Oddbean new post about login | logout Imagine if corn subsidies are removed. What may follow? -eliminate damage to and prolong life of internal combustion engines -no more subsidized industrial corn sludge in foods reduces diabetes -farmers not forced into industrial monoculture which expends the environment -potential for small family regenerative farms to compete with corporate mega farm corps -reduce synthetic fertilizer outflow to waterbodies
But how can farmers survive without subsidies?
They can’t
The current playbook is subsidies favor Corpo-Mega-Monoculture farms, and give these an unfair advantage over family scale small farms. Heavy regulations (see Amos Miller; see K&C Cattle experience with opening a smaller, independent meat processor) also side on side of industrial produced corn sludge. There should be a level playing field. Is it true farmers cant figure out what is economic to produce without subsidies? Do yall discount free market farmers figuring it out?
I think these Corpo Mega monoculture farms function better than the smaller farms. And subsidies discourage innovation. I think more tech and innovation needs to go into farming that allows farms to not have to rely on subsidies as much and that will create a more equal level playing field.
Subsidize regen beef and curtail import/export markets Can do this with other meat products too
What if we just stopped subsidizing everything and let the markets figure it out, though? I know. Radical idea… 🙄
🚨Extremist alert 🚨
And to be fair, if you subsidize corn/soy/monoculture sludge, also subsidize real food in regen food - beef, real milk etc.. Monoculture is artificially picked to be the winner today.
Fact of the matter is that US farmers operate on razor thin margins, so they grow what they are paid to grow I don’t think subsidies are outright bad—they’re a tool that can be used for good! My thought is that subsidizing regen ag would have a positive second order effect of rehabilitating depleted topsoils.
I doubt it will make much difference to diabetes/obesity. Other sweeteners exist. Especially true if distortions from sugar tariffs/quota were also removed, though that doesn't seem likely under Trump. Also, meat may get more expensive. Although, maybe the opposite, if ethanol mandates are also ended. That would be the real win—eliminating mandates that waste valuable farmland, not just ending explicit subsidies.