The USDA reported cotton program payments.

The federal payments to cushion farmers against a drop in cotton prices last year soared to $728 million, according to figures released by the Agriculture Department. More than a dozen of about 900 participants received payments of at least $10 million. Defenders of the program say the payments were deserved because the 10-cent-per-pound drop in cotton prices was engineered by the government under the 1985 farm law to stimulate exports. The largest amount went to Dunavant Enterprises Inc. of Memphis and its California unit, W. B. Dunavant & Co., which received a total of $89.77 million. Calcot Ltd. of Bakersfield received $54.5 million and J. G. Boswell Co. of Los Angeles received $2.16 million.