Fairway Farmers

The grass is always greener for “fairway farmers” who, despite living next to golf courses instead of crop land, have raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments from the first round of President Trump’s trade war bailout program.

The Market Facilitation Program has to date paid out $16 billion in taxpayer funds, which were supposed to help farmers struggling from the loss of access to the Chinese market. Instead, EWG investigations show that MFP money has overwhelmingly gone to the big farms that already get millions of dollars in crop subsidies, and to “city slickers” who live in the nation’s largest metro areas or exclusive developments near golf courses. What’s more, thousands of MFP recipients have received over the maximum payment limit. 

We expect many of these rich farmers and city slickers to take a mulligan in the second round of payments, teed up to start flowing any day now. But this is all par for the course in the Big Ag clubhouse, which has long exploited loopholes in farm law to harvest big money. 

Click through the slideshow for a look at the spreads of these fairway farmers. (All images courtesy of Google Street View.)

  • 1. Hoag Farm Trust, Oro Valley, Ariz.

    The Hoag Farm Trust has received $20,091 in Trump farmer bailout payments to date for a farm in Indiana – though the checks were mailed here.

    1128 Titleist Dr., Oro Valley, Ariz.

    For more jaw-dropping Trump farmer bailout stories, check out www.ewg.org/trumpbailout.

  • 2. Fira Sue Stout, Tucson, Ariz.

    Fira Sue Stout has received $10,580 in bailout payments so far at this address in Tucson, Ariz., for a farm in Kansas.

    37765 S. Terrace Park Dr., Tucson, Ariz.

    For more jaw-dropping Trump farmer bailout stories, check out www.ewg.org/trumpbailout.

  • 3. Kirk Swaggert, Louisville, Ky

    Kirk Swaggert has received $49,698 in Trump bailout payments to date – a master stroke, since the fairway next to his house in Louisville doesn’t seem to be planted with any crops.

    11401 Oakhurst Rd., Louisville, Ky.

    For more jaw-dropping Trump farmer bailout stories, check out www.ewg.org/trumpbailout.

  • 4. Janet Trapp Reinecke Land Trust, Minneapolis, Minn.

    The Janet Trapp Reinecke Land Trust has received $13,171 in Trump bailout payments so far for a farm in Illinois. The payments went to this address in suburban Minneapolis. 

    2373 Lehman Lane NE, Minneapolis, Minn.

    For more jaw-dropping Trump farmer bailout stories, check out www.ewg.org/trumpbailout.

  • 5. J. Perkins Farms, LLC, Parkville, Mo.

    J. Perkins Farms has received $10,634 in Trump farmer bailout payments to date at this house, located in a golf course community in a Kansas City suburb.

    11900 Green Briar, Parkville, Mo.

    For more jaw-dropping Trump farmer bailout stories, check out www.ewg.org/trumpbailout.

  • 6. Adam T. Briese, Omaha, Neb.

    Adam T. Briese, a resident of Omaha’s Tiburon Golf Club community, has received of $11,618 in Trump farmer bailout payments so far – about four years in golf membership fees at the club, cart not included. He could make a foursome with three other bailout recipients who live there, pictured in the next three slides.

    10004 S. 176th St., Omaha, Neb.

    For more jaw-dropping Trump farmer bailout stories, check out www.ewg.org/trumpbailout.

  • 7. NJN Tri-Farm Family Limited Partnership, Omaha, Neb.

    We don’t know the name of the member of the NJN Tri-Farm Family Limited Partnership who lives at the same Tiburon Golf Club that’s home to bailout recipients Adam T. Briese, the David C. Delbridge Revocable Trust and Jerry L. Deines. But he received $10,488 in Trump farm bailout payments to date – about three years of golf membership fees at the club, not including cart.

    17437 Riveria Dr., Omaha, Neb.

    For more jaw-dropping Trump farmer bailout stories, check out www.ewg.org/trumpbailout.

  • 8. David C. Delbridge Revocable Trust, Omaha, Neb.

