It is possible to make plants more efficient food producers.
The management goal of corn production and other crops is yield, not quality factors for the most part. Yield is even more important than profit. Do you ever hear a farmer talk about quality factors or profit per acre, never in my life time. If you ask them what their average ten year yield was, they would tell you their highest yield. and it was the highest yield they managed for.
I spent 30 years analyzing farm records.
But that is no different than employees managing for highest wage, not net wage. Much of the 2nd wage is spent on childcare, etc
Mostly on the taxes of the next bracket.