The real problem is this: "Modern agriculture in America can look like a gambling career with a gardening hobby.

The price of a farm commodity, whether beef on the hoof or corn by the bushel, may have little to do with whether a given farmer makes enough revenue to keep going. The most reliable farm income often comes from not growing things, or subsidies for growing things that other people are already growing too much of: government insurance against bad weather, price floors for surplus commodities, payments to leave land fallow, cash for not using water. "