Louisiana on federal subsidy dole

Louisiana has received $5.36 billion in federal farm subsidies since 1995, ranking it 19th of the 50 states, according to information provided by Environmental Working Group (EWG), a database that tracks $240 billion in farm subsidies and $37 billion in conservation payments.

A breakdown of those payments over the 17 years shows that:

• Only 35 percent of farms in Louisiana received subsidy payments.

• 10 percent of those received 83 percent of all subsidies paid ($3.98 billion).

• The average paid the top 10 percent was $37,163 per year.

• The average paid the bottom 80 percent was $393 per year.

• 23,222 subsidy payments totaling $1.99 billion were made to rice farmers.

• 17,797 subsidy payments totaling $1.83 billion were made to cotton farmers.

Payments dropped off precipitously after rice and cotton, the report shows, with 20,810 payments of $280.7 million being made to soybean farmers for the third-highest subsidy payout. The 23,468 disaster payments over the 17-year period totaled $279.8 million and 16,074 payments totaling $270 million were made to corn farmers.

Three of the top four individual recipients were located in Newellton in Tensas Parish. They were Balmoral Farming Partnership (first, at $20.3 million), Franklin Farms (third, at $11.9 million) and Hardwick Planting Co. (fourth, at $9.5 million). The second highest individual recipient was Condrey Farms of Lake Providence in East Carroll Parish ($13.77 million).

Morehouse Parish led the state with nearly $421 million in payments, according to the EWG report while Winn ($733,000) and Jackson ($502,000) ranked 63rd and 64th, respectively, in payments received.

Ironically, West Carroll Parish, historically one of the poorest counties in America, ranked 14th in the state in subsidies. West Carroll farmers received $172.58 million in farm subsidies over the 17 years covered in the report, or about $10 million per year.

The ranking of all 64 parishes, in order, for the 17-year period is as follows:

Morehouse – $420.96 million

Acadia – $363.87 million

Tensas – $334.4 million

Vermilion – $328.4 million

Jefferson Davis – $323.2 million

Franklin – $306.2 million

Richland – $287.3 million

Madison – $283.1 million

East Carroll – $268.3 million

Concordia – $240.6 million

Catahoula – $236.3 million

Evangeline – $207.9 million

St. Landry – $180.3 million

West Carroll – $172.6 million

Avoyelles – $168.2 million

Rapides – $126.3 million

Pointe Coupee – $106.6 million

Natchitoches – $106 million

Calcasieu – $95.4 million

Allen – $91.6 million

Ouachita – $90.9 million

Caddo – $79.8 million

Cameron – $71.3 million

Caldwell – $51.9 million

Red River – $43.3 million

Lafayette – $32.1 million

Bossier – $26.1 million

Beauregard – $26 million

Tangipahoa – $25.1 million

St. Martin – $24.2 million

Washington – $22.9 million

Grant – $22.3 million

Iberville – $12.9 million

Iberia – $12.5 million

De Soto – $11.1 million

Plaquemines – $9.7 million

West Baton Rouge – $8.1 million

West Feliciana – $7.9 million

East Feliciana – $6.6 million

St. Helena – $6.2 million

Lafourche – $6 million

Jefferson – $5.2 million

Terrebonne – $4.4 million

St. Mary – $4 million

St. Tammany – $3.9 million

Assumption – $3.8 million

St. James – $3.6 million

Webster – $3.3 million

Sabine – $3.2 million

Ascension – $3.1 million

Claiborne – $3 million

Union – $2.9 million

East Baton Rouge – $2.5 million

Bienville – $2.4 million

La Salle – $2.3 million

Lincoln – $2.1 million

Vernon – $1.7 million

St. Bernard – $1.2 million

Livingston – $1.1 million                     

Orleans – $1 million

St. John the Baptist – $945,000

St. Charles – $917,000

Winn – $733,000

Jackson – $502,000