According to BusinessWeek, farmers and economic experts said that the money from the government helped counties that farm cotton heavily from being crushed by economic difficulties. Darren Hudson, economist and director of Texas Tech University's Cotton Economics Research Institute, told the magazine that the subsidies provided stability in these areas.
"That stability provided by the programs helped buffer the region, helped buffer agriculture, which helped soften the blow to the overall region," Hudson said.
However, the article noted that some critics feel as though the subsidies merely take money away from taxpayers and give it to growers who already are well-off.
Recent numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture note that cotton production was down in 2009. According to the USDA, crop production for cotton was down 3 percent in 2009 when compared to results in 2008. Overall, the country produced an estimated 12.4 million 480-pound bales of cotton.
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