The Nation : Farm Subsidies ‘Skewed’

Nearly half of the $6.6 billion in government subsidy payments last year were reaped by only 12% of the farmers, according to figures released by the Reagan Administration. “The way we’re running our programs right now, we’re skewing our payments heavily toward the largest producers,” Robert Thompson, the Agriculture Department’s chief economist, said in an interview. The major subsidized commodities--wheat, corn and other feed grains, cotton, rice and milk--got nearly 90% of the subsidies last year, even though they account for only about one-third of all farm cash receipts, he said.