However, grain, soybean and cotton farmers are more dependent on government payments today than before Freedom to Farm was passed. The drought in the Southeast U.S. has taken its' toll on Southern farms during the past three years. Crop output has been reduced.
Irrigation is responsible for much of what has been produced, resulting in higher production costs.
On a national scale we are producing more grains, oilseeds and cotton than can be sold at profitable prices. U.S. agriculture is operating at full capacity. They can't collectively reduce output to meet demand at a profitable price. A single farmer doesn't have the ability to produce enough of a commodity to affect price. Any individual changes in output affects only that farm.