The Environmental Working Group (EWG) this month released the first online database of government farm subsidy records, comprised of 70 million records of subsidy checks sent from 1996 to 2000. Users can search by name, zip code, county, or municipality. Searches can be performed within states by clicking on the US map on the front page or within the country as a whole by clicking the link at the bottom of the page. The Search Instructions page offers additional information about using the database, and EWG also provides a link to a discussion group about farm business as well as additional information about farm subsidies and current government policy. EWG makes no bones about their position vis a vis the data -- "we . . . think current policy has badly failed almost everyone in agriculture but the very largest producers of a few favored crops." -- but people of all political persuasions will find this a useful site if they are researching farm subsidies.