>>16752544
It's somwwhat of an argument, but farmers are not being paid to ensure a safe level of agricultural output in case of global embargo, they are being paid to far outstrip any level that the economy would reasonabily want and then throw a huge amount of the output away each year.
as anon >>16752575 said it's about buying votes from rural people. Also partly due to regulatory capture, the same lobby groups who get paid to shill for fossil fuels also get paid to shill for agriculture. That's why Trump is said to be 'good for farmers' when he's also a fossil fuel shill. Won't even deport their illegal alien workers lmao.
In the modern geopolitical landscape providing gibs to space makes more sense than for agriculture. Space is the decisive theatre of war, whereas we will not see China starve in the Sino-American war because nowadays their is an immense global food surplus and you can import food even if you are at a production deficit.