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In 2021, 222 farmers in cities within Surry County received a total of $1.8 million in 282 farm subsidies, a 28% decrease compared to 2020, when the total was $2.5 million in 622 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.
Farmers and Their Subsidies in Cities Associated with Surry County, Year Over Year
| Farmer | Total Received in 2020 | Total Received in 2021 | % Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis J. Wilmoth | $0 | $150,941 | -- |
| Mountain View Poultry, LLC | $0 | $110,795 | -- |
| Tommy D. Edmonds | $1,626 | $101,487 | 6,141.5% |
| Johnson Farm Operations, Inc. | $358,076 | $100,363 | -72% |
| Benny and Diane Snow Poultry Farms, LLC | $0 | $88,234 | -- |
| Dennis A. Marion | $630 | $84,777 | 13,356.7% |
| Benny Snow Farm, Inc. | $235,743 | $66,328 | -71.9% |
| King Creek Poultry, LLC | $0 | $61,228 | -- |
| Davis Brothers | $43,963 | $60,940 | 38.6% |
| Christopher P. White | $0 | $56,739 | -- |
| Marsh Farms | $0 | $51,889 | -- |
| Robert Wayne Myers | $5,777 | $46,491 | 704.8% |
| Charles Dale Venable | $0 | $44,348 | -- |
| Badgett Farm, LLC | $102,907 | $40,618 | -60.5% |
| Mr. Jeffery S. Bledsoe | $0 | $38,590 | -- |
| Billy Brian Pack | $0 | $37,991 | -- |
| Jimmy & Ronnie Hull PTR | $0 | $33,617 | -- |
| Ronald Patrick Hawks | $0 | $33,405 | -- |
| Ricky D. Hardy | $173,273 | $32,040 | -81.5% |
| Draughn & Sons Farms, LLC | $62,678 | $28,974 | -53.8% |
| Frank O Draughn & Sons Farm | $55,445 | $27,666 | -50.1% |
| Radford Farms | $6,513 | $27,174 | 317.2% |
| Hannah Payne Vass | $0 | $22,259 | -- |
| Johnson Family Farms | $73,732 | $21,443 | -70.9% |
| Phillip D. Cave | $64,766 | $21,267 | -67.2% |
| Jimmy Howard Wilmoth | $0 | $18,115 | -- |
| Joseph Layne | $16,235 | $18,105 | 11.5% |
| Richard Layne | $34,113 | $18,010 | -47.2% |
| Chuck Puckett | $78,670 | $17,968 | -77.2% |
| Sleepy Creek Farms MT Airy, LLC | $13,887 | $15,545 | 11.9% |
| John Mark Golding | $135 | $14,300 | 10,492.6% |
| Brandon E. Seal | $0 | $13,165 | -- |
| Edwards Logging, Inc. | $0 | $12,876 | -- |
| M. Z. Gillispie | $20,745 | $11,906 | -42.6% |
| Aaron Thomas Edmonds | $18,187 | $10,445 | -42.6% |
| Perry Scott | $26,483 | $9,418 | -64.4% |
| Jerry Wayne Whitaker | $46,315 | $9,161 | -80.2% |
| Alvin Seal | $60,753 | $8,874 | -85.4% |
| Lynn Burton | $30,397 | $8,656 | -71.5% |
| Martin J. Hill | $5,231 | $7,393 | 41.3% |
| Merritt Family Operations, LLC | $20,453 | $6,562 | -67.9% |
| Brian W. Marsh | $13,315 | $6,326 | -52.5% |
| Brittany Nicole Utt | $4,391 | $5,536 | 26.1% |
