The only problem with this justification is that it is completely at odds with the
facts. Only 8 of the roughly 400 crops grown in the United States are eligible
for subsidies, and the amount of subsidy increases with the amount of crop produced,
so larger farms benefit more from the subsidies than do small farms. As a
result, two -thirds of all subsidies now accrue to 8% of recipients, most of whom
earn over $250,000 a year. The recipients include a number of Fortune 500 firms
as well as almost 9,070 farms and businesses that received over $1 million in
subsidies from 1995 to 2004