[norwaypinesavage]

"A few billions to the farmers never hurt. Farmers do not buy Lamborghini's, they buy John Deere and Case. It is a subsidy that stays in the country."

There are so few farmers left in the country that you can practically count them in a few minutes. Most farms are run by large agribusinesses. Most farm equipment costs more than a Lamborghini. The whole need for farm subsidies is now simply subsidies for large businesses. Burning ethanol for fuel is one of the most stupid subsidies you could imagine. By the time you subtract the diesel fuel and electricity to run the equipment, and the petroleum to make the fertilizer, the amount of energy you gain is near zero.

[urbanpovertylawcenter]

I have friends in Tn who farm and they are not big agri. Their gov checks are spent getting a crop to market. I do not covet their jobs. $300 an acre to plant corn, equipment failures, drought, too much rain, and a fickle market is not a walk in the park.

[Neoliberalnot]

So, over 2 million farms is a few? Do you farm? What business are you in? Show me the calculations on corn that generates 400 gallons of ETOH/acre, a high protein livestock feed and cornstalk forage is a net energy loss. If you can show the science based evidence then I can be persuaded, but the big oil companies can’t produce them either, since they always omit the feed and forage from consideration. They also never mention that growing corn is a CO2 sink and an efficient user of sunlight to make portable energy.