Denver reaps farm subsidies

DENVER -- The city is reaping bountiful returns on land it owns around Denver International Airport, collecting nearly $400,000 over five years in federal farm subsidies.

The farm subsidy program was created to support family farms, and is under close scrutiny as federal lawmakers try to work out how they will hand out $73.5 billion over the next 10 years.

The $389,067 paid to Denver -- including money for not growing wheat, barley and corn -- was included in a list of subsidies on the Web site of the Environmental Working Group, which is critical of payments going to agribusinesses and developers rather than smaller family farms.

Denver leases land around the airport to farmers, but some subsidies, including those for leaving land unplanted, are paid to the landowner.