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In 2021, 131 farmers in cities within Concho County received a total of $1.8 million in 369 farm subsidies, a 42.5% decrease compared to 2020, when the total was $3.2 million in 549 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kelso and Prosise Farms | $489,331 | $264,906 | -45.9% |
| Stacey Sonnenberg | $293,064 | $140,070 | -52.2% |
| Gary Weishuhn | $152,481 | $102,979 | -32.5% |
| Justin Weishuhn | $85,171 | $97,536 | 14.5% |
| Dickinson Cattle Company | $112,874 | $69,360 | -38.6% |
| Shannon R. Hoffman | $128,289 | $62,830 | -51% |
| Brandon C. Biedermann | $98,107 | $45,022 | -54.1% |
| David Rabon | $11,491 | $43,123 | 275.3% |
| Steven B. Werner | $104,782 | $41,633 | -60.3% |
| Gary Gierisch | $24,464 | $37,354 | 52.7% |
| Michael Z. Friend | $67,384 | $36,996 | -45.1% |
| Richard J. Moeller | $65,315 | $36,919 | -43.5% |
| Benjamin K. Hoelscher | $88,774 | $34,437 | -61.2% |
| Ronny D. Alexander | $65,574 | $33,956 | -48.2% |
| Eugene Hirt FMS | $55,358 | $30,246 | -45.4% |
| Steve M. Scott | $22,220 | $28,880 | 30% |
| Howard E. Loveless | $38,774 | $28,822 | -25.7% |
| Roy Burnes | $47,723 | $28,521 | -40.2% |
| Carla J. Prosise | $36,742 | $27,083 | -26.3% |
| Max Ebeling | $22,517 | $26,154 | 16.2% |
| Don & Ken Pfluger Gen. Partnership | $0 | $24,706 | -- |
| Clayton Brosig | $33,794 | $24,134 | -28.6% |
| William J. Fiveash | $27,104 | $22,976 | -15.2% |
| Ralph Willberg | $23,338 | $20,363 | -12.7% |
| Charles H. Hurst | $16,913 | $20,196 | 19.4% |
| Jerry A. Dillard | $48,474 | $19,891 | -59% |
| Michael Lockett | $30,893 | $19,170 | -37.9% |
| Lynn B. Schumann | $30,185 | $18,061 | -40.2% |
| Arnold R. Tyler | $27,877 | $16,426 | -41.1% |
| Marcel J. Kalina | $24,635 | $15,249 | -38.1% |
| John Matthew Prosise | $28,491 | $14,904 | -47.7% |
| Eldon Pyle | $25,628 | $14,642 | -42.9% |
| Roy L. Cox | $12,176 | $14,193 | 16.6% |
| Lucille Halfmann | $18,833 | $10,912 | -42.1% |
| Jacob Crumpton | $15,197 | $10,611 | -30.2% |
| James E. Pfluger | $9,641 | $10,380 | 7.7% |
| Duane K. Hirt | $22,283 | $10,128 | -54.5% |
| Al R. Lovell | $15,038 | $9,850 | -34.5% |
| Walter M. Franke | $9,990 | $9,492 | -5% |
| William L. Sims | $18,904 | $9,460 | -50% |
| Joann L. Pfluger | $1,028 | $9,403 | 814.7% |
| Mark Osburn | $14,556 | $9,340 | -35.8% |
| David D. McIntyre | $21,833 | $9,297 | -57.4% |
| Grover L. Hall | $15,225 | $8,975 | -41.1% |
| Alan R. Osburn | $14,626 | $8,913 | -39.1% |
| John Neal Hendricks | $16,834 | $8,792 | -47.8% |
| Betty J. Gesch | $19,775 | $8,756 | -55.7% |
| Shiloh Alastuey | $7,966 | $8,245 | 3.5% |
| Barbara Hoffman | $13,995 | $8,066 | -42.4% |
| Mickey Collins | $11,210 | $7,840 | -30.1% |
| Norbert H Halfmann Estate Trust | $14,874 | $7,813 | -47.5% |
| Donald H. Goehring | $12,777 | $6,622 | -48.2% |
| William D. Campbell | $10,683 | $6,303 | -41% |
| Emmett H. Brosig Jr. | $9,998 | $6,287 | -37.1% |
| Mary Jean Owens | $8,822 | $6,110 | -30.7% |
| Adam Torres | $20,548 | $6,077 | -70.4% |
| Holik & Hall, LLC | $8,176 | $6,032 | -26.2% |
| Susan J Prugel | $5,789 | $5,862 | 1.3% |
| Travis Ripple | $11,867 | $5,835 | -50.8% |
| Cheryl Agnew | $11,678 | $5,600 | -52% |
| Marjorie Kellermeier | $8,193 | $5,011 | -38.8% |
| Joan Halfmann | $11,568 | $4,973 | -57% |
| Stephen Robert Gierisch | $7,326 | $4,853 | -33.8% |
| Mark Clise | $0 | $4,807 | -- |
| Delton Atwood | $10,895 | $4,647 | -57.3% |
| Sandra Renae Rodgers | $5,362 | $4,581 | -14.6% |
| Doug Conley | $5,594 | $4,531 | -19% |
| John Meyer Jr. | $10,341 | $4,518 | -56.3% |
