Having sufficient food is a basic human need. Sadly it is not always the case in certain areas of our world and many still die of famine. However in developed countries often its supply is taken for granted and not really valued. We expect full supermarket shelves, offering a bewildering choice and range of product. The pressures on supermarkets and the like is to keep prices for basic food goods down, and hence prices for farmers, are also subject to the same pressures. Indeed the basic price of farm products very often does not cover costs of production and hence countries widely offer income support for farmers.
Farm Support
In the UK, before entering the EU, we operated a deficiency payment scheme. This calculated average farm gate prices for individual products and, if they were below average costs of production, measured by national surveys across the country, a subsidy was paid to the farmer making up the difference. On entering the EU matters changed and we adopted a very different scheme of price support which sought to ensure sufficient supplies. This led to the so called wine lakes and grain mountains and was highly protectionist in nature. Over time, schemes have been modified and adapted within EU and its members. In the UK, we now have a scheme of direct payments based upon the area of land farmed and registered. This is unrelated to production but more of direct income support. There are also environmental stewardship schemes allowing farmers to set aside land and encourage birds and wildlife.