $2,234 | -- |
| Kerri Alesha Jones | $1,265 | $2,221 | 75.6% |
| Frank Foster | $14,844 | $2,089 | -85.9% |
| Ricky Swain | $2,202 | $2,081 | -5.5% |
| Barbara Steele | $2,032 | $2,032 | 0% |
| Ann Jones | $7,322 | $2,019 | -72.4% |
| James Chad Lovvorn | $1,959 | $1,959 | 0% |
| Bryan Oakley Selph | $6,044 | $1,958 | -67.6% |
| Charles Edward Brown Jr. | $9,427 | $1,939 | -79.4% |
| Wells Family, LLC | $2,424 | $1,909 | -21.2% |
| Joe Henry White | $1,697 | $1,900 | 12% |
| Danny C. Smith | $1,743 | $1,899 | 9% |
| Gerald Ellington | $1,818 | $1,818 | 0% |
| Donald L. Dunn | $1,834 | $1,686 | -8.1% |
| Joseph Mark Spires | $1,620 | $1,620 | 0% |
| Walter Terry Branyan | $3,016 | $1,577 | -47.7% |
| Jason Michael Smith | $0 | $1,508 | -- |
| Troy Giddens | $0 | $1,490 | -- |
| Adam J. Graham III | $5,524 | $1,469 | -73.4% |
| Beverly Brown Hughes Irrevocable Trust - Ralph David Brown T | $1,452 | $1,452 | 0% |
| Lowell Thomas Webster | $1,432 | $1,432 | 0% |
| William Gary Webster | $1,432 | $1,432 | 0% |
| David L. Yawn | $1,308 | $1,308 | 0% |
| Sharon H. Weeks | $3,433 | $1,293 | -62.3% |
| Marion L. Black | $1,268 | $1,268 | 0% |
| Anthony Stewart | $4,297 | $1,227 | -71.4% |
| Randy Michael Knowles | $1,264 | $1,162 | -8.1% |
| Ernest L. Padgett | $1,576 | $1,160 | -26.4% |
| Harry Mitchell | $2,236 | $1,156 | -48.3% |
| Jerry Ban | $4,928 | $1,139 | -76.9% |
| Xavier Hernandez | $6,121 | $1,110 | -81.9% |
| Donald A. Selph | $939 | $1,048 | 11.6% |
| Bonnie Stone Greene | $2,309 | $1,024 | -55.7% |
| William Ennis Hart | $4,975 | $983 | -80.2% |
| Wanda S. Smith | $3,213 | $965 | -70% |
| Bobby Gunn | $3,355 | $958 | -71.4% |
| George W. Cameron | $1,419 | $943 | -33.5% |
| Diane G. Kinnett | $2,287 | $923 | -59.6% |
| Jackie Gunn | $4,818 | $897 | -81.4% |
| Jarvis D. Roberson | $5,887 | $892 | -84.8% |
| Elizabeth Kinnett | $0 | $844 | -- |
| Ralph D. Horne Sr. | $812 | $812 | 0% |
| Samuel E. Holland | $3,958 | $808 | -79.6% |
| James E. Jones | $3,117 | $757 | -75.7% |
| Jackie Blankenship | $4,979 | $739 | -85.2% |
| Tommy D. Rogers | $722 | $722 | 0% |
| Sylvia Smith | $860 | $708 | -17.7% |
| Angela P. Kinnett | $710 | $654 | -7.9% |
| Juanita Graham | $4,211 | $637 | -84.9% |
| Ann D. Harrelson | $691 | $572 | -17.2% |
| Karen S. Swain | $0 | $558 | -- |
| Lynn B. Kinnett | $617 | $556 | -9.9% |
| Gina B. Graham | $617 | $556 | -9.9% |
| Pat Payne | $518 | $518 | 0% |
| Roosevelt Stewart Jr. | $363 | $484 | 33.3% |
| John Wayne Smith | $610 | $462 | -24.3% |
| Jason Daniel Boone | $1,738 | $422 | -75.7% |
| Joe Burnette | $1,804 | $407 | -77.4% |
| John Wesley Yawn II | $1,822 | $390 | -78.6% |
| Raymond P. Varnadoe | $667 | $355 | -46.8% |
| Barbara Ann Buttrom | $678 | $331 | -51.2% |
| Johnny Stinson | $5,366 | $328 | -93.9% |
| Hank J. Spires Sr. | $1,243 | $311 | -75% |
| Charles L. Taylor | $12,337 | $298 | -97.6% |
| Chester Varnadoe | $1,298 | $250 | -80.7% |
| Brenda F. Hart | $0 | $248 | -- |
| Suzanne Maria Spires | $0 | $240 | -- |
| Tommy Thigpen | $1,144 | $228 | -80.1% |
| Alena Connell | $0 | $225 | -- |
| Hannah Breedlove | $527 | $215 | -59.2% |
| Markus Andrew Webb | $1,167 | $194 | -83.4% |
| Horace Clements Jr. | $754 | $187 | -75.2% |
| Kemberley Giddens | $1,534 | $166 | -89.2% |
| Robert L. Stanley | $417 | $146 | -65% |
| Jimmy Lee Boone | $280 | $137 | -51.1% |
| Russell L. Peterson | $303 | $137 | -54.8% |
| Charlie W. Brown | $451 | $95 | -78.9% |
| C. L. Spencer | $499 | $87 | -82.6% |
| Christine Seay | $313 | $72 | -77% |
| Bobby Joyce | $223 | $47 | -78.9% |
| Julian Glenn Batchelor | $630 | $42 | -93.3% |
| Hilton Graham | $4,660 | $36 | -99.2% |
| Robbie Graham | $4,660 | $36 | -99.2% |
| Wendy Holland Yawn | $95 | $36 | -62.1% |
| Rosemary Peterson | $117 | $35 | -70.1% |
| Betty Faye Brewer | $0 | $30 | -- |
| Henry C. Singleton Jr. | $120 | $29 | -75.8% |
| Keith Stevenson | $4,506 | $8 | -99.8% |
| Linda H. Combes | $97 | $4 | -95.9% |
| Carl Myers | $204 | $0 | -100% |
| Elizabeth R. Jones | $1,061 | $0 | -100% |
| Ruby C. Giddens | $1,506 | $0 | -100% |
| Ruby C Giddens Estate | $870 | $0 | -100% |
| Tracy Padgett | $48 | $0 | -100% |
| David Thigpen | $309 | $0 | -100% |
| Jeffrey A. Barrett | $23,162 | $0 | -100% |
| Justin Zachary Mason | $6,690 | $0 | -100% |
| Lewis E. Robinson Jr. | $514 | $0 | -100% |
| Matthew Ryan Varnadoe | $220 | $0 | -100% |
| Thomas E. Haley | $23,715 | $0 | -100% |
| Danny Jackson Brown | $990 | $0 | -100% |
| Douglas J. Perkins | $660 | $0 | -100% |
| Henry W. Walker | $16,759 | $0 | -100% |
| Jean C. Collins- | $2,860 | $0 | -100% |
| John M Cook & Sons, Inc. | $7,312 | $0 | -100% |
| Lurlene H Fussell | $36 | $0 | -100% |
| Smith Turpentine, LLC | $523 | $0 | -100% |
| William Scott Nunn | $1,841 | $0 | -100% |
| Total subsidies | $2,197,829 | $1,495,182 | -32% |
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