Corn Farm Program Payments

Corn is the crop that receives the most farm program payments in the U.S., receiving more than $51 billion between 1995 and 2005.

Farm policy and agribusiness

Agribusiness corporations have historically benefited from federal farm policy that has encouraged corn overproduction. The largest, most intensively farmed corn operations receive the lion’s share of corn commodity program payments. From 1995 to 2005, 70 percent of federal corn program payments received went to the top ten percent of corn producers.

Ethanol subsidies

Corn subsidies keep the cost of ethanol production artificially low for industrial producers. Moreover, the main recipients of ethanol production subsidies are not independent farmers either. For example, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) received over $10 billion in subsidies between 1980 and 1997 because of the $0.51 per gallon ethanol tax break