There was a surplus of corn in the early 20th century. Prices dropped; storage was expensive and the corn was attacked by rodents and insects.
So, they turned corn into liquor. The government saw an excellent opportunity for new taxes. Thus was born bootlegging - you know, Joe Kennedy and Al Capone.
Today’s government meddling by creating subsidies - 50 cents a gallon - only exascerbates the deterioration of marginal soils and depletes our water supplies as well as driving up the price of food everywhere.
The guys in Washington have no clue about unintended consequences and usually only respond to their benefactors - lobbyists and political donors or where they have a direct financial interest such as Nancy Pelosi in the T. Boone Pickens enterprize.
As a former farmer, I can smell bull excrement from a mile away.
As part of an FFA project I had an experimental plot of my fathers land where I grew a test plot of corn. My highest yield, in 1965 was 94 bushels per acres.
A friend of mine bought that land later on. In 2005 he raised 200 bushels per acre ON THE ENTIRE FIELD, not just the small hand picked plot I used.
See my tagline, it's been true for more than 50 years.