City Slickers Continue To Rake In Farm Payments

Posted by Sara Sciammacco in Subsidies on June 23, 2011 | 39 responses

Remember the last time you were smack in the middle of downtown Chicago or walking down a bustling street of Manhattan? Did you notice the sweeping farm vistas, the rich fields of corn and wheat?

Oh, wait a minute. There are none within the city limits of the Windy City or the Big Apple.

So why is the U.S. government sending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars (did you know this?) in farm subsidy payments to people who live in some of America’s wealthiest and decidedly urban neighborhoods?

The fact is, you can be a city slicker in Miami Beach or Beverly Hills and collect farm subsidy payments. All you have to do is have an ownership interest in some Iowa farmland. While 60 percent of American farmers must get along without a dime in federal subsidies, the so-called farm “safety net” benefits a narrow band of the wealthiest agri-businesses and absentee land owners and the lobbyists who ensure that the subsidies keep flowing.

The last farm bill, passed in 2008, was supposed to prevent people who weren’t actively engaged in farming from getting farm payments. It is clear those reforms didn’t work.

According to the Environmental Working Group’s updated 2011 Farm Subsidy Database, the government sent $394 million in farm subsidy payments in 2010 to residents of U.S. cities with populations of 100,000 or more: Cities with populations of 100,000 or more.

In bucolic Chicago, 734 farm subsidy recipients pulled in a total of $2,173,344.



In pastoral New York City, 290 residents got $800,887 in subsidy checks.



In agrarian Miami, 203 individuals collected $2,472,071 in farm payments.



In Phoenix, 486 residents banked $3,216,958 in subsidies.



In rustic Los Angeles, 199 locals received $421,717 in all.


In the pastures of Washington D.C., 195 residents cashed $475,214 in farm payment checks.



In the fruited plains of Denver, 1,146 people collected $3,394,550 in subsidy payments.



In Seattle, 564 individuals got $2,275,300.



In Spokane, 1,224 residents took home a whopping $10,580,181 in farm payments.



And amid San Francisco’s amber waves of grain, 179 folk got $1,094,172.


These maps only capture a small portion of the total farm subsidy payments sent to big city residents. Denizens of more than 350 cities with populations of 100,000 or more cashed subsidy checks in 2010.

The issue of city dwellers cashing in on farm payments isn’t new. EWG has been calling attention to this abuse since 1995, when it produced its “City Slickers” report. Back then, EWG’s researchers reported that 1.6 million subsidy checks worth more than $1.3 billion had been paid out to urban residents over a ten-year period.

“City Slickers” underscored the fundamental problem with America’s farm programs, and it still exists today: They mostly reward those who own the land, not those who farm it, or are most in need, or grow the healthiest food, or do the best job of protecting soil, water and wildlife habitat.

Go figure.

  • http://twitter.com/ssteinbrueck Steve Steinbrueck

    Those rooftop gardens must be really productive…

  • Anonymous

    In response to Steve- Maybe the farm subsidy payments are being received for not producing a crop. Don’t assume the government payment has anything to do with productivity!

  • http://twitter.com/comdown Cheryl

    The only city I am very familiar with Wash St. is Seattle and I can guarantee there are NO farms anywhere in most of the indicated locations. Not only that, a very large portion of those areas are very expensive neighborhoods with great big houses and estates. I guess the rich get richer, eh?

  • Anonymous

    Why the rich get richer? GREED! These people should be ashamed of themselves! Is there no honor in this country? Nobody seems to have a conscience! Disgusting!

  • Anonymous

    You guys dont have a clue. All farmers can get crop insurance. It has the same benefits for a small farmer as it does for a large one. I find it funny that anyone from the city cries about a subsidy payment likes having cheap food. When the government gets its nose out of farming and quits coming up with its projected bushels raised and lets the market do its thing you will be very displeased with the outcome when you go to the grocery store.

  • Anonymous

    You guys dont have a clue. All farmers can get crop insurance. It has the same benefits for a small farmer as it does for a large one. I find it funny that anyone from the city cries about a subsidy payment likes having cheap food. When the government gets its nose out of farming and quits coming up with its projected bushels raised and lets the market do its thing you will be very displeased with the outcome when you go to the grocery store.

