Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock
In 2021, 221 farmers in cities within Bledsoe County received a total of $1.5 million in 291 farm subsidies, a 48% decrease compared to 2020, when the total was $2.8 million in 600 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 Bledsoe County, Year Over Year
| Farmer | Total Received in 2020 | Total Received in 2021 | % Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oren Wooden Apples | $366,486 | $248,050 | -32.3% |
| Jimi Dee Clark | $0 | $147,353 | -- |
| Jackson General Mdse & Farm | $52,539 | $137,509 | 161.7% |
| Gary W. Hankins | $78,397 | $72,556 | -7.5% |
| Frank Swafford III | $36,312 | $64,741 | 78.3% |
| Keith Humble | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Phillip Hankins | $0 | $52,875 | -- |
| Leroy A. Pendergrass | $161,172 | $49,967 | -69% |
| Matthew B. Ritchey | $0 | $47,088 | -- |
| Phillip D. Wooden | $68,768 | $46,342 | -32.6% |
| Helen C. Carlton | $0 | $44,030 | -- |
| Cameron Swafford | $48,926 | $38,761 | -20.8% |
| Benjamin L. Songer | $0 | $27,777 | -- |
| James Lonnie Morris | $25,934 | $26,761 | 3.2% |
| Bryan Keith Simmons | $0 | $25,119 | -- |
| Burns Farms, Inc. | $103,140 | $21,300 | -79.3% |
| Jim B. Bilbrey | $137,633 | $19,058 | -86.2% |
| Manderley Farms | $72,994 | $15,099 | -79.3% |
| Ronald H. Swafford | $78,667 | $13,430 | -82.9% |
| Stephen Wayne Swafford | $28,179 | $13,181 | -53.2% |
| Robert T. Wooden | $0 | $9,161 | -- |
| Stacey Smith | $19,604 | $9,040 | -53.9% |
| Mr. Bobby W. Holloway | $0 | $8,784 | -- |
| Kent Roberson | $30,991 | $8,667 | -72% |
| Juan Rodriguez | $74,307 | $7,661 | -89.7% |
| Gary L. Swafford | $24,730 | $6,951 | -71.9% |
| George Hamilton Jr. | $12,309 | $6,434 | -47.7% |
| R Taylor Holmes | $18,921 | $5,718 | -69.8% |
| Ronny Lee Jackson | $23,723 | $5,322 | -77.6% |
| Dewey Kerley | $25,784 | $5,280 | -79.5% |
| Jack L. Marsh | $18,256 | $5,212 | -71.5% |
| Larry Morgan | $13,919 | $4,846 | -65.2% |
| Steve Miller | $47,018 | $4,450 | -90.5% |
| Robert C. Loyd | $16,544 | $4,380 | -73.5% |
| Dion Ault Jr. | $20,499 | $4,165 | -79.7% |
| Charles S. Shelton | $10,825 | $4,149 | -61.7% |
| John H. Swafford | $23,144 | $3,902 | -83.1% |
| James H. Standefer | $16,617 | $3,755 | -77.4% |
| Cyrus Paul Simmons | $4,928 | $3,654 | -25.9% |
| Samuel I. Rainey Jr. | $7,452 | $3,607 | -51.6% |
| James Leroy Lukassen | $0 | $3,588 | -- |
| John A. Nale | $10,705 | $3,402 | -68.2% |
| Beth Burns | $29,015 | $3,335 | -88.5% |
| Randy L. Parnell | $4,991 | $3,299 | -33.9% |
| Joel Frank Walker | $17,466 | $3,282 | -81.2% |
| Charles Kenneth Swafford | $39,870 | $3,117 | -92.2% |
| Jonathan Kelly | $14,537 | $2,978 | -79.5% |
| Roger M. Davis | $18,549 | $2,964 | -84% |
| James Paul Ault | $7,260 | $2,924 | -59.7% |
| Johnny E. Jackson | $11,026 | $2,924 | -73.5% |
| David L. Stiles | $9,768 | $2,766 | -71.7% |
