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Richest Farms Reap Bulk of U.S. Agriculture Aid, Study Shows

Corn Harvest As Futures For Delivery Gain
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

As Republicans and Democrats in Washington try to settle a high-stakes dispute over agriculture aid, a study shows the bulk of billions of dollars in U.S. subsidies going to the country’s biggest and richest farms.

In the 2018-2019 crop years, more than half of about $23 billion in payments from the Market Facilitation Program went to the top 10% of farms, according to the Environmental Working Group, a critic of agribusiness subsidies. The funds are meant to offset harm from the U.S.-China trade war.