| Trail Ranch Headquarters | $4,444 | $4,310 | -3% |
| Clarence Kellermeier Family Trust | $6,792 | $4,256 | -37.3% |
| David Duwe | $1,947 | $4,230 | 117.3% |
| Cody Scott | $7,545 | $3,999 | -47% |
| David Dillard | $5,764 | $3,912 | -32.1% |
| Donald E. Pearson | $3,376 | $3,802 | 12.6% |
| Russell N. Hoelscher | $12,888 | $3,718 | -71.2% |
| Tammy Gaye Dickey | $4,703 | $3,520 | -25.2% |
| Jacquelyn Spiser | $5,708 | $3,366 | -41% |
| Denny Choat | $5,493 | $3,065 | -44.2% |
| Rebecca S. Luedecke | $10,103 | $3,035 | -70% |
| Stephen Jones | $9,882 | $3,028 | -69.4% |
| Ben and Sue Sims Family Trust | $2,984 | $2,984 | 0% |
| Travis Bell | $1,210 | $2,456 | 103% |
| Herbert A. Biedermann Jr. | $4,387 | $2,445 | -44.3% |
| Kayla Swaner | $1,542 | $2,420 | 56.9% |
| Annie L. Kalina | $4,745 | $2,150 | -54.7% |
| Richard Tickle | $8,249 | $2,070 | -74.9% |
| Clara M. Turner | $0 | $2,062 | -- |
| Clay T. Rucker | $7,442 | $1,881 | -74.7% |
| Robert A. Hamblen | $2,579 | $1,880 | -27.1% |
| Gregory Holder | $3,094 | $1,830 | -40.9% |
| Byron D Weber | $185 | $1,805 | 875.7% |
| Sherry Schellhase | $2,312 | $1,690 | -26.9% |
| Richard G. Herndon | $6,418 | $1,578 | -75.4% |
| Jimmy L. Holder | $1,947 | $1,564 | -19.7% |
| Ken Pfluger | $4,917 | $1,551 | -68.5% |
| Thomas F. Kelso III | $1,999 | $1,539 | -23% |
| Will Allan Loveless | $1,269 | $1,472 | 16% |
| Maxine E. Torres | $1,828 | $1,389 | -24% |
| Charles W. Spiller | $1,854 | $1,343 | -27.6% |
| Joyce M. Weishuhn | $1,330 | $1,330 | 0% |
| John W. Jacobson | $7,099 | $1,261 | -82.2% |
| Terry J. Caffey | $2,490 | $1,218 | -51.1% |
| Eric Gully | $2,948 | $1,216 | -58.8% |
| Kody Krieg | $846 | $1,163 | 37.5% |
| William M Sims Family Trust | $1,130 | $1,130 | 0% |
| Teresa G. Escue | $2,087 | $1,061 | -49.2% |
| Julie McCollum | $1,762 | $1,060 | -39.8% |
| Mike Schiller | $739 | $967 | 30.9% |
| Stephen H. Wood | $5,754 | $924 | -83.9% |
| Richard S. Sorrell | $5,658 | $914 | -83.8% |
| Michael R Brasuel | $866 | $866 | 0% |
| Marlyn K. Green | $2,775 | $836 | -69.9% |
| Ernest E. Roeder Jr. | $3,431 | $684 | -80.1% |
| Jerry Brunson | $1,900 | $613 | -67.7% |
| Geneva A. Edwards | $3,643 | $577 | -84.2% |
| Theresa A. Sonnenberg | $1,536 | $531 | -65.4% |
| Jill Jacoby | $4,796 | $491 | -89.8% |
| Charles Womack | $2,343 | $467 | -80.1% |
| Tony L. Barfknecht | $3,181 | $450 | -85.9% |
| Don C. Barfknecht | $3,178 | $433 | -86.4% |
| David Ellis | $5,216 | $375 | -92.8% |
| Cora E. Campbell | $358 | $358 | 0% |
| Jackie L. Hight | $371 | $343 | -7.5% |
| Steve Pickens | $711 | $326 | -54.1% |
| Craig Pfluger | $16,507 | $322 | -98% |
| Billy R. Alexander | $1,600 | $261 | -83.7% |
| Milburn I. Knudson Jr. | $351 | $171 | -51.3% |
| Glen Berry | $64 | $120 | 87.5% |
| Wayne Young | $0 | $118 | -- |
| Cindy D. Miller | $1,326 | $23 | -98.3% |
| Joanna Moeller | $0 | $21 | -- |
| Alvin Beyer | $327 | $0 | -100% |
| Don & Ken Pfluger Gen. Partnershi | $79,452 | $0 | -100% |
| Edwin T Tickle Estate | $2,575 | $0 | -100% |
| Glenn Smetana | $4,890 | $0 | -100% |
| Joann Pluger | $8,375 | $0 | -100% |
| Steve Belote | $2,755 | $0 | -100% |
| Charles A. Becker | $2,214 | $0 | -100% |
| Claude Eugene Bradshaw | $26,033 | $0 | -100% |
| Ed Lloyd | $409 | $0 | -100% |
| John M. Henry | $2,687 | $0 | -100% |
| Johnny Dickinson | $40,717 | $0 | -100% |
| Stuart D. Lehr | $3,710 | $0 | -100% |
| Todd Latham | $122 | $0 | -100% |
| Trey Bradshaw | $11,303 | $0 | -100% |
| Total subsidies | $3,170,539 | $1,821,640 | -42.5% |
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