Governments get involved in agriculture to ensure adequate food supplies, protect and preserve small-scale farms, reduce price instability, minimize dependence on imports and protect the environment. In this book, the dependency of South Dakota on different forms of federal payments is examined. In addition, the distribution of farm program payments to recipients is analyzed. South Dakota's dependency on federal payments has increased during the 1990-2001 time period. Moreover, the level of dependency on farm program payments for farm income increased enormously from the 1990-95 period to the 1996-01 time period. Dependency on federal payments was similar across regions; however, farm income dependency on farm program payments varies throughout South Dakota. The distribution of farm program payments was highly unequal in South Dakota, regardless of region and specific year examined. The sum of the first quintile's payment was much larger than the sum of the second, third, fourth, and fifth quintile combined.