Mecklenburg Farmers Say Farm Funds Are a Must

By Clay Barbour, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

May 20–The farm bill evokes pastoral images in remote parts of the country.

But the $307 billion spending plan passed last week contains money earmarked for even the most urban of counties — including Mecklenburg County.

The bill includes a $10.3 billion increase for nutrition programs, including food stamps, as well as increases for rural development and land conservation programs.

It also continues controversial farm subsidies, something critics say is difficult to justify with high commodity prices, record global demand and large corporate operations.

In Mecklenburg County, which ranked 78th out of North Carolina’s 100 counties, farmers collected $1.7 million between 1995 and 2007, according to the Environmental Working Group, a D.C.-based nonprofit that tracks farm subsidies.

Mecklenburg farmers collected $33,376 in 2007. The subsidies ranged from $18 given to Charles Davis, a farmer who runs a small farm on the edge of Charlotte, to about $8,100 given to T.M. Westmoreland & Sons in Huntersville.

“On the whole, nobody around here gets much in subsidies,” Keith Westmoreland said. “But they help. A lot of people don’t realize how tough it is to be a farmer these days.”

The Westmoreland farm has operated in Huntersville since Keith Westmoreland’s grandfather started it more than 30 years ago. Today the family works more than 600 acres, which includes about 100 head of dairy cattle, as well as wheat and corn.

According to the nonprofit group, Westmoreland received more than $262,000 in subsidies between 1995 and 2007. That number pales when compared to farms in counties such as Iredell and Union, where some farmers collect hundreds of thousands a year.

The issue has been controversial, with many people considering the money a handout to farmers who don’t necessarily need it. Congress passed the bill with a large enough majority to override an expected veto from President Bush.

Bush and other critics say the bill extends subsidies that are difficult to justify in such flush times for agricultural producers.

Bush had sought an adjusted gross income limit of $200,000 above which farmers could not qualify for any subsidy payments. The bill passed by the Senate and House, however, allows farm income of up to $750,000 and nonfarm income of $500,000 per individual.

While Bush has long called for curtailing subsidy programs, the farm bill is viewed as vital legislation both across rural America and in impoverished urban centers.

Although the legislation is universally known as the farm bill, it actually directs far more money to feeding the poor than it does to helping farmers — about $209 billion for nutrition programs like food stamps, according to the Congressional Budget Office, compared with $35 billion for agricultural commodity programs.

Westmoreland of Huntersville said the pressures on farmers these days make it tough to stay in the business. In fact, he said, many farmers are selling land to developers.

Such money is often far easier to get, he said, and comes with fewer risks than trying to make it as a farmer.

Davis, the farmer who collected $18, started his farm in 1972. He has watched housing developments inch closer to his 30 acres and he said that soon, he and his family would start selling off the land.

“It’s only a matter of time,” Davis said.

IT’S YOUR MONEY

An occasional series on government spending. Please send questions, tips and suggestions to Doug Miller: 704-358-5107, or dmiller@charlotteobserver.com. The New York Times contributed to this story.

CROP OF CASH:

The top 10 farmers in the Mecklenburg area that received funding in 2007.

–T. M. Westmoreland & Sons, Huntersville: $8,104

–Houston Dairy, Charlotte: $5,996

–Charles E. Hunter, Cornelius: $5,030

–Motley Brothers Farms, Concord: $4,660

–Thomas G. Fincher, Monroe: $2,427

–William E. Cook, Huntersville: $1,770

–Joe M. Ardrey, Charlotte: $623

–James E. Stroup, Charlotte: $596

–J R Miller Jr, Fort Mill: $533

–Wayne M. Furr, Concord: $450

Source: The Environmental Working Group

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