Market concentration also affects consumers in a number of ways, mostly by dictating government regulatory policy, flouting pesticide residue norms in soft drinks and food items, and driving out the supply of important commodities from different regions. The firms encourage farmers to over-produce, resulting in low prices, often below the cost of production. This causes a price squeeze which means that the input cost for farmers rises but the output price falls. In developed countries like the US , the net farm income of farmers has fallen substantially since 1996, despite a near tripling in government subsidies. Therefore, market power increases the processor's profits by widening the margin between the farm and wholesale or retail price level.