  • Anonymous

    Yeah its all greed. I wonder why they dont have little dots in these cities showing all the other people that get food stamps , wellfare and other forms of government aid and also throw in the tax breaks homeowners got for putting new windows and what not in there house last year.

  • Anonymous

    Yeah its all greed. I wonder why they dont have little dots in these cities showing all the other people that get food stamps , wellfare and other forms of government aid and also throw in the tax breaks homeowners got for putting new windows and what not in there house last year.

  • Anonymous

    Yeah its all greed. I wonder why they dont have little dots in these cities showing all the other people that get food stamps , wellfare and other forms of government aid and also throw in the tax breaks homeowners got for putting new windows and what not in there house last year.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=503715506 Ashley Maltz

    Wow, this is shocking!

  • Anonymous

    I doubt that those who are doing home improvements are worth millions (perhaps more). While I don’t agree with welfare, there are children who would starve without it. Many who receive food stamps are working poor. So many of our unskilled jobs in the U.S. are gone since our manufacturing jobs have moved out of the country – many to China. I hear what you are saying – it all adds up. But, it is absurd to reward ‘non-farmers’ for not farming.

  • Anonymous

    I doubt that those who are doing home improvements are worth millions (perhaps more). While I don’t agree with welfare, there are children who would starve without it. Many who receive food stamps are working poor. So many of our unskilled jobs in the U.S. are gone since our manufacturing jobs have moved out of the country – many to China. I hear what you are saying – it all adds up. But, it is absurd to reward ‘non-farmers’ for not farming.

  • Anonymous

    In reply to Mofarmer- How can a multimillion dollar investment and profit guarantee have the same value as a $25000 crop investment and profit guarantee. Apparently you have never had to compete for land resources with high rollers receiving multimillion dollar investment and profit guarantees from federal crop insurance. Or maybe you are the beneficary of one of those highly subsidized multimillion dollar federal government financial security blanket and think all farmers are receiving policies of comparable value.

  • Anonymous

    In reply to splined. I do farm, 1300 acres to be exact, I have crop insurance. You are right Large farmers do get more money but there is also more expense there also. I have competed with the large farmers (and im not large for our area), You got to be smart and keep your expenses down and find ways to make more profit per acre than the large guy. My dad farms 400 acres , his insurance guarantee is the same per acre as mine but his total is smaller since he farms less. He farms with equipment that fits his operation and if he wanted to rent a 40 somewhere he could compete with the big boys just the same. I ask this since you think this crop insurance seems to benefit only the super large farmers, why is it there are countless stories of the large guys going under and you hardly hear any stories of the small guy that went under?

  • Anonymous

    In reply to splined. I do farm, 1300 acres to be exact, I have crop insurance. You are right Large farmers do get more money but there is also more expense there also. I have competed with the large farmers (and im not large for our area), You got to be smart and keep your expenses down and find ways to make more profit per acre than the large guy. My dad farms 400 acres , his insurance guarantee is the same per acre as mine but his total is smaller since he farms less. He farms with equipment that fits his operation and if he wanted to rent a 40 somewhere he could compete with the big boys just the same. I ask this since you think this crop insurance seems to benefit only the super large farmers, why is it there are countless stories of the large guys going under and you hardly hear any stories of the small guy that went under?

  • Anonymous

    I wonder what percentage of the total farm subsidies this travesty represents. Obviously the requirement to be actively engaged in farming has been corrupted and needs to be clearly defined with a minimum number of days required to be actually on site. I am sure that Resnick and others occasionally dress down and go visit their properties. That should not meet requirements to receive subsidies!

  • Anonymous

    There is a lot of misinformation out there. Just because a farm is a corporation does NOT mean it is a factory farm. Many farm families have made corporations out of their operations to protect them from personal liability and also because of certain tax regulations.
    Also, it is amazing to me that oil companies get subsidies but no one seems to mind that BUT people want to cut the industry that provides food and clothing at a much cheaper price than other parts of the world.
    Farmers have huge investments and without a crop or crop insurance they would be financially broke. Also, without the subsidies to help even the market the farmers would not be able to survive.
    People don’t seem to realize many of the payment limits for subsidies are on “GROSS” income. Well you might think 250,000 or 500,000 gross is a lot but do you know that one tractor can easily be $ 200,000 and a combine is $500,000 and a cotton picker is $750,000. This on top of diesel that is over $3.00/gallon. So it doesn’t take long to eat up that $200,000 – $500,000 gross income. This is before seed, taxes, chemical, fertilizer, upkeep on equipment, harvest expenses and labor.
    So, people need to look at other industries to complain about!

