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Iowa Farmers Make Out Like Bandits Due To Katrina Disaster
Posted by Pile
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[Environment] |
When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005, the aftershocks rippled all the way to Iowa. Grain shipments down the Mississippi River were shut down and the price of corn plunged. While people were drowning in New Orleans, the government had systems in place to make sure farmers up north wouldn't feel the pain themselves, to the tune of billions of dollars of taxpayer money.
What resulted was a virtually unprecedented flood of government cash to Iowa's farmers, triggered by the drop in prices.
Iowa growers and landowners collected $2.24 billion in subsidies last year |
Of the 2005 payments to Iowa, $1.8 billion were subsidies linked to the production of corn.
Nine Iowa-based farm operations received more than $700,000 in total subsidies, according to the environmental group's analysis.
Altogether, 119,912 Iowa individuals, partnerships and other entities received payments, but 55 percent of total subsidies went to 10 percent of the recipients, the analysis showed. |
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