"Handouts" is one way to look at farm payments. My experience is these are generally offered to keep prices within a range. Think of them as a means of control over the volatile markets which then offer the US consumer the cheapest, safest, and most consistently priced food in the world. If they are a hand out, and you can make a case that they are, then I believe they are a self serving hand out by the consumer.
I never met a producer who really wanted Uncle Sam in his bank account or in his crop rotation. But when it comes to feeding your own family, most will go with the free money and some price guarantees. Nothing is really ever a free hand out, there are always consequences and concessions.
My original point was the free market nature of the gravel road Iowan and the similarity of the sociological nature of it's most prized Agricultural University; Iowa State. Tough, pragmatic, focused on next season, willing to risk planting a crop for a possible harvest in return.
I never met a producer who really wanted Uncle Sam in his bank account or in his crop rotation. But when it comes to feeding your own family, most will go with the free money and some price guarantees. Nothing is really ever a free hand out, there are always consequences and concessions.
My original point was the free market nature of the gravel road Iowan and the similarity of the sociological nature of it's most prized Agricultural University; Iowa State. Tough, pragmatic, focused on next season, willing to risk planting a crop for a possible harvest in return.