| Curtis Dean Hunter | $7,793 | $5,481 | -29.7% |
| Jimmy L. Matthews | $19,059 | $5,382 | -71.8% |
| Doug Clement | $11,642 | $5,138 | -55.9% |
| Phillip D. Casstevens | $17,600 | $5,100 | -71% |
| Gary E. Snow | $6,545 | $4,906 | -25% |
| Troy Lee Bryant | $8,577 | $4,903 | -42.8% |
| Hal Thomas Kidd | $11,120 | $4,420 | -60.3% |
| Alexander K. Moore | $14,572 | $4,322 | -70.3% |
| Larry W. Marsh | $7,537 | $4,073 | -46% |
| John Bert Cockerham Jr. | $11,379 | $4,027 | -64.6% |
| Eddie G. Johnson | $16,280 | $3,929 | -75.9% |
| Jeffery L. Hodges | $8,594 | $3,832 | -55.4% |
| Darrell G. Dickerson | $63,077 | $3,596 | -94.3% |
| Tony Lee Cave | $8,610 | $3,480 | -59.6% |
| Travis Ervin Holt | $16,676 | $3,432 | -79.4% |
| Jeffrey Heath Moore | $23,575 | $2,744 | -88.4% |
| Howard Hull | $3,530 | $2,642 | -25.2% |
| William Joseph Griffith | $8,062 | $2,547 | -68.4% |
| William Lee Dalton Jr. | $15,277 | $2,371 | -84.5% |
| Squire Gordon Holder | $12,222 | $2,342 | -80.8% |
| Don Adams | $4,223 | $2,191 | -48.1% |
| Preston Adam Cave | $4,307 | $2,137 | -50.4% |
| Michael William Payne | $11,706 | $2,129 | -81.8% |
| Jerry F. Snow | $5,197 | $2,090 | -59.8% |
| Tristan W. Slawter | $8,529 | $2,022 | -76.3% |
| Timothy R. Merritt | $2,079 | $1,984 | -4.6% |
| George M. Midkiff Jr. | $6,820 | $1,930 | -71.7% |
| Susan Kaye Noonkester | $13,165 | $1,900 | -85.6% |
| Richard C. Smith | $4,603 | $1,899 | -58.7% |
| William L. Dalton | $10,890 | $1,872 | -82.8% |
| Trent Schuyler | $7,257 | $1,866 | -74.3% |
| Travis A. Boyd | $10,647 | $1,795 | -83.1% |
| Raymond F. Jessup | $10,774 | $1,774 | -83.5% |
| Lee Mark Johnson | $1,459 | $1,759 | 20.6% |
| Darius Barrett Holder | $6,193 | $1,710 | -72.4% |
| Ricky Pell | $8,351 | $1,602 | -80.8% |
| Billy R. Hodges | $4,788 | $1,525 | -68.1% |
| Bruce V. Tilley | $7,511 | $1,462 | -80.5% |
| Danny R. Creed | $0 | $1,448 | -- |
| Roy Wayne Creed | $1,915 | $1,448 | -24.4% |
| Hog Mountain Farm, LLC | $8,409 | $1,435 | -82.9% |
| Rayburn Sykes | $9,274 | $1,430 | -84.6% |
| Harry L. Noonkester | $1,671 | $1,421 | -15% |
| Willie H. Gammons | $1,534 | $1,360 | -11.3% |
| Bryan Shinault | $2,522 | $1,292 | -48.8% |
| Garland Mark Smith | $6,771 | $1,246 | -81.6% |
| Hannah Haynes Johnson | $11,257 | $1,198 | -89.4% |
| Bradley R. Mosley | $5,742 | $1,190 | -79.3% |
| Mitchell Jackson Martin | $0 | $1,155 | -- |
| Shelia Norman Cave | $6,077 | $1,122 | -81.5% |
| Randy Dunmon | $9,403 | $1,119 | -88.1% |
| John Milam Brame | $1,111 | $1,111 | 0% |
| David P. Lowe | $0 | $1,100 | -- |
