Locals love affair with farm subsidies

Even Dan Hoffler, the intrepid chairman of construction and property giant, Armada Hoffler Properties Inc., embraced the federal government’s largesse, collecting $159, 256 in subsidies from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, starting in 2007.

But Hoffler is just of many notables.

Names, such as Malbon, Newman, Sawer, Salmons and Bonney Bright Farms in Virginia Beach enjoyed a cornucopia of subsidies, according to EWG.org, which monitors farm subsidies.

Hoffler collected $151, 636 in conservation subsidies and $7,620 in corn subsidies.

Farmers in Virginia Beach collected $16.8 million subsidies during this period.

Yet farmers in Chesapeake collected more than their counterparts:  $27.4 million in subsidies 1995-2012.

Chesapeake ranked 24 in the receipt of subsidies for the period while Virginia Beach ranked 33.

Southampton County received more farm subsidies than any other county or city in the state with 189.6 million in subsidies. Not far behind was Isle of Wight County with $86 million in and Suffolk with $81.4 million in farm subsidies.Virginia ranked 31 among 50 states in farm subsidies.

But the allocations were lopsided.

According to the USDA, 10 percent of Virginia farms collected 65 percent of farm subsidies during the period while 79 percent collected no subsidies.

But who will take a hit? The poor. 

The issue is key, since the 5-year Farm bill, extended in 2008, is set to expire Monday, September 30. The Senate passed its own version in June, trimming the food stamp program, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, $4 billion over 10 years. The House of Representatives wants to trim SNAP by $40 billion over 10 years. Republicans support the cut.

Democrats have been told to oppose it.

A coalition of diverse groups have already publicly opposed handout, they say, to Big Agribusiness.

Two legislators have joined the fray: Ron Kind (D-WI) and Tom Petri (R-WI).

Other groups include the National Taxpayers Union, Taxpayers for Common Sense, the Environmental Working Group, the R Street Institute and PIRG, Public Research Interest Groups.

Since 1995, $292 billion has been spent on agricultural subsidies, with three-quarters of the subsidies going to just four percent of farmers, according to PIRG.

Over 60 percent of farmers don’t receive any subsidies. Furthermore, these subsidies mainly support just a few commodity crops, including corn and soybeans, PIRG said in a prepared statement

The groups oppose subsidies for corn and soy crops for the manufacture of additives like high-fructose corn syrup.

U.S. PIRG research has found that over $1 billion a year in subsidies ends up going to four common junk food additives – corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, corn starch, and soy oils.