Nearly 20,000 ‘City Slickers’ Received Farm Subsidies in 2017

Nearly 20,000 people living in the nation’s 50 largest cities received federal farm subsidies in 2017, according to a new EWG analysis.

EWG’s analysis of Department of Agricuture data show that 19,832 people in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and other big cities received $108 million in farm subsidies in 2017.

EWG previously found 17,836 people living in the nation’s largest cities who received $63 million in farm subsidies in 2015 and 2016.

Nevertheless, two provisions of the farm bill passed by the House of Representatives would increase the number of city slickers who receive farm subsidies.

One provision of the House farm bill would waive a means tests for some corporate farms. Another provision would make a farmer’s cousins, nieces and nephews eligible for subsidies – regardless of whether they live or work on the farm.

By contrast, the Senate farm bill would tighten the current means test and farm subsidy eligibility requirements.

Under current law, urban residents can receive farm subsidies even if they do not live or work on a farm. The Government Accountability Office recently found that roughly one-fourth of farm subsidy recipients do not contribute personal labor to farms.

Earlier this year, President Trump proposed denying farm subsidies to millionaires and limiting subsidies to one person per farm. But the administration’s bailout for farmers affected by Trump’s trade war does not include these reforms.

City Farm subsidy recipients, 2017
Albuquerque, N.M. 333
Arlington, Texas 293
Atlanta, Ga. 245
Austin, Texas 906
Baltimore, Md. 26
Boston, Mass. 10
Charlotte, N.C. 141
Chicago, Ill. 413
Colorado Springs, Colo. 478
Columbus, Ohio 246
Dallas, Texas 891
Denver, Colo. 853
Detroit, Mich. 29
El Paso, Texas 99
Fort Worth, Texas 516
Fresno, Calif. 128
Houston, Texas 1,160
Indianapolis, Ind. 601
Jacksonville, Fla. 111
Kansas City, Kan. 964
Las Vegas, Nev. 215
Long Beach, Calif. 68
Los Angeles, Calif. 130
Louisville, Ky. 329
Memphis, Tenn. 658
Mesa, Ariz. 254
Miami, Fla. 74
Milwaukee, Wis. 85
Minneapolis, Minn. 581
Nashville, Tenn. 316
New Orleans, La. 98
New York, N.Y. 107
Oakland, Calif. 56
Oklahoma City, Okla. 981
Omaha, Neb. 1,434
Philadelphia, Pa. 22
Phoenix, Ariz. 302
Portland, Ore. 357
Raleigh, N.C. 189
Sacramento, Calif. 122
San Antonio, Texas 735
San Diego, Calif. 221
San Francisco, Calif. 102
San Jose, Calif. 119
Seattle, Wash. 407
Tucson, Ariz. 372
Tulsa, Okla. 493
Virginia Beach, Va. 132
Washington, D.C. 96
Wichita, Kan. 2325
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