    The David C. Delbridge Revocable Trust has received $16,284 in Trump farmer bailout payments so far for a farm in Iowa, but the checks are sent to the Tiburon Gold Club in Omaha, Neb. That bailout would pay for five years of member fees at the club. Four different bailout recipients live on this course – wonder if they have tee parties?

    10711 S. 174th Ave., Omaha, Neb.

    For more jaw-dropping Trump farmer bailout stories, check out www.ewg.org/trumpbailout.

  • 9. Jerry L. Deines, Omaha, Neb.

    Jerry L. Deines, who also lives on the Tuburon Golf Course, received $10,860 in Trump farmer bailout payments for a farm in Kansas. Think the four recipients who live at Tiburon share tips on golf strokes as well as farm subsidy applications?

    17118 Fairway Dr., Omaha, Neb.

    For more jaw-dropping Trump farmer bailout stories, check out www.ewg.org/trumpbailout.

  • 10. Craig Athen, Omaha, Neb.

    Craig Athen’s $114,730 in Trump bailout payments might be going toward farms he is somehow involved with in Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska – or maybe they’re keeping his pool nice and blue at his fairway-side mansion at the Shadow Ridge Country Club, in Omaha, Neb. Wonder if his fellow recipients at Shadow Ridge (see next three slides) know they aren’t keeping up with Athen, who has gotten two to three times what his neighbors have.

    2125 S. 189th Circle, Omaha, Neb.

    For more jaw-dropping Trump farmer bailout stories, check out www.ewg.org/trumpbailout.

  • 11. Mshields Farms LLC, Omaha, Neb

    The Shadow Ridge Country Club, in Omaha, is also where an entity called Mshields Farms LLC gets its bailout payments. This “farmer” received $13,374 in Trump farmer bailout payments for a farm in Iowa.

    2240 S. 186th St., Omaha, Neb.

    For more jaw-dropping Trump farmer bailout stories, check out www.ewg.org/trumpbailout.

  • 12. Packer Farms LLC, Omaha, Neb.

    The $47,086 in Trump farmer bailout payments received so far by Packer Farms LLC also came to a house at the Shadow Ridge Country Club in Omaha.

    1737 S. 189th St. Omaha, Neb.

    For more jaw-dropping Trump farmer bailout stories, check out www.ewg.org/trumpbailout.

  • 13. Fremont Hogs LLC, Omaha, Neb.

    Whoever the partner in Fremont Hogs LLC is who lives at the Shadow Ridge Country Club has hogged $32,216 in Trump farmer bailout payments so far.

    1801 S. 189th St., Omaha, Neb.

    For more jaw-dropping Trump farmer bailout stories, check out www.ewg.org/trumpbailout.

  • 14. Richard M. Morgan, Columbus, Ohio

    We don’t know if Richard M. Morgan has the “precise putt and steady hand” the Worthington Hills Country Club’s website says is needed to master its greens. But his hand was steady enough to apply for and receive $50,404 in Trump farmer bailout funds to date.

    1374 Clubview Blvd. S., Columbus, Ohio

    For more jaw-dropping Trump farmer bailout stories, check out www.ewg.org/trumpbailout.

  • 15. Wilbur D. Egert Irrevocable Trust for the Benefit of Sandra E., Austin, Texas

    This house on a hill in the River Place Country Club community, an oasis in the Austin exurbs, is where the Wilbur D. Egert Irrevocable Trust for the Benefit of Sandra E. has received $10,276 in Trump farmer bailout funds so far. Realtor.com says it has “the most amazing-million dollar-panoramic view in River Place!”

    4509 Golf Vista Dr., Austin, Texas

    For more jaw-dropping Trump farmer bailout stories, check out www.ewg.org/trumpbailout.

Disqus Comments

Related News

Continue Reading

Do billionaires get farm subsidies?

A blockbuster report by the Government Accountability Office revealed that more than 1,300 “high-income” farmers received subsidies from the federal crop insurance program. But Congress has barred the...