| Taylor James Mundy | $6,097 | $1,100 | -82% |
| Michael Ray Love | $7,531 | $1,041 | -86.2% |
| Dwight D. Durham | $5,612 | $1,036 | -81.5% |
| Lonnie Dell Edmonds | $4,869 | $1,012 | -79.2% |
| Donald Cockerham | $2,805 | $1,003 | -64.2% |
| Darrell Adam Beamer | $4,542 | $971 | -78.6% |
| Jerry Lee Holt | $1,650 | $964 | -41.6% |
| Delmar Ray Joyce | $3,994 | $942 | -76.4% |
| Gregory T. Hooker | $7,988 | $939 | -88.2% |
| Montana Farms | $2,816 | $910 | -67.7% |
| Stephen Hollis Chilton | $0 | $910 | -- |
| Wade G. Johnson | $2,398 | $882 | -63.2% |
| Tommy R. Lambert | $3,095 | $872 | -71.8% |
| Doyle Mosley | $3,820 | $867 | -77.3% |
| Sexton E. Coe | $4,339 | $865 | -80.1% |
| Christopher Mark Stevens | $6,637 | $854 | -87.1% |
| Athel Dollyhite | $5,047 | $848 | -83.2% |
| Marvin L. Spicer Jr. | $2,733 | $806 | -70.5% |
| Ivan C. White | $4,618 | $804 | -82.6% |
| Roy A. Culler | $804 | $804 | 0% |
| Larry E. Ramey | $2,805 | $800 | -71.5% |
| Lamer D. Martin Jr. | $5,434 | $800 | -85.3% |
| Dale Oliver Boles | $1,153 | $799 | -30.7% |
| AMP Farms, LLC | $2,992 | $792 | -73.5% |
| Phillip E. Chappell | $2,340 | $762 | -67.4% |
| Tony Richard Davis | $4,093 | $756 | -81.5% |
| Katherine Crouse | $1,287 | $742 | -42.3% |
| Jesse John Slate | $2,577 | $740 | -71.3% |
| Jay Porter Hill Jr. | $39,220 | $724 | -98.2% |
| Joseph P. Hutchens Jr. | $7,948 | $715 | -91% |
| Jack T. Goings Sr. | $4,122 | $706 | -82.9% |
| Miss Angels Heavenly Pies, Inc. | $14,382 | $705 | -95.1% |
| Ethan A. Cave | $0 | $696 | -- |
| Ryan Lee Dunmon | $4,264 | $684 | -84% |
| Ronald Gray Easter | $2,662 | $657 | -75.3% |
| Robert Joyce | $3,775 | $629 | -83.3% |
| Bobby Dale Simpson | $3,139 | $626 | -80.1% |
| Emeterio Guillen Cortes | $1,584 | $623 | -60.7% |
| Garner R00sevelt Jarrell JR | $3,205 | $622 | -80.6% |
| Anthony Allen | $5,652 | $619 | -89% |
| Don Keith Adams | $1,010 | $618 | -38.8% |
| Garry Dean Joyce | $1,188 | $597 | -49.7% |
| Wayne Ottis Atkins | $1,440 | $594 | -58.8% |
| Tony Bullin | $1,892 | $580 | -69.3% |
| Amelia D. Sutphin | $2,222 | $576 | -74.1% |
| Rebecca B. White | $1,773 | $574 | -67.6% |
| Michael Francis Hatcher | $559 | $559 | 0% |
| Ned W. Gillispie | $1,004 | $556 | -44.6% |
| William Grady Swift | $3,533 | $544 | -84.6% |
| Johnny David Ayers Jr. | $3,311 | $543 | -83.6% |
| Richard Jonathan Collins | $3,078 | $543 | -82.4% |
| Willis Edward Branch | $2,564 | $536 | -79.1% |
| Brown and Brown Partners | $2,227 | $534 | -76% |
| Eugene Simmons | $2,246 | $518 | -76.9% |
| Larry E. Stone | $2,761 | $516 | -81.3% |
| Gary Dean Flippin | $2,717 | $492 | -81.9% |
