It's not gone above 80 cents since. Terry says that some meat inspection laws and the use of BGH, a hormone that stimulates milk production in dairy cows, do not have the consumer's safety in mind. Rather, they're political actions aimed at driving out small operators. Examples such as that have farmers feeling they have lost control, that they're pawns in the system. A bushel of wheat is not priced on the 60 loaves of bread it will make, but rather whether there are extra bushels.
Subsidies make up for the inequities at the bargaining table.
Yet we're the ones who are made to look like welfare recipients when we get subsidies. Europe heavily subsidizes farmers, mainly because it has experienced a food shortage. Europe also wants to preserve rural society. But there isn't the same background in the United States to influence policy. As the number of farmers shrinks, so does their political clout.