Well, unfortunately two of the things that the Republicans need to do for the good of the country is:
1. End the ethanol scam. To avoid hardships to farmers who have been sucked into this, this should be done over a period of maybe three or four years, cutting back the amount of ethanol in gasoline year by year.
2. Cut the farm subsidies. Not sure if they can be ended entirely, but we have to stop biasing them toward the big factory farm/political contributors, and we have to cut them way back.
The problem with this is that the last time the Republicans tried this, quite a few years ago, they promptly lost all the midwestern farm states to the Democrats.
AT LEAST cut the ethanol scam, starting ASAP. I think even the greenies now understand that that was a stupid idea.
End the ethanol farce NOW.
The farm subsides just enrich the corporate farmers and the greedy farmers.
The real reason America lost millions of small farmers is the very government programs that purport to save the farmers.Vastly increased government rules and restrictions made it uneconomical for small farms to survive,much less thrive.
And many farmers contributed by falling victim to "new paint disease";this is when a farmer buys un-needed new machinery (i.e. ,replaces perfectly useful machinery) because his neighbor got a new tractor,etc.It is just another example of consumerism.Now buying a new item because it actually improves your life by reducing labor or increasing productivity or providing greater enjoyment is fine;but Americans enslave themselves buying too much stuff just because everyone else is.
With commodities at record highs, this is something that can be politically feasible now. However, it should also go along with any reforms necessary to help make exporting crops easier. Food is one thing we can easily make and export and help to balance out trade.