"I wish more of them paid for services, but they also keep a hell of a lot of people employed"

They sure do

When the department of Agriculture was in it's early stages it had 6000 employees that covered 600,000 farms, now it has 600,000 employees that cover 6000 farms with a good percentage of those being subsidized. I don't mind supporting farms or farm aid & I don't think they're any better or worst off than the rest of the working stiffs except that they may be getting milked as much as the rest of us.
I'll be happy when the rich start to pay their fair share for the 1st time in living memory.

I see the farms in very much the same light as the auto industry & I keep wondering when they'll start to run out of gas.

Barry