Americans are not in need of high calorie density, and 90% of this corn isn't being eaten anyways. Rice is easier to grow, eaten readily by more of the world, easier to store, easier to transport, etc. - there really isn't a great argument for corn.

> 90% of this corn isn't being eaten anyways

But it could be. I don't have to consume the canned food in my basement for it to provide food security in the event of a natural disaster.

I'm finding exact numbers difficult to come by but rice requires noticeably more water to grow. Dried corn kernels are approximately equivalent to dried rice when it comes to storage and transport.

There really isn't any sensible argument for switching from corn to rice in the US midwest.

It’s not being stored. There’s no “strategic corn reserve”. What is not being consumed by people or animals gets turned into biofuel - the worst kind of fuel from thermodynamic perspective and one that would never exist without market distortion.

Which means that the US is continually producing far more potential food than we actually use. That constitutes a form of food security. What it gets used for instead - be that animal feed, chemical feedstock, fertilizer, etc - is largely irrelevant.

Are you certain there's no strategic reserve? If not there probably ought to be. Seems like a rather cheap form of insurance in the bigger picture.

The argument you’re making works just as well for any other crop. Productive land is the asset and the security, not the corn itself. In fact, growing the damn corn everywhere degrades the soil. We might as well grow wheat, rice, legumes, etc. Besides path-dependence there’s little reason for corn dominance.

Agreed that it's the active land use, not a specific crop, that matters from a food security perspective.

Disagreed otherwise though. Soil degradation is due to people cutting corners to save money. Rice requires significantly more water. Wheat and oats don't have the same shelf life. Legumes are likely comparable but how do they stack up against corn for things like animal feed and chemical feedstock?

The reality is that corn is an extremely practical crop regardless of its lack of political popularity of late.

Well if corn is so productive and efficient then surely it doesn’t need any subsidies. It can stand on its own merits in a real free market.