The federal government provides a “safety net” to agricultural producers to help them through the variations in agricultural production and profitability from year to year – due to variations in weather, market prices, and other factors – while ensuring a stable food supply. However, this support is mostly for five major “program” commodities of corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, and rice. A few other commodities also qualify for government support, though subsidies are far smaller. Dairy and sugar producers have separate price and market controls that are highly regulated and can be costly to the government.
From 1995 through 2010, 3,296 farms in Maine received a total of over $60,400,000 in subsidies. The data below represents total (not annual) payments made from county United States Deprtment of Agriculture (USDA) offices to the top 100 Maine recipients during calendar years 1995- 2010 for subsidy programs administered by the USDA’s Farm Service Agency.
A recipient may be an individual, a corporation, a general partnership, joint venture, or some other legal entity. Payment data presented here were net of refunds paid to the government, which were subtracted for each recipient and subsidy category as the Environmental Working Group tabulated payments.
Source: Environmental Working Group • 1718 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 600 • Washington, DC 20009 • http://farm.ewg.org/subsidyprimer.php (accessed August 24, 2011)
| Rank | Recipient | Location | Subsidies |
| 1 | Flood Brothers LLC ∗ | Clinton, ME 04927 | $873,036 |
| 2 | Williams Farms Inc ∗ | North Anson, ME 04958 | $778,041 |
| 3 | Stonyvale Inc ∗ | Exeter, ME 04435 | $588,052 |
| 4 | Piper Farms ∗ | Embden, ME 04958 | $571,310 |
| 5 | The Wright Place LLC ∗ | Clinton, ME 04927 | $542,201 |
| 6 | Veazland Farms ∗ | Corinna, ME 04928 | $533,444 |
| 7 | Taylor Dairy Farm Corp ∗ | Saint Albans, ME 04971 | $520,983 |
| 8 | Gold Top Farms ∗ | Knox, ME 04986 | $510,518 |
| 9 | Hilton Farms Inc ∗ | Norridgewock, ME 04957 | $498,059 |
| 10 | Crane Brothers Inc ∗ | Exeter, ME 04435 | $489,072 |
| 11 | Cambridge Farms ∗ | Cambridge, ME 04923 | $485,759 |
| 12 | Misty Meadows Farm ∗ | Clinton, ME 04927 | $467,753 |
| 13 | Caverly Farms LLC ∗ | Clinton, ME 04927 | $439,736 |
| 14 | Alfaslopes Farm ∗ | Charleston, ME 04422 | $429,878 |
| 15 | Davis Farm, Thomas Davis Jr ∗ | Kenduskeag, ME 04450 | $411,999 |
| 16 | Patten Farms ∗ | Atkinson, ME 04426 | $403,861 |
| 17 | Ronald & Yvette Lamarche ∗ | Corinth, ME 04427 | $391,064 |
| 18 | Highland Farms Inc ∗ | Cornish, ME 04020 | $361,642 |
| 19 | Somerset Farms Lp ∗ | Pittsfield, ME 04967 | $331,035 |
| 20 | Weston R Sherburne & Sons Inc ∗ | Dexter, ME 04930 | $324,072 |
| 21 | Silver Maple Farms Inc ∗ | Albion, ME 04910 | $317,788 |
| 22 | Frederick A Richards Sr | Hermon, ME 04401 | $312,210 |
| 23 | Matt & Dorothy Rogers ∗ | Clinton, ME 04927 | $310,776 |
| 24 | Ernest E Hawes | Albion, ME 04910 | $310,381 |
| 25 | Howard Farms Inc ∗ | Orrington, ME 04474 | $299,327 |
| 26 | Varnum Farms Inc ∗ | Sebec, ME 04481 | $297,994 |
| 27 | Richard A Aitken | Monroe, ME 04951 | $294,494 |
| 28 | Dostie Farm ∗ | Fairfield, ME 04937 | $292,283 |
| 29 | Roger Aaron Whitney | Corinna, ME 04928 | $288,947 |
| 30 | Green Thumb Farms ∗ | Fryeburg, ME 04037 | $278,804 |
| 31 | Lilley Farms Inc ∗ | Smyrna Mills, ME 04780 | $274,932 |
| 32 | Aghaloma Farms ∗ | Knox, ME 04986 | $270,529 |
| 33 | Julien J Casavant | Corinth, ME 04427 | $263,471 |
| 34 | Lake View Farms ∗ | Saint Albans, ME 04971 | $257,965 |
| 35 | Ferland Farm ∗ | Poland, ME 04274 | $256,539 |
| 36 | Frank W Tozier | Fairfield, ME 04937 | $251,858 |
| 37 | Sandy River Farms ∗ | Farmington, ME 04938 | $251,604 |
| 38 | Wide Ruin Farms ∗ | Newport, ME 04953 | $248,924 |
| 39 | Stedy-rise Farm ∗ | Clinton, ME 04927 | $246,818 |
| 40 | Caldwell Inc ∗ | Turner, ME 04282 | $242,038 |
| 41 | Aghaloma Farms ∗ | Knox, ME 04986 | $241,401 |
