These subsidies where originally created to aid small farmers during the great depression. Today, most farms are very large and are not in need of these subsidies. In addition, these subsidies are not in the interest of small farmers as they only serve to drive up land prices.
Corn is also one of the top crops for subsidy payments as a result of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This has resulted in higher food prices as a result of this farm subsidy for energy. Finally, there is little evidence to suggest that corn-ethanol is a good substitute for gasoline when Brazilian sugarcane is much cheaper to produce.
The end of these unnecessary subsidies can be used to slow the growth of our national debt, and if food price increases where to occur, reduce the burden on the poor.