[beerandt]

Subsides are never such simple handouts.

Corn and ag subsidies have as much or more to do with govt "buying" surplus and "selling" it to foreign countries as part of aid packages. And dominating the world grain market, which gives the US even more indirect control over foreign grain growing capabilities, making others reliant on the US. (Bc investing in local production is risky when the US can just flood the market.)

Separately, most corn grown for ethanol or animal feed isn't going to directly be rerouted to food supply, unless we approach a full collapse type situation (and even then, it would be more market and regulation collapse and black market emergence than due to policy changes).

But keeping those farmers in business and capable of growing table corn next season (with minimal capital investment or changes to practices required) accomplishes roughly the same thing.