The Homestead Act of 1862 was a massive federal subsidy encouraging farm ownership. After the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, subsidies were offered to not grow crops in order to protect farming viability, preventing soil erosion and allowing continued profitability. With Donald Trump now adding further assistance to offset the tariffs generated in his trade war with China, we seem to be edging closer to having nationalized agricultural production. Farm products are, after all, among our strongest export commodities, although I expect America’s farmers would not welcome that turn of the screw.
Robert Porath,
Boulder
