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goobster · 2397 days ago · link · · parent · post: Gassy Cows Warm The Planet. Scientists Think They Know How To Squelch Those Belches : The Salt : NPR
I have a friend who is an Iowa corn farmer. Well, he owns the land and leases it to farmers, who grow shit and pay him a cut. He hates that corn is so profitable, but it is so massively underwritten at every stage by the government, that NOT growing corn is stupid. So we have more corn surplus. So the farmers get a stipend from the government to make up for low corn prices (because the market is saturated with corn), which makes their businesses more profitable than growing watermelons or gladiolas or soybeans, so they grow more corn, which the government subsidizes, which increases the surplus problem, which... ... you get it. Grr.