And Dave the urban areas would starve to death without them. Those subsidies were to produce more and cheaper products for the market .... cities. ( lots of mouths to feed ) It is a interlocking relationship that both need to prosper. Both just like to bitch about the others hand outs. Now we could stop all them nasty rural and urban subsidies but want to take a shot at what the average grocery bill would be? Public services? What it would cost in tolls, fees, ect to run all over and fish or whatever. You don't like the subsidies ( rural whining more to the true? ) They don't like being governed by much larger urban population, but all bs aside neither does well without the other. They both need to get over it.