The Enquirer Journal, Billy Ball
Published April 11, 2009
MONROE - "Every dollar you get on the farm helps."
At least a little but it's not enough, according to Vann Hilton,
lifelong Union County farmer and owner of Marshville's HTH Farms, a
family labor of love for the Hiltons.
Hilton is talking about federal farm subsidies, the subject of much
consternation among taxpayers and reform-minded lawmakers in
Washington, D.C.
Every year, legislators vote on a farm bill that, at least partly,
helps channel federal cash to American farmers through the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
The purpose? Support the ever-vanishing family farm and stabilize crop
prices, particularly grain, cotton and wheat, in a wildly fluctuating
industry.
In exchange for the subsidies, farmers take on a price floor for
everyday agricultural products.
Jury's out on whether it works, reformers say, and President Barack
Obama has even indicated the program is due for some tightening.
Proponents say thou-
sands of small farms wouldn't make ends meet with the program.
Critics say it muddles the free market economy, setting flat prices on
crops regardless of farmers' performance and quality.
Union County, long an agricultural hub of North Carolina, is no
stranger to subsidies.
County farmers received $46.8 million from the federal government from
1995-2006, ranking 21st in the state for total subsidies, according to
the Environmental Working Group, or EWG, a D.C.-based nonprofit
championing subsidy reform.
Top recipients in Union County include Monroe's Cox Brothers Farms,
which took in nearly $5 million in that 11-year period.
Local farming giant Frank Howey Jr. received $1.2 million, followed by
Union County Commissioner Allan Baucom with about $1.1 million.
Baucom's wife, Marie Baucom, is listed as the recipient of another
$900,000 in that time.
Wheat, grain and cotton are among the most subsidized crops in Union
County.
Hilton's HTH Farms is ranked third among individuals by grossing $1.3
million, according to EWG.
Hilton says the subsidies do little for his family farm.
"I don't hardly realize they give me anything," he said Saturday,
adding the most he can remember getting in one installment was $40,000.
EWG spokesman Don Carr said his group's chief concern is the millions
in taxpayer dollars funneled to already wealthy farmers and
organizations.
"The program is set up as a safety net for the farmers that need it,
the small and family farmers," Carr said. "The data shows the majority
of this money goes to large and wealthy operations when it should be
going to farmers who really need it."
The 2008 Farm Bill passed by the U.S. Congress set a $750,000 limit on
annual income for eligible operations.
EWG called for a $250,000 bar last year, Carr said.
"When you look at that number and consider how much the average family
makes, ($750,000) seems quite large," he said.
For Hilton, the subsidies aren't worth it.
"The government is trying to give you that subsidy to hold the prices
down," he said. "If they didn't have that farm subsidy, the food would
be at least a third or half more than it is now."
Hilton, in his 65th year on a farm, said he pays his bills with the
grants, but HTH's income is ultimately reduced because grocery prices
stay low.
"We'd be better off if it's an open market like everything else," he
said. "If the government stayed out of it, yes sir, we'd be better
off, and let the people pay more for it in the grocery stores."
To view Union County's subsidy data, visit EWG's Web site at
farm.ewg.org/farm.
