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In 2021, 121 farmers in cities within Portage County received a total of $803,864 in 217 farm subsidies, a 63.3% decrease compared to 2020, when the total was $2.2 million in 459 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonner Farms, Ltd. | $351,115 | $124,357 | -64.6% |
| Charles W. Soltis Sr. | $0 | $55,105 | -- |
| Donald K. Smith | $111,860 | $36,350 | -67.5% |
| John R Groselle | $66,445 | $35,895 | -46% |
| James L. Soltis Jr. | $140,159 | $35,527 | -74.7% |
| Alger Family Farm, LLC | $146,372 | $31,549 | -78.4% |
| Stroup Farms, Inc. | $81,232 | $30,079 | -63% |
| Jack a Giulitto | $53,985 | $28,865 | -46.5% |
| Goodell Family Farm, LLC | $39,969 | $28,273 | -29.3% |
| Mike Dussel | $36,613 | $27,705 | -24.3% |
| Christopher C. Mitchell | $70,491 | $25,292 | -64.1% |
| Adam M Soltis | $38,254 | $23,183 | -39.4% |
| Raymond Jay Ruff | $33,664 | $17,772 | -47.2% |
| Gary Rodenbucher | $18,694 | $15,671 | -16.2% |
| Richard L. Briggs | $41,711 | $15,110 | -63.8% |
| Susan P. Kuchenbecker | $36,253 | $14,028 | -61.3% |
| Donald D Van Auken | $35,810 | $12,649 | -64.7% |
| James M. Marek | $24,824 | $11,862 | -52.2% |
| James R. Ballentine | $22,764 | $11,266 | -50.5% |
| Daniel Ebie | $26,086 | $10,609 | -59.3% |
| Deborah J. Miller | $9,953 | $9,953 | 0% |
| Fred Rodenbucher | $23,893 | $9,720 | -59.3% |
| Robert Bane | $10,817 | $9,487 | -12.3% |
| Robert C Stehli Wintergreen Tree Farm | $0 | $9,192 | -- |
| Anthony J. Heppe Jr. | $22,131 | $8,238 | -62.8% |
| Robert J. Sampson | $0 | $7,941 | -- |
| SLY Family Limited Partnership | $16,014 | $7,591 | -52.6% |
| William P. Isler | $11,713 | $6,906 | -41% |
| Lynn Farms, LLC | $14,438 | $6,854 | -52.5% |
| Philip Carlton | $24,291 | $6,191 | -74.5% |
| Donald W. Craver Jr. | $9,596 | $6,141 | -36% |
| Dale R. Brookover | $15,621 | $5,934 | -62% |
| Pochedly Farms, LLC | $15,635 | $5,626 | -64% |
| Jason Lenke | $9,109 | $4,897 | -46.2% |
| David Shale | $9,847 | $4,775 | -51.5% |
| Rodney M. Feldmann | $5,096 | $4,555 | -10.6% |
| Allen Tree Farm, LLC | $3,925 | $3,925 | 0% |
| Stoltzfus Farm Partnership | $27,519 | $3,768 | -86.3% |
| Allen Heasley | $5,810 | $3,375 | -41.9% |
| Timothy Whittlesey | $7,875 | $3,311 | -58% |
| Joseph Farwell | $6,748 | $3,277 | -51.4% |
| Alexander M Zavara | $5,418 | $3,149 | -41.9% |
| Lynn Whittlesey | $8,721 | $3,048 | -65% |
| Kurtis C. Klingelhofer | $5,227 | $3,024 | -42.1% |
| Daniel Tyler Gallagher | $5,283 | $2,766 | -47.6% |
| Joanne Turos | $3,201 | $2,673 | -16.5% |
| Kotkowski Farms, LLC | $4,685 | $2,451 | -47.7% |
| Gloria Durman, LLC | $4,626 | $2,449 | -47.1% |
| Lewis Showalter | $5,211 | $2,362 | -54.7% |
| Harold A. Clark | $3,330 | $2,279 | -31.6% |
| Daniel Rodenbucher | $10,171 | $2,118 | -79.2% |
| Rex A. Ebie | $4,711 | $2,101 | -55.4% |
| John B. Phillips | $0 | $2,032 | -- |
| Richard Turk | $3,796 | $2,000 | -47.3% |
| Esler Heyd | $3,742 | $1,907 | -49% |
| Markus O. Brugmann | $4,908 | $1,863 | -62% |
| Todd Brugmann | $3,501 | $1,775 | -49.3% |
| Carole Stokes | $4,285 | $1,574 | -63.3% |
| Guyette Family Trust | $2,510 | $1,572 | -37.4% |
| Joseph J. Spellman | $2,444 | $1,569 | -35.8% |
| Charles D. Marshall | $1,285 | $1,445 | 12.5% |
| Rebecca S. Gares | $1,744 | $1,436 | -17.7% |
| Roy E. Martin | $2,621 | $1,428 | -45.5% |
| Larry Koerber | $1,427 | $1,427 | 0% |
| Lavon Moore | $2,236 | $1,366 | -38.9% |
| Bernard P Dedor | $1,662 | $1,297 | -22% |
| Joseph W. Lindsey | $2,664 | $1,259 | -52.7% |
| Ronald A. Wendeln | $1,247 | $1,247 | 0% |
| David Winchell | $2,024 | $1,226 | -39.4% |
| Larry Guyette | $6,635 | $1,160 | -82.5% |
| Donald J. May | $4,247 | $1,152 | -72.9% |
| Chris Boles | $1,861 | $1,145 | -38.5% |
