["Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, EarlyView. ", "\nABSTRACT\nWith the increasing risk of global food insecurity, countries have accelerated their efforts to reduce food loss and waste. Moreover, traditional agricultural policies, such as income subsidies, significantly impact farmers' behaviour and grain production and likely food losses. Based on survey data from 1885 maize growers in China, we measured maize harvest losses in China and empirically analysed the impact of income subsidies on such losses. The results showed that on average, 3.02% of the total maize amount was lost at the harvest stage, and the loss per unit area was 17.5 kg/mu (262.5 kg/ha). Income subsidies were significantly correlated with greater maize harvest losses, and this conclusion remained robust after potential endogeneity problems were resolved. A heterogeneity analysis revealed that the impact of income subsidies on maize harvest losses was significant for small‐scale farmers but not for large‐scale farmers. We suggest that the Chinese government should accelerate the transformation of agri‐food systems and the reform of income subsidy policies, which should encourage farmers to increase the scale of their operations, and these subsidies should be transformed into more targeted policies to meet the requirements for reducing food losses.\n"]