I've blogged about agri-policy before and I think it almost entirely derives from an irrational attachment we have to the Small Family Farm.   CNN has this article discussing how (probably a very small number) of farmers are converting their farms into tourist attractions.  

While the policy is CLEARLY not a large scale solution to our agri-economy problems, the article does have a fair number of nuggets that really get you thinking about the structure of our farm biz:

[a farmer who cut a maze through his field] has attracted 20,000 people to his 200-acre farm in Scott County to tour the farm and maze so far this year.
       “People will come in, and you sell them 13 ears of corn for $3,” Montgomery said. “It’s a reasonable price, but someone will say to you, ‘My cousin will sell me this corn for $1.50.’
       “That same person will come in here and spend $50 to $75 on their family and slap me on the back and tell me it’s great,” he said. “We’ve gone from being a need-based business to being entertainment.”

There are a lot of missing gap numbers here.   But it reveals many things big and subtle that the Highest Valued Use of this plot of land is as a tourist attraction vs. growing corn.