| Roger G. Knight | $14,509 | $2,613 | -82% |
| Sherry L. Knox | $11,374 | $2,608 | -77.1% |
| Bob S. Swafford | $11,097 | $2,454 | -77.9% |
| Tyler Yates Swafford | $9,795 | $2,431 | -75.2% |
| Carl Nipper | $4,808 | $2,352 | -51.1% |
| Mitchell L. Marsh | $10,057 | $2,302 | -77.1% |
| Brandon Burgess | $9,171 | $2,195 | -76.1% |
| Lukassen & Son, Inc. | $0 | $2,144 | -- |
| Bryant Myers | $10,809 | $2,138 | -80.2% |
| Darvin Oakes | $8,909 | $2,068 | -76.8% |
| Steve Clark | $10,231 | $2,060 | -79.9% |
| Wayne M. Swafford | $11,202 | $2,060 | -81.6% |
| William C. Nipper | $10,537 | $2,007 | -81% |
| Terry L. Hickey | $13,268 | $1,998 | -84.9% |
| Justin E. Jackson | $8,745 | $1,936 | -77.9% |
| Clay Myers | $14,888 | $1,932 | -87% |
| Gary Lee Swafford | $72,733 | $1,842 | -97.5% |
| George Olin Kerley | $12,284 | $1,838 | -85% |
| Barry E. Austin | $16,611 | $1,823 | -89% |
| Hoyt Allan Hurd | $9,506 | $1,804 | -81% |
| Obed Perez | $10,109 | $1,797 | -82.2% |
| Howard L. Upchurch | $8,487 | $1,747 | -79.4% |
| Ethan W. Clark | $43,083 | $1,744 | -96% |
| Ronald E. Sapp | $9,838 | $1,685 | -82.9% |
| Larry R. Farley | $7,157 | $1,640 | -77.1% |
| Dale Elmer Burgess | $7,544 | $1,627 | -78.4% |
| Joshua Steven Clark | $7,894 | $1,611 | -79.6% |
| Ethan David Loyd | $6,515 | $1,577 | -75.8% |
| Alene B. Smith | $4,301 | $1,572 | -63.5% |
| Patsy A. Angel | $8,854 | $1,556 | -82.4% |
| Jerry Lee Parker | $7,674 | $1,550 | -79.8% |
| Brenda Caldwell | $1,549 | $1,549 | 0% |
| Larry Myers | $7,685 | $1,494 | -80.6% |
| Roger Simmons | $6,578 | $1,488 | -77.4% |
| Steven W. Lewis | $8,356 | $1,477 | -82.3% |
| David Swafford | $4,164 | $1,449 | -65.2% |
| Clayton Edmons | $7,841 | $1,442 | -81.6% |
| Brints Holland | $5,993 | $1,392 | -76.8% |
| Terry Noble | $5,555 | $1,386 | -75% |
| Thomas B. Boynton | $5,758 | $1,384 | -76% |
| Willard W. Stewart | $9,732 | $1,362 | -86% |
| Paul H. Swafford | $4,844 | $1,349 | -72.2% |
| Melissa A. Harvey | $4,910 | $1,347 | -72.6% |
| Timmie J. Campbell | $5,841 | $1,335 | -77.1% |
| Blake Haston | $4,367 | $1,282 | -70.6% |
| Terry Denney | $5,687 | $1,280 | -77.5% |
| John S. Hart | $9,694 | $1,260 | -87% |
| Patrick A. Turner | $6,243 | $1,215 | -80.5% |
| Susie Anna Dodson | $6,435 | $1,208 | -81.2% |
| William Perry Swafford | $4,942 | $1,208 | -75.6% |
| Maxie L. Swafford | $4,884 | $1,198 | -75.5% |
| Shawn D. Dean | $11,274 | $1,196 | -89.4% |
| Danny E. Swafford | $4,532 | $1,191 | -73.7% |
| Tracy Blankenship | $5,319 | $1,188 | -77.7% |
| Johnny R. Anderson | $7,408 | $1,167 | -84.2% |
| James Allen Fisher Jr. | $2,409 | $1,162 | -51.8% |
| Cody Allen Smith | $15,019 | $1,154 | -92.3% |
| Jimmy Lawson | $4,807 | $1,146 | -76.2% |
| Timmie J. Campbell II | $4,521 | $1,128 | -75% |
| Robert D. Fisher | $3,784 | $1,124 | -70.3% |
| Darrell Debord | $5,236 | $1,122 | -78.6% |