  • Anonymous

    It has always been disgusting to me and others that folks like Mofarmer is always quick to blame the poor and hungry for the welfare (I mean – subsidies) that big business and some absent landowners/farmers get for nothing! Get mad at your insane thoughts and unreasonable logic, to compare a human need to eat to sustain life with a greedy person that collects checks from the government to do “NOTHING” but complain about feeding and housing the hungry or poor that includes veterans, laid-off workers, and working poor. These complainers like Mofarmer cannot be Christians or believe in GOD with thoughts like they have. A free check from the US Government for doing nothing in the past, present, or future is WELFARE……….. They do need to get shopping money from earned income and not the USA or State government!

  • Anonymous

    Is what you say similar to cheap gasoline or oil that I don’t get from the Gas Stations. The government has let the oil companies and banks do their own thing (write the regulations) and now you pay higher fees for a nano-transaction at your bank, and high prices at the gas pump.

  • Anonymous

    The story had nothing to do with crop insurance. It has to do with people that don’t live or work on a farm that are being paid a subsidy to not plant a crop on that farm they neither live or work on.

  • Anonymous

    Last year a story was done of housing subdivisions in Texas that used to be cotton fields. There is no farming going on at all on the land but every one of the home owners is getting a check every year for not growing cotton on that land that has been subdivided and is occupied by houses.

  • Anonymous

    Ok ITSLOGICAL , My wife works for social services , tells me about these families that dont work have all kinds of state aide , free rent , and driving new cars and doesnt work. Who pays for that and your right they need to eat but why are they eating better than me. Im not complaining but when someone like you tells me how the farmer is getting a free check or these people in cities you dont know the whole story or the strings attached for that check. Its not free. I would add If you think its so great, why dont you latch onto some 10,000 dollar a acre ground and you can get this so called free check.

  • Anonymous

    Huhh let me fill you in Cavman35, YOu can own a farm rent it out 50/50 to a farmer and he provides equipment and labor to plant your crop. He gets half and you get half , that includes subsidy payments. the crop insurance comment was for the guy talking about crop insurance . I guess I should have added his name.

  • Anonymous

    In response to Mofarmer – Apparently you are still not aware that federal crop insurance targets the largest policy holders with the largest subsidies per individual. Apparently you are not aware of how federal crop insurance makes the small farmers work harder for less money by narrowing margins of profitability. Apparently you are not aware that those who receive the multimillion dollar federal crop insurance policies are those who have the largest net farm incomes which enables them to be the individuals who the government enables to be the dominant force in purchasing more land. Being a small and smart farmer does not provide the net income that allows much more than food on the table. Being financially able to expand by renting another 40 acres does not provide a picture of someone able to compete with a multi milllion dollar investment and profit guaranteeing government policy.

  • Anonymous

    You do realize the small guy is guarranteed the same profit per acre as the large guy. He also can go and rent more than 40 acres if he choses. I was just throwing 40a as a example. Crop insurance pays equal for the small or larger farm. Its up to the operator if he wants to stick his neck out there and farm more ground. I can also tell you that big guy is not getting as filthy rich as you think. It takes larger more expensive machinery and Labor to farm more. Added expense. I wouldnt get to quick to say all these big guys and there large incomes. Its net income that matters and I would bet theres are not as large as you think.

    What you should be griping about is crop insurance allows the big guy to stick his neck out on some of his cash rented ground. If he is farming for say 10,000 acres and he pays the going rate of rent on 7000 of it. That 7000 insures his profit for the year. This enables him to pay absurb cash rents for the last 3000 acre up to the point where his rent and crop inputs are more than his insurance guarantee. He is gambling that he is going to raise a good crop and pull off making 50-60 dollars a acre profit and if he loses 10-20 he can absorb it on the other 7000 he is renting reasonable.

  • Anonymous

    Well why your crying over spilled milk, dont forgot all the people recieving money for CRP, Wetlands and Buffer Strips. Heck to be fair , they ought to print out everyone and every business recieving any form of government payments or aide and the amount. Seem this EWG outfit only targets farmers.

