Double Dippers: Recipients Collecting from Multiple Programs
Top 20 Multi-Program Recipients
| # | Recipient | State | Programs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riceland Foods Inc | AR | 14 | $18.5M |
| 2 | Producers Rice Mill Inc | AR | 12 | $14.2M |
| 3 | Chs Inc | MN | 11 | $12.4M |
| 4 | Valley Cotton Growers | TX | 11 | $9.8M |
| 5 | Anderson Family Trust | IA | 10 | $8.6M |
| 6 | Great Plains Farming Co | KS | 10 | $7.2M |
| 7 | Delta Pine & Land Co | MS | 9 | $6.8M |
| 8 | Cargill Cotton | TX | 9 | $6.5M |
| 9 | Prairie Land Cooperative | NE | 9 | $5.9M |
| 10 | Heartland Farms Llc | IA | 8 | $5.4M |
| 11 | Southern States Ag | GA | 8 | $5.1M |
| 12 | Midwest Grain Inc | IL | 8 | $4.8M |
| 13 | Sun Valley Ranches | CA | 7 | $4.5M |
| 14 | High Plains Cattle Co | TX | 7 | $4.2M |
| 15 | Western Ag Corp | CO | 7 | $3.9M |
| 16 | Northern Plains Llc | ND | 7 | $3.7M |
| 17 | Bayou Rice Holdings | LA | 7 | $3.4M |
| 18 | Central Valley Farms | CA | 6 | $3.2M |
| 19 | Ozark Mountain Ag | MO | 6 | $2.9M |
| 20 | River Delta Growers | MS | 6 | $2.7M |
Why This Happens
The USDA operates 157 distinct programs, each with its own eligibility criteria, payment limits, and funding sources. A single farming operation can simultaneously collect from commodity programs (ARC, PLC), conservation programs (CRP, EQIP), disaster programs (ELAP, LFP), and emergency programs (CFAP, ERP) — all legally.
This isn't necessarily fraud. Many of these programs serve different purposes and are designed to stack. A cattle rancher in Texas might legitimately receive disaster livestock payments, conservation stewardship payments, and commodity price supports in the same year.
The Payment Limit Question
While individual programs have payment caps (typically $125,000/year), there's no aggregate cap across all programs. A recipient collecting from 10+ programs can legally receive well over $1 million annually from the USDA, far exceeding what any single program limit would allow.
Some operations structure themselves as multiple LLCs or partnerships, with each entity qualifying independently for the same programs. This legal but controversial strategy effectively multiplies the payment limits. See our analysis on payment limits and corporate recipients.