Captured by agricultural industries, the USDA no longer helps small family farmers. Its perverse incentives have redirected US agriculture to grow heavily treated corn and soy for ultra-processed foods and industrial purposes, rather than healthier foods.
Many farmers followed EPA recommendations and spread sewage sludge on their land as fertilizer. Now their land is contaminated with toxins and may not be usable.
Farm subsidies mainly benefit the wealthiest farmers.
The U.S. government pays farmers to grow food depleted of nutrients. There is a great contradiction between U.S. food subsidies and U.S. dietary guidelines.
The federal government pays farmers not to farm for several years, entering their land in a conservation program. Then the state decides the farm is not a farm, imposing a huge tax burden.