Best farm subsidy idea I've ever heard

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9. USDA used to pay some "farmers" to NOT grow crops

Back when I first got my farm there were some subsidies devoted to paying land owners to not grow a crop. I believe it was for some things that were in too abundant a supply so rather than buying up surpluses, the government would simply pay the land owners to leave their land fallow. Some pieces of land had not grown any crops for years, but the subsidies kept coming.

Of course, that meant the money didn't circulate the way it would have if something was actually being grown - money for seed, fertilizer, fuel, labor, etc. just wasn't spent they way it would have if a crop were grown, harvested and marketed. Instead money went straight into land owners' pockets and didn't get spread around the community.

I'm not sure if that kind of subsidy is still done. I've never taken a subsidy like that. The only government assistance I accepted on my farm was help building a wildlife pond down in our woods and advice on managing our trees - which was to just let them grow.