Sifter

The rice subsidy numbers are in, reporting which farmers got how much in price supports in the 2002 crop year. This year, we’re using federal data aggregated and released Sept. 9 by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) according to the local bureau of the USDA’s Farm Services Agency, these figures include 70 percent of the anticipated total for 2002; the final payment will be made later this month. The government passes along taxpayer dollars to farmers in years when certain crops command so little on the global market that the growers would lose money, hurting the local economy. A few years back, newspapers including the N&R successfully sued to get the public information released after the FSA balked. This year, the EWG found that the biggest farms are getting more and more; the top 10 percent of recipients got 65 percent of the money. It’s controversial, it’s tradition and it’s part of the reason 21 developing nations walked out of the World Trade Organization Conference in Cancún this week. Here are the top dozen sharing in the $35,271,000 allocated in Butte County in 2002:

Recipient - location - 2002 payments to date - total 1995-2001

R. Gorrill Ranch Enterprises - Durham - $814,096 - $7,708,783

Anderson Farming Partnership - Chico - $783,620 - $3,526,798

Rytone Family Partnership - Chico - $635,451 - $3,285,234

Sohnrey and Son Family Farm - Durham - $606,142 - $2,666,446

Meyer-Banyon* - Biggs - $504,404 - $2,920,493

Tres Picos - Redding - $488,199 - $3,819,223

Starkey Farms* - Oroville - $486,709 - $2,696,110

Lundberg/Lundberg* - Richvale - $472,218 - $2,472,637

Wright Family Farms* - Chico - $441,398 - $2,012,454

Dsl Farms (LaMalfa et al.) - Richvale - $407,963 - $2,794,379

Resource Group (Lundbergs)* - Richvale - $405,166 - $4,121,822

Davit Dayton Rice Partnership - Yuba city - $376,968 - $2,259,955

*Received additional subsidies for wheat or oats.