| 42 | Brigeen Farms Inc ∗ | Turner, ME 04282 | $239,681 |
| 43 | Keith L Miller | Newburgh, ME 04444 | $237,056 |
| 44 | Carl D & Linda E Smith ∗ | Corinna, ME 04928 | $236,279 |
| 45 | Bosworth Farms Inc ∗ | Cornville, ME 04976 | $235,789 |
| 46 | Quaker Hill Farm ∗ | Unity, ME 04988 | $233,156 |
| 47 | Pray’s Dairy Farm ∗ | Bradford, ME 04410 | $231,317 |
| 48 | Karl & Sheila Scott ∗ | Garland, ME 04939 | $223,429 |
| 49 | Jay R Hastings | Bethel, ME 04217 | $221,146 |
| 50 | Linwood N Eaton | Exeter, ME 04435 | $220,129 |
| 51 | Elroy C Chartrand | Norridgewock, ME 04957 | $217,126 |
| 52 | The Wren Farm Inc ∗ | Thorndike, ME 04986 | $214,083 |
| 53 | Maple Lane Farms ∗ | Charleston, ME 04422 | $211,703 |
| 54 | Smith’s Farm Inc ∗ | Presque Isle, ME 04769 | $206,631 |
| 55 | R E Hemond Farm Inc ∗ | Minot, ME 04258 | $206,362 |
| 56 | Barker Farm Inc ∗ | Leeds, ME 04263 | $201,815 |
| 57 | James E Thomas | Garland, ME 04939 | $197,768 |
| 58 | Dyers Valley Farm Inc ∗ | Newcastle, ME 04553 | $196,442 |
| 59 | Carl R Smith III | Newport, ME 04953 | $195,171 |
| 60 | Spear Farms Inc ∗ | Nobleboro, ME 04555 | $194,494 |
| 61 | Page Farms ∗ | Sangerville, ME 04479 | $192,220 |
| 62 | Buckley Farms Inc ∗ | Leeds, ME 04263 | $191,692 |
| 63 | Country Acres Farm Inc ∗ | Hampden, ME 04444 | $191,608 |
| 64 | Rusty Knoll Farm ∗ | Gorham, ME 04038 | $190,819 |
| 65 | Jeffrey H Bragg ∗ | Sidney, ME 04330 | $189,695 |
| 66 | Thomas Farms Of Garland Inc ∗ | Garland, ME 04939 | $188,078 |
| 67 | Rufus Cooley | Ripley, ME 04930 | $186,728 |
| 68 | Hill Farms ∗ | Fryeburg, ME 04037 | $178,980 |
| 69 | John R Carter | Bethel, ME 04217 | $178,480 |
| 70 | Kevin & Catherine Tilton ∗ | Corinth, ME 04427 | $177,820 |
| 71 | Conant Acres Inc ∗ | Canton, ME 04221 | $177,657 |
| 72 | Johnson Farm Inc ∗ | Kittery, ME 03904 | $175,946 |
| 73 | River Rise Farm Inc ∗ | North Turner, ME 04266 | $174,519 |
| 74 | Thurston Farms Inc ∗ | Fryeburg, ME 04037 | $174,369 |
| 75 | Mower Farm ∗ | Saint Albans, ME 04971 | $172,939 |
| 76 | Terry D Hicks | Corinth, ME 04427 | $172,782 |
| 77 | Ricker Hill Orchards Inc ∗ | Turner, ME 04282 | $170,653 |
| 78 | Keith A Noyes | Albion, ME 04910 | $169,879 |
| 79 | Timothy G Lambert | Norridgewock, ME 04957 | $167,636 |
| 80 | Willard C Doyen & Sons ∗ | Mapleton, ME 04757 | $167,483 |
| 81 | Frank E Dickinson | Norridgewock, ME 04957 | $163,753 |
| 82 | Larry Ward | Thorndike, ME 04986 | $163,429 |
| 83 | John E Fisher | Vassalboro, ME 04989 | $161,801 |
| 84 | John A Hemond | Minot, ME 04258 | $161,163 |
| 85 | Daniel E Harriman | Canaan, ME 04924 | $160,838 |
| 86 | Bell Farms Inc ∗ | Lewiston, ME 04240 | $159,052 |
| 87 | Thomas C & Beth E Quint ∗ | Hodgdon, ME 04730 | $154,422 |
| 88 | Ronald H Simpson | Corinna, ME 04928 | $152,646 |
| 89 | Arthur & Janet Libby ∗ | Corinth, ME 04427 | $152,131 |
| 90 | Cooper Farms Inc ∗ | West Paris, ME 04289 | $151,763 |
| 91 | Nezinscot Farm ∗ | Turner, ME 04282 | $151,201 |
| 92 | Edwin Pelletier And Sons Inc ∗ | Frenchville, ME 04745 | $150,313 |
| 93 | Clemeadow Farms Inc ∗ | Monmouth, ME 04259 | $146,526 |
| 94 | Shermirley Farm Inc ∗ | Turner, ME 04282 | $145,887 |
| 95 | Maxwell Farms ∗ | Lee, ME 04455 | $142,819 |
| 96 | Dale T Cole | Sidney, ME 04330 | $141,097 |
| 97 | Arabest Farms Inc ∗ | Winterport, ME 04496 | $140,700 |
| 98 | Springdale Jerseys Inc ∗ | Waldo, ME 04915 | $140,610 |
| 99 | Guerrette Farms Corporation ∗ | Caribou, ME 04736 | $138,182 |
| 100 | M Myron Smith | Newburgh, ME 04444 | $137,305 |
* USDA data are not “transparent” for many payments made to recipients through most cooperatives. Recipients of payments made through most cooperatives, and the amounts, have not been made public. To see ownership information, go to http://farm.ewg.org/top_recips.php?fips=23000&progcode=totalfarm®ionname=Maine, click on the name, then click on the link that is titled Ownership Information.
Source: USDA. Compiled by EWG. (2011)