72% of South Dakota farms have taken farm subsidy checks over the last 25 years. The biggest farm welfare payouts have gone to my Brown County neighbors:
Brown County farmers have accepted $960 million in farm welfare checks since 1995. Just to the south, Spink County’s farmers have taken $712 million. Down Highway 281, we find Beadle County farmers suckling at the government teat with the third-highest passion, topping $509 million. Roberts, Day, Edmunds, Sully, Hand, and Hutchinson farmers have taken countywide totals over $400 million.
Kristi Noem’s welfare family doesn’t even make the top ten: her home county of Hamlin has only raked in $237 million in government assistance to keep farms afloat.
The 28% of “farmers” who haven’t taken subsidy checks are mostly owners of land who aren’t really farmers at all.
Wow, obviously there are handouts that many would rather not talk about.
Cory
You have million in the headline and billion in the body of the article. Please correct so I understand the numbers.
Thanks
If poor people waaay out in populated America were given a similar welfare program, farmers would be one the first to call those people ‘lazy.’
“My job just didn’t work out as planned last year. In fact, I worked very little. Uncle Sam, would you please pay my bills for me?”
Welfare Queens and kings of SD. The government has stepped forward to help you and you put your hands out. Understandable.
Glad they got help because drumpf is laying tariffs on Brazil and Argentina to start 2 more easy to win trade wars. https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-restores-tariffs-on-steel-and-aluminum-shipped-from-argentina-brazil-11575288359 (might be behind paywall)
Time paints a decidedly unrosy future picture of small farmers in a lengthy read where the subsidies go to the already wealthy and small farmers are SOL.
https://time.com/5736789/small-american-farmers-debt-crisis-extinction/
Typical. When the going gets bad, Economic Oaf makes it worse.
Unless I hear/read something indicating which specific few farmers in SD took all the welfare money away from the smaller farmers in 2019, I refuse to believe rural folks when they claim that is what happened.
How do we know this isn’t like Obama’s Birth Certificate, or Pizza Gate – where most rurals join together and knowingly lie about all kinds of things?
And don’t try to tell me ”they don’t know any better” unless you want to join me in calling them ”stupid effing people.”
The biggest farm Trumpfare queens in South Dakota so far are…
It might not be fair to categorize the various Hutterian brethren as big fatcat farmers taking the bread out of the little farms mouths, for they probably house a horde of families and should be counted as numerous small, long-pantsed farm fellows.
Grudz, the Hutterites are expert welfare check takers just like their English neighbors. I’ve grown up hearing many South Dakotans complain about the Hutterites’ enjoyment of government subsidies; as Adam notes above, many of those complainers are probably also cashing their own Trumpfare checks, which will quietly be reframed as those farmers’ “hard-earned money” when Mike Rounds sends out his campaign materials in 2020.
I did receive one anonymous comment on this thread from someone who has yet to reply to my comment-moderation confirmation message who complained about all the money we give to immigrants. “America First!” the commenter cried.
Gee, a real “America First” policy would recognize that our national interest is served best by acting as a reliable trade partner, keeping markets open, and promoting small-scale, substainable agriculture that would give farmers more opportunities to survive and thrive without falling into dependence on government checks.
Mike’s second link points out one unique hardship faced by farmers going bankrupt: their business is uniquely tied to their land and home, so when their business fails, they don’t just lose business assets but the place they’ve lived with their family for decades.
Gee, a more empathetic and rurally aware President might have thought of that before using farmers as expendables in an ego-driven trade war with China.
The “America First” mantra may be a remnant of exclusionary fraternity and sorority days – a desire by insecure folks to belong to some club (fraternity/sorority) to give their meaningless lives some artifical value.
“America” is the club and “legacy” members (members only because one or more of their parents was a member) try to avoid a feeling of worthlessness because they know that they did nothing at all to deserve membership. They think that they can increase their self-esteem by arbitrarily excluding non-legacy people. i.e. immigrants, who want to join.
BCB – Outstanding analysis of why lower middle class people hate immigrants and peers in their economic strata. i.e. It’s often an attempt to increase their failing self esteem. They imagine people climbing a greasy pole of subsistence where you have to push someone down to rise above them and get what you can from a system designed to help only the legacy members.
~ A rising tide raises all boats means nothing to people who don’t think they can swim without drowning someone else.
Economics of scarcity v. economics of abundance. The USA actually has an abundance of just about everything, but the wealthy and capitalism itself thrives by creating a false scarcity.
There is enough $ in the USA to build and maintain a first rate infrastructure and educational system across the entire nation, but the wealthy are hoarding the necessary resources.
There is enough food to feed everyone but it doesn’t get to where the needs are.
The wealthier the individual, the worse he is at sharing.
Hey I know you farmers got stabbed in the back going bankrupt but at least you can get food stamps NOPE he’s taking that too ! Well at least he is creating all these jobs Nope everybody’s laying off , going out business and or moving out ! But it’s worth it isn’t it after all , while you’re family goes hungry and getting thrown out into the streets remember you’ll be ok as long as you keep wearing that snazzy hat that he gave you and if youre REALLY lucky he might come by and grab you’re ole lady by the pussy on his way to go golfing hell who knows maybe daughter and wife may decide to do a pussy grabbing too . Don’t feel sorry for you !