The arms race in farm subsidies is heating up outside the United States.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an international body comprised of 34 countries to stimulate the global economy, recently flagged the run-up in global agricultural subsidies.

An OECD report released earlier this month said government support for agriculture in the world’s top farming nations increased in 2012, reversing a long-term downtrend amid signs the level ...