| Daniel Norden | $1,834 | $1,143 | -37.7% |
| Wayne E. Biltz Sr. | $2,453 | $1,130 | -53.9% |
| Stephen M. Heppe | $1,491 | $1,124 | -24.6% |
| Tucker Urban | $5,118 | $1,077 | -79% |
| Nick L. Battaglia | $4,122 | $1,011 | -75.5% |
| Wayne E. Robertson | $1,070 | $967 | -9.6% |
| Robert Bossow | $2,005 | $924 | -53.9% |
| Mark A. Medford | $0 | $903 | -- |
| William T. Forgacs | $1,968 | $850 | -56.8% |
| Kurt Dawson | $1,144 | $788 | -31.1% |
| Bryan A. Briggs | $3,128 | $727 | -76.8% |
| Alan Dekome | $1,006 | $711 | -29.3% |
| Lillian Logan | $699 | $699 | 0% |
| James G. Gay | $1,165 | $656 | -43.7% |
| Tom Surrarrer | $2,067 | $649 | -68.6% |
| Rebecca Lynn Scott | $2,224 | $647 | -70.9% |
| Maxine E Farleman | $964 | $643 | -33.3% |
| Kris Lynn Edwards | $585 | $585 | 0% |
| Birdsong Farm, LLC | $475 | $552 | 16.2% |
| Bernard S Chaykowski | $931 | $549 | -41% |
| May's Farm, LLC | $3,292 | $501 | -84.8% |
| David Stonestreet | $2,051 | $478 | -76.7% |
| Philip Derthick | $1,650 | $405 | -75.5% |
| Daniel P Sedensky | $0 | $394 | -- |
| Elderberry Trail Farms, LLC | $1,180 | $385 | -67.4% |
| Justin Mitchell | $835 | $378 | -54.7% |
| John J Sedensky SR | $1,179 | $376 | -68.1% |
| Kenneth Kustra | $385 | $311 | -19.2% |
| Ryan D. Tong | $490 | $310 | -36.7% |
| Norman Miller | $494 | $308 | -37.7% |
| Ann R Burton-Kester | $0 | $299 | -- |
| Pamela S. Smith | $0 | $260 | -- |
| Richard I. Scroggs | $166 | $260 | 56.6% |
| Jerry May | $2,668 | $252 | -90.6% |
| Frank E. Malterer | $555 | $247 | -55.5% |
| Robert M. Pugh | $388 | $200 | -48.5% |
| Ronald E. Teck | $605 | $183 | -69.8% |
| Nathan Cavanaugh Farms, LLC | $0 | $176 | -- |
| Gerald Dzurilla | $266 | $171 | -35.7% |
| Theresa M. Douglas | $482 | $154 | -68% |
| Scott Puleo | $5,263 | $132 | -97.5% |
| Farm Service Agency/Commodity Credit Corporation | $0 | $100 | -- |
| Paul G. Overholt | $317 | $40 | -87.4% |
| Rebecca K. Proske | $156 | $39 | -75% |
| David W. Danner | $122 | $39 | -68% |
| Charles W. Wise | $22 | $16 | -27.3% |
| David Tibensky | $18 | $5 | -72.2% |
| James A. Viall | $115 | $5 | -95.7% |
| Andrew Thomas Bowers | $513 | $1 | -99.8% |
| Brockett Family Farm, LLC | $744 | $0 | -100% |
| Danielle B. Morgan | $204 | $0 | -100% |
| Justin Lashley | $1,675 | $0 | -100% |
| Ludwig Farms, LLC | $4,260 | $0 | -100% |
| Daniel P. Sedensky | $1,136 | $0 | -100% |
| James P. Brom | $153 | $0 | -100% |
| James Turos | $1,602 | $0 | -100% |
| Jami Lynn Hayhurst | $117 | $0 | -100% |
| Jason Krecek | $1,404 | $0 | -100% |
| Lowell Moore | $279 | $0 | -100% |
| Adam Heppe | $6,273 | $0 | -100% |
| Moore's Christmas Tree Farm, LLC | $9,221 | $0 | -100% |
| Sandra M. Soloman | $1,435 | $0 | -100% |
| Sonja L. Melton | $5,889 | $0 | -100% |
| Andrew Marlon Stout | $3,190 | $0 | -100% |
| Eagle Creek Wholesale, LLC | $250,000 | $0 | -100% |
| Leslie J. Eiben | $1,375 | $0 | -100% |
| Pochedly Farms, LLC | $3,145 | $0 | -100% |
| Robert C Stehli Wintergreen Tree | $22,434 | $0 | -100% |
| Robert E. Burrows | $5,633 | $0 | -100% |
| Albert L. Ahrens | $9,284 | $0 | -100% |
| Donald E. Thompson | $4,024 | $0 | -100% |
| Evans Family Freedom Farm, LLC | $1,019 | $0 | -100% |
| Farm Service Agency/Commodity CRE | $481 | $0 | -100% |
| Grac Glen Farm | $48,456 | $0 | -100% |
| Jake Cales | $1,072 | $0 | -100% |
| Joseph H. Wright | $2,079 | $0 | -100% |
| Larry Lang Landscaping, Inc. | $325 | $0 | -100% |
| Theodore C Suzelis | $101 | $0 | -100% |
| Thomas Hopes | $53 | $0 | -100% |
| Andrew Marlon Stout | $954 | $0 | -100% |
| Deborah Armprester/ Linda A Dlugo | $179 | $0 | -100% |
| Thomas C. Griswold | $17 | $0 | -100% |
| Total subsidies | $2,187,629 | $803,864 | -63.3% |
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