Booting Earth Optimization System
Thank you for your patience. Your civilization is very important to us.
Thank you for your patience. Your civilization is very important to us.
Agency Report Card
Provide leadership on food, agriculture, and natural resources
Provide leadership on food, agriculture, and natural resources
2014 Farm Bill replaces direct payments with crop insurance subsidies — 78% goes to top 10% of farms ↗
2020 $46B in COVID farm relief — more than double the normal subsidy budget in a single year ↗
About $400 billion in direct farm payments from 2000 to 2024 (USDA ERS) while the number of farms fell 13% and food prices rose 97%. Subsidies flow to megafarms while small farms die.
| Year | Direct government farm program payments (USDA ERS, calendar year, nominal USD; excludes crop insurance premium subsidies) | Number of US farms (thousands; NASS, 2007+ reflects improved Census coverage) | CPI-U Food, U.S. city average, annual average (2000=100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $23.2B | 2,167 | 100 |
| 2002 | $12.4B | – | – |
| 2004 | $13B | 2,113 | 111 |
| 2006 | $15.8B | – | – |
| 2008 | $12.2B | 2,184.5 | 127.6 |
| 2010 | $12.4B | – | – |
| 2012 | $10.6B | 2,110 | 139.3 |
| 2014 | $9.8B | – | – |
| 2016 | $13B | 2,055 | 147.8 |
| 2018 | $13.7B | – | – |
| 2020 | $45.6B | 1,992 | 159.2 |
| 2022 | $15.6B | – | – |
| 2024 | $10.1B | 1,880 | 196.8 |
“Pay for nutrition and resilience, not politically favored crops”
Farm support spending in 2024 data
Share of subsidies going to the largest farms
Approximate number of farms in 2024
Food prices rose 83% since 2000 despite heavy subsidies
“You pay farmers to grow corn nobody needs, while small farmers go bankrupt and food prices rise. The top ten percent of farms receive seventy-eight percent of subsidy payments. On my planet, we call that a wealth transfer with extra steps.”
On a well-run planet, this agency would have been deprecated centuries ago. Here is what replaces it.
Food Resilience Exchange — USDA Subsidy Complex