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Western countries subsidize agriculture because there are a lot of farmers and they are a powerful voting block. In the US, they are especially influential in low-population states with high senator-to-citizen ratios.

Yeay democracy, I guess.

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Are there a lot of farmers in the US? I don't seek it out, but I've read a few times that small family farms are quite rare and most food is produced by huge agribusiness farms

Agriculture is an enormous business in the USA, with 1% of the overall GDP. That may seem small, but consider that all USA industry combined is only 18% of the GDP. Many states in the country depend on agriculture as their #1 product. The USA is an exporter of food, with corn, beans, wheat and beets being the top crops.

Those agribusiness farms still employee people, and those people vote in the same ways as farmers, even though they may not own a farm

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