To be honest, they're few programs that actually help the small farmer. The United States government routinely writes policy to drive prices higher. The government will buy crops and simply not use the crops, or pay farmers to not grow their product. By not growing crops, this sends prices up due to less supply. The government also has programs where they pay farms to sell their product overseas, thus reducing domestic supply.
Most governmental policy is justified on the grounds to help the small farmer.
The truth of matter shows that these policy usually only help the largest farms. Long hours will always be needed on the small farm. Farming by nature is labor and land intensive. To keep the small farm alive there will have to be government intervention. Policy will need to be directed at all farms and not just the upper 15 percentile.