| David Singleton | $7,205 | $1,108 | -84.6% |
| Robert L. Browning | $10,357 | $1,093 | -89.4% |
| Stoney Olendorf | $7,396 | $1,090 | -85.3% |
| Michael Anthony London | $4,411 | $1,088 | -75.3% |
| Calvin Wayne Hale | $5,988 | $1,079 | -82% |
| Cynthia F. Davis | $4,713 | $1,074 | -77.2% |
| Harold S. Moody | $5,405 | $1,072 | -80.2% |
| Wendell Worthington | $5,621 | $1,050 | -81.3% |
| Gordon D. Brown | $3,971 | $1,036 | -73.9% |
| Roy Clay Debord | $4,807 | $1,020 | -78.8% |
| Amanda Houser | $6,211 | $1,014 | -83.7% |
| Johnny Sapp | $4,554 | $999 | -78.1% |
| Garrett Campbell | $3,652 | $985 | -73% |
| Steve Simmons | $4,202 | $982 | -76.6% |
| Alexander Smith | $36,925 | $959 | -97.4% |
| Brian Allen Wyatt | $4,681 | $948 | -79.7% |
| Kris S. Frady | $3,696 | $947 | -74.4% |
| Eric Morgan | $7,370 | $945 | -87.2% |
| Roy Clay Debord Jr. | $4,477 | $938 | -79% |
| Cory Roberts | $7,109 | $932 | -86.9% |
| Jesse Brewer | $4,481 | $906 | -79.8% |
| Norman A. Simmons | $4,919 | $904 | -81.6% |
| Roy W. Smith | $3,377 | $901 | -73.3% |
| Theresa Hutcheson | $5,300 | $900 | -83% |
| Robert L. Reece | $4,943 | $895 | -81.9% |
| Brad Reece | $5,417 | $885 | -83.7% |
| Wanda Karen Fisher | $1,815 | $878 | -51.6% |
| Wade Kelly | $5,705 | $869 | -84.8% |
| Melvin B. Smith Jr. | $5,192 | $862 | -83.4% |
| Matthew D. Reece | $3,392 | $856 | -74.8% |
| Benny Schawn Brown | $6,220 | $839 | -86.5% |
| Chris L. Mason | $4,052 | $833 | -79.4% |
| Chase Anderson | $4,367 | $826 | -81.1% |
| Ronald Wayne Blankenship | $4,793 | $814 | -83% |
| Carl Boynton | $4,190 | $809 | -80.7% |
| John Lee Downey | $1,943 | $805 | -58.6% |
| Micheal Dewayne Nale | $4,029 | $798 | -80.2% |
| Kenneth Ray Pruett | $3,564 | $790 | -77.8% |
| Anthony Paul Goforth | $5,599 | $768 | -86.3% |
| Randy D. Oakes | $3,377 | $756 | -77.6% |
| Richard W. Edmons | $4,165 | $726 | -82.6% |
| Tommy Clayton Everett | $3,872 | $720 | -81.4% |
| Robert L. Morgan | $3,025 | $718 | -76.3% |
| William J. P. Lafayette | $2,392 | $654 | -72.7% |
| Donald Ray Harvey | $4,203 | $647 | -84.6% |
| Johnny R. Frady | $2,397 | $644 | -73.1% |
| Robin Bayless | $4,332 | $644 | -85.1% |
| Samuel Watson | $2,266 | $639 | -71.8% |
| Peggy R. Wooden | $3,401 | $636 | -81.3% |
| Tony Hale | $4,033 | $616 | -84.7% |
| James Ellis | $3,852 | $600 | -84.4% |
| Gregory Anderson | $2,728 | $576 | -78.9% |
| Charles R. Reece | $2,640 | $573 | -78.3% |
| Marty J. Morgan | $1,100 | $568 | -48.4% |
| Lewis Jack Reel | $1,969 | $562 | -71.5% |
| Dylan Ethan Hankins | $3,941 | $555 | -85.9% |
| Dale Angel | $1,892 | $554 | -70.7% |
| George K. Thompson | $1,650 | $522 | -68.4% |
| Jeff Swafford | $3,081 | $519 | -83.2% |
| Dennis Clay Simmons | $3,727 | $515 | -86.2% |
| Billy F. Cagle | $0 | $514 | -- |
| Dallas Roberson | $2,591 | $509 | -80.4% |
| Patricia D. Hauenstein | $607 | $502 | -17.3% |
