This is a problem?
From the perch of his $180,000 six-row combine, churning through cornfields that stretch as far as the eye can see, John Phipps has a rare view of American farm policy.
Today, he calls himself an "industrial farmer" who uses computers, technology and science to get the most out of the 1,800 acres of corn and soybeans he plants in an area of Illinois where the weather and soil are ideal for farming. The strategy has paid off with bigger and better yields.
Yet to Congress and federal agricultural officials, Phipps and his wife, Jan, are struggling family farmers. Last year, the government sent the Phippses a check for $120,000. Thousands of similar checks arrived throughout the Corn Belt, even as many farmers had bumper crops.
Federal Subsidies Turn Farms Into Big Business
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/20/AR2006122001591_pf.html
if you don't like subsidies, you should like the
current, higher, crop prices.
subsidies are getting priced-out
It is inevitable that US ag subsidies will have to fall because of the related WTO impasse.
In this case, the ethanol subsidies have the potential to replace ag subsidies. And while ethanol subsidies benefit only corn producers, there are stories in the media of cotton producers planning to convert part of their cotton acreage to corn to take advantage of the higher demand. Soybean and rice producers will shift also.