| Jeff Perkins | $2,232 | $487 | -78.2% |
| Max Hunter | $1,105 | $485 | -56.1% |
| Danny Lee Pell | $1,331 | $478 | -64.1% |
| Darrell R. Merritt | $7,068 | $472 | -93.3% |
| William Clay Draughn | $1,909 | $471 | -75.3% |
| Jason L. Boles | $649 | $471 | -27.4% |
| Alfred D. Holt | $1,668 | $470 | -71.8% |
| Brady W. Payne | $2,272 | $470 | -79.3% |
| Tim Danley | $976 | $470 | -51.8% |
| Sally B. Roberts | $2,300 | $453 | -80.3% |
| Daryll D. Johnson | $1,218 | $453 | -62.8% |
| William Chad Draughn | $1,562 | $449 | -71.3% |
| Aubrey Loyd Johnson | $0 | $443 | -- |
| Charles M. Vernon | $1,668 | $439 | -73.7% |
| Charles Elmore | $1,298 | $432 | -66.7% |
| Alene Cockerham | $2,915 | $430 | -85.2% |
| Osler Handy | $2,320 | $421 | -81.9% |
| Shawn Edward Branch | $1,232 | $419 | -66% |
| Jarod A. Wilson | $0 | $418 | -- |
| Bradley K. Coalson | $2,805 | $410 | -85.4% |
| James E. Simmons II | $2,190 | $404 | -81.6% |
| Delores Edwards Johnson | $1,034 | $397 | -61.6% |
| Donna E. Jarrell | $1,034 | $397 | -61.6% |
| Dempsey R. Pell Jr. | $1,804 | $391 | -78.3% |
| Chadwick Jason Marion | $1,594 | $388 | -75.7% |
| Steven W. Whitaker | $2,924 | $385 | -86.8% |
| Bryan T. Cave | $1,628 | $381 | -76.6% |
| Dustin Rogers | $1,895 | $381 | -79.9% |
| Kerry W. Smith | $376 | $376 | 0% |
| Fred S. Caudle Jr. | $2,233 | $374 | -83.3% |
| Avery Lowe | $1,738 | $366 | -78.9% |
| Roger Dale Thompson | $1,423 | $362 | -74.6% |
| James Cromer | $1,992 | $360 | -81.9% |
| Kenny T. Ward | $1,474 | $358 | -75.7% |
| Harvey Jackson Swift Jr. | $2,681 | $343 | -87.2% |
| Adam Stanley | $1,188 | $342 | -71.2% |
| Brandon Essick | $2,726 | $330 | -87.9% |
| Timothy Paul Dollyhite | $1,620 | $326 | -79.9% |
| Joseph Davis | $486 | $320 | -34.2% |
| Phillip R. McCraw Jr. | $1,951 | $312 | -84% |
| Jackie L. Mears | $1,503 | $308 | -79.5% |
| Steven Mitchell Mears | $763 | $291 | -61.9% |
| Betty White Taylor | $2,255 | $290 | -87.1% |
| Stephen A. Joyce | $1,775 | $284 | -84% |
| James Williams Taylor | $627 | $283 | -54.9% |
| Ivagene Cave | $1,358 | $271 | -80% |
| Michael Ray Jones | $2,415 | $270 | -88.8% |
| Foy Dwain Galyean | $957 | $262 | -72.6% |
| Jonah Dale Marsh | $4,833 | $248 | -94.9% |
| Pete Sheppard | $552 | $242 | -56.2% |
| Will Sheppard | $552 | $242 | -56.2% |
| Jeffrey Scott Cartwright | $2,109 | $231 | -89% |
| Dolly J. Gunnell | $1,089 | $228 | -79.1% |
| Tyler N. Brim | $946 | $222 | -76.5% |
| Ronald Dean Hull | $1,732 | $207 | -88% |
| Ricky L. Casstevens | $1,270 | $204 | -83.9% |
| Thurman Edgar Miller Jr. | $528 | $204 | -61.4% |