  • http://www.ewg.org/agmag Don Carr

    Mofarmer — we put everyone’s names we can out there. Turns out that many farmers (and wealthy urbanites) have erected complex paper farms to hide their names, though.

    You did read this post, right? Its about folks living in cities getting subsidies.

  • Anonymous

    In reply to Mofarmer- A farmer with a $50,000 policy with a total loss gets $50000. A farmer with a $5,000,000 policy with a total loss gets $5,000,000. Obviously the government subsidy per policy holder is vastly different. So you feel $50,000 is equal to $5,000,000. If the government was insuring investments and profits for grocery stores and subsidizing these insurance policies, would it be fair if Walmart could receive a multibillion dollar subsidized investment and profit insurance policy just because Walmart has greater expenses than its smaller competitors You tell me why it is that the government should be helping the big get bigger?

  • Anonymous

    Yeah there is different sizes of farms and money levels of income as there is in expenses on these farms. Splined , the smaller guy has just as much opportunity to get larger if he wants. Crop insurance isnt holding him back.

  • Anonymous

    I am fed up with misinformation that is out there about the farming community. I have lived and worked in agriculture all my life and am tired of farming being the scape goat for city misuse of nitrogen fert. and chemical abuses on lawns and country clubs. Add contamination from waste water treatment plants. Add to this the abuse of the farm bill by our city dwelling cousins and the fact that 85% of the farm bill is not farm related. But is instead welfare and administrative costs. I do not have a problem helping those in need just don’t call it farm bill. We as farmers are producing responsibly the worlds cheapest and safest supply of food and are the most environmentally friendly people you will ever meet.

  • http://www.ewg.org/agmag Don Carr

    precisionman1 – Misinformation? USGS clearly shows that agriculture is the single largest contributor to water pollution in Gulf of Mexico. Sure cities and urban areas need to do their part, and are regulated to do that — while ag escapes any regulation.

    http://www.ewg.org/agmag/2011/03/making-illinoise-over-water-pollution/

    Take away nutrition programs from the farm bill, and any support for the narrow niche of farmers that receive payments from urban lawmakers evaporates.

    And 60% of farmers do not receive payments – while for those that do, the top 10% of the wealthiest gobbles up 74% of the payments. These programs are not helping most farmers, but are only helping a narrow band of wealthy operators.

    I for one am fed up with the Agribiz lobby not taking responsibility for the excessive water pollution we all incur.

  • Anonymous

    There was study done of nitrogen levels in the Canadian river. Levels lis to
    none for 100 miles up river from Oklahoma City. Levels increased drastically
    through the city and began to decrease the further south of the city they
    went. This study was hidden from the public because the problem was not
    agriculture. We could farm thousands of acres with the mass application of
    nitrogen used on residential yards and country clubs.

    Thank You,

  • http://www.facebook.com/amy1300 Amy Leeson

    I live in Phoenix, so l am most famliar with the area of that map. There are many, many dots on EWG’s Phoenix Map, that are NOT in Phoenix, or any of its large suburbs. Therefore, that map is misleading. In Wickenburg, Cave Creek, Queen Creek, and other places where EWG shows dots, there really are orchards and other food producing farms. The point about who gets farm payments may be well-founded, but the Phoenix map is bogus and undercuts the message.

  • http://www.ewg.org/agmag Don Carr

    Amy – - 90% of farm payments go to just five crops — corn, cotton, rice, wheat and soybeans. So its a good bet that most of those dots are payments going to folks who live there but have farms elsewhere.

    We built the maps based on city zip codes.

    Not bogus.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Miryam-Wiley/653625030 Miryam Wiley

    We must become the agents of change for this absurd concept guiding our country!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Miryam-Wiley/653625030 Miryam Wiley

    We must become the agents of change for this absurd concept guiding our country!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Lopez/1525721476 John Lopez

    something tells me you’re cashing in…..

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Lopez/1525721476 John Lopez

    not buying it. You’re cashing in and you’re mad you got busted.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Martin/1195565015 David Martin

    really ya think you should cut this? Don’t you people do anything? my God you just toss our money away then come and try and take from the poor! OUR GOVERNMENT IS FULL OF WAIST I THINK YOU ALL SHOULD TAKE A PAY CUT LETS PUT THAT ON THE BALLOT!! LETS LET THE PEOPLE TELL YOU WHAT YOUR GOING TO MAKE!!!!
    do your job or get out!