The United States Congress is currently discussing a new farm bill that would allocate more than $70 billion over the next decade to subsidy programs. But who receives the bulk of these funds? The answer is--the owners of the largest, wealthiest farmlands.

Information posted on the web site of the EWG, a nonprofit organization, shows that of the 2.5 million farmers in the United States, 1,290 of the wealthiest farmers each received more than $1 million in subsidy payments between 1996 and 2000.

In contrast the average farm in the bottom 80 percent got just $5,830.

The Environmental Working Group web site can be accessed at www.ewg.org  
 
 
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