| Samuel Joseph Attardo | $1,417 | $192 | -86.5% |
| Gilbert Stephon Cox | $1,376 | $168 | -87.8% |
| Thomas R. Collins | $915 | $164 | -82.1% |
| Benjamin Tate Griffin | $0 | $132 | -- |
| Roy Lee Edwards | $682 | $114 | -83.3% |
| Chrystal G. Edwards | $341 | $90 | -73.6% |
| James Douglas Butcher | $440 | $86 | -80.5% |
| Jason R. Edwards | $0 | $67 | -- |
| Robert W. Nichols Jr. | $0 | $59 | -- |
| Nicholas Kent Mosley | $1,849 | $51 | -97.2% |
| Ralph B. Coe | $0 | $23 | -- |
| Kathy S. Poole | $108 | $15 | -86.1% |
| Deane D K Muhlenberg | $3,370 | $9 | -99.7% |
| Adelaide M. Spainhour | $24 | $0 | -100% |
| B. van Coe | $2,842 | $0 | -100% |
| Charles D. Thomas | $128 | $0 | -100% |
| Christopher Blanton | $1,155 | $0 | -100% |
| Joshua A. Watson | $39,982 | $0 | -100% |
| Lacy Buck Bond | $1 | $0 | -100% |
| Michael R. Thomas | $128 | $0 | -100% |
| Terry Holder | $235 | $0 | -100% |
| Jarod A. Wilson | $4,253 | $0 | -100% |
| Johnny Shelton | $186 | $0 | -100% |
| Juan M. Escobar | $4,168 | $0 | -100% |
| Robert Edgar Smith Jr. | $3,745 | $0 | -100% |
| Bobby G. Bodenhamer Jr. | $24 | $0 | -100% |
| Bobby R. Nichols | $327 | $0 | -100% |
| Brian Seal | $246 | $0 | -100% |
| Carolyn G. Campbell | $12 | $0 | -100% |
| Carolyn Nichols | $13 | $0 | -100% |
| Charles Alan Vernon | $1,091 | $0 | -100% |
| Danny Creed | $4,379 | $0 | -100% |
| Daryl Wayne Slate | $770 | $0 | -100% |
| James Roger Edwards | $4,400 | $0 | -100% |
| Jason Roy Edwards | $501 | $0 | -100% |
| Jeffrey S. Bledsoe | $12,880 | $0 | -100% |
| Jimmy Ray Newman | $65 | $0 | -100% |
| Judy W. Rogers | $58 | $0 | -100% |
| Kevin Christopher Westmoreland | $15 | $0 | -100% |
| Kyle Spencer Montgomery | $2,421 | $0 | -100% |
| Norma C. Edmonds | $51 | $0 | -100% |
| Reece Benton Westmoreland | $2,587 | $0 | -100% |
| Robert Nichols | $120 | $0 | -100% |
| Roger Lewis Nichols | $554 | $0 | -100% |
| Summer Amanda Matthews | $5,915 | $0 | -100% |
| Chester W. Bowen Sr. | $49 | $0 | -100% |
| David W. Sutterby | $954 | $0 | -100% |
| Donald T. Singleton | $440 | $0 | -100% |
| Garry M. Cox | $181 | $0 | -100% |
| Gary M. Atkins | $11 | $0 | -100% |
| Isaiah Seth Johnson | $3,894 | $0 | -100% |
| Kathryn H. Martinat | $3 | $0 | -100% |
| Phyllis B. Hunter | $22 | $0 | -100% |
| Sarah Elizabeth Moore | $768 | $0 | -100% |
| Shelby J. Seats | $618 | $0 | -100% |
| Stephen Chilton | $264 | $0 | -100% |
| William Garry Joyce | $330 | $0 | -100% |
| Ann Reid | $43 | $0 | -100% |
| Total subsidies | $2,495,039 | $1,796,652 | -28% |
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