The Environmental Working Group (EWG), an activist organization files a request for the names of recipients of USDA subsidy payments each year under the Freedom of Information Act.  Details requested by the EWG include the identity and amounts extended to recipients and their location.  Data from 2020 and 2021 released this past week withheld the names of recipients according to Scott Favor, Senior Vice President for Government Affairs with the EWG.

Given that public funds are involved, it is questioned why the USDA is withholding the names of recipients, deviating from previous policy. It is presumed that release of data may prove embarrassing to the USDA under the current administration that has embarked on a policy of distributing funds to “traditionally underserved farmers, tribal entities and minorities”, contrary from standard practice in past years.