| Charles T. Nipper | $1,958 | $490 | -75% |
| James Earl Knight | $2,782 | $486 | -82.5% |
| Samuel Roberson | $2,002 | $480 | -76% |
| Robert H. Roberson | $3,041 | $474 | -84.4% |
| Thomas A. Yeargan | $2,322 | $473 | -79.6% |
| Jonathan Lee Johnson | $3,347 | $470 | -86% |
| Charles L. Patton | $1,804 | $465 | -74.2% |
| Mack Swafford | $890 | $436 | -51% |
| Clyde W. Foust Jr. | $1,492 | $428 | -71.3% |
| Steven M. Bridges | $4,385 | $422 | -90.4% |
| Cody Evans | $1,441 | $419 | -70.9% |
| Benny T. Smith | $3,546 | $417 | -88.2% |
| Phillip R. Smith | $5,133 | $412 | -92% |
| Cody Holloway | $4,403 | $408 | -90.7% |
| Anna Ruth Rothwell | $2,466 | $405 | -83.6% |
| Adam Hankins | $2,374 | $381 | -84% |
| Dwayne Debord | $1,815 | $374 | -79.4% |
| Stephen Lawson | $1,650 | $374 | -77.3% |
| Jeffery L. Neal | $1,890 | $366 | -80.6% |
| Lila M. Reece | $1,769 | $360 | -79.6% |
| Patricia Lewis | $4,730 | $357 | -92.5% |
| Johnny Blankenship | $858 | $352 | -59% |
| Johnny Boynton | $1,410 | $352 | -75% |
| Randall E. Coleman | $1,727 | $346 | -80% |
| Christopher Mark Blankenship | $1,273 | $335 | -73.7% |
| Wayne Colvard | $1,496 | $328 | -78.1% |
| Arnold Smith | $1,733 | $315 | -81.8% |
| Hoyt Neal | $1,254 | $315 | -74.9% |
| Randall Blaylock | $1,397 | $312 | -77.7% |
| Billy Joe Wyatt | $2,645 | $301 | -88.6% |
| Werner W. F. Braun | $1,452 | $291 | -80% |
| Willie Clyde Holland | $2,478 | $291 | -88.3% |
| Billy K. Vanwinkle | $1,903 | $290 | -84.8% |
| Matthew J. Nipper | $1,188 | $280 | -76.4% |
| Kelly Taylor | $553 | $271 | -51% |
| Imogene Angel | $440 | $215 | -51.1% |
| Leif Eric Richmond | $408 | $198 | -51.5% |
| Ronald Earl Blankenship | $682 | $145 | -78.7% |
| Randy Webb | $776 | $124 | -84% |
| Gary Engle | $1,089 | $93 | -91.5% |
| Leslie L. Smith | $264 | $76 | -71.2% |
| John Tollett | $315 | $51 | -83.8% |
| Ronny Collier | $2,621 | $31 | -98.8% |
| Linda Nipper | $38 | $19 | -50% |
| Brenda Henry | $34 | $17 | -50% |
| Jeanne Ellis | $293 | $15 | -94.9% |
| Andrew J. Swafford | $758 | $0 | -100% |
| Andrew Sitelis | $1,321 | $0 | -100% |
| Bobbie W. Holloway | $13,171 | $0 | -100% |
| Brian London | $8,800 | $0 | -100% |
| Carlton Lewis | $1,375 | $0 | -100% |
| Chris Anderson | $1,430 | $0 | -100% |
| Dale Blankenship | $371 | $0 | -100% |
| Dennis Dishman | $495 | $0 | -100% |
| Donnie F. Reagan | $190 | $0 | -100% |
| Dwight Blankenship | $330 | $0 | -100% |
| Everett D. Simmons | $1,041 | $0 | -100% |
| Frances Parnell | $127 | $0 | -100% |
| Harold Hankins | $3,708 | $0 | -100% |
| Heather Sullivan | $1,171 | $0 | -100% |
| Janet Frady | $1,045 | $0 | -100% |
| Kenneth Bayless | $825 | $0 | -100% |
| Nakia Oakes | $1,614 | $0 | -100% |
| Roger Siever | $5,022 | $0 | -100% |
| Shayne R. Bickford | $5,776 | $0 | -100% |
| Tony Brown | $5,548 | $0 | -100% |
| Total subsidies | $2,840,237 | $1,478,209 | -48% |
Alerts Sign-up