Something I didn't really think about until recently is that subsidized farming may very well favor the consolidation of farms into larger business units that are also more highly automated, resulting in an overall decline in employment.

Yes, thus the term agribusiness. Go big or get out... per https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Butz

I don't think republicans have the best plan, but they were the only group that truly cared about their issues. Just like black people felt Trump didn't care about their issues. Rural America didn't think democrats cared about them.

PS. I am not a republican. I'm just basing this on what the parties chose to support in their campaigns.

Saying you care and actually trying to implement policy to help who you care about are two entirely different things.

Seeing what the GOP healthcare plan and proposed budgets are, they do not care about rural communities. They say they do, but their voting patterns are entirely at odds of what they preach.