Corn should not dominate our agriculture and economy.

I know this is going to seem radical, but:

Corn is a food. Corn is a food for humans, and quite good as such.

However, without the huge government subsidies it currently receives, it would not be a competitive way to sweeten drinks, feed livestock, or fuel cars. On that last point, the ethanol we get from biowaste- meaning all the stuff we don’t eat that goes in the trash- is not only cheaper, it is a way to get good value out of stuff we’d otherwise pay to dispose.

I’m not suggesting we hang farmers out to dry, I’m suggesting we go back to our old system of guarantees for years when the price falls. The government would say: If you want to plant corn for next year’s harvest, and can’t sell it for more than x, we will buy it for x and store it in silos in case of famine. That would be sensible.

Instead, what we are now saying is: if you grow corn, we will give you money. Not for the corn. Hell, you can let it rot in the fields and we will pay you for that, too. This is not sensible.