this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2023
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Don't almost all governments subsidize the hell out of their agriculture because it hasn't been profitable since like... 1800s?
The USA spent ~$25,000,000,000 on crop subsidies. Particularly on the big 4-5 staples. That's not exactly chump change. We actually spend ~$1,000,000,000,000 on food in general.
https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/primer-agriculture-subsidies-and-their-influence-on-the-composition-of-u-s-food-supply-and-consumption/
https://usafacts.org/topics/agriculture/
Governments subsidize agriculture because the market would leave a huge gaping hole in national security if it were unsubsidised.
Not to mention the "subsidy" that farmers themselves received via land grants in the past, often passed forward to today's farmers (those who haven't sold to larger companies).
One of the craziest things to me is that the land used for farming is worth a lot more if you choose to and are able to use it for something else. There's an opportunity cost that only exists because these folks didn't factor today's price of land in to their equation as a cost.