US agricultural subsidies may have merits, but rural economic development is not one them.

Each year the US federal government spends billions on farm subsidies, with policy makers often justifying the expense on the grounds that it helps to support the rural economy. In new research, Jeremy G. Weber looks at who really benefits from improvements in agricultural profitability. He finds that farmers and property owners captured 94 percent of income gains from higher agricultural revenues, while laborers and non-farm workers only captured 3 percent. He argues that the rise of technological innovation in farm equipment has reduced the need for labor, severely weakening the link between crop agriculture and the rural economy.