Winter 2002

Freedom to farm
By Steve Leer

A look back at U.S. farm legislation

Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933

• Established first major price support and acreage reduction program
• Set parity as goal for farm prices
• Acreage reduction achieved through voluntary agreements with producers
• Regulated markets by voluntary agreements with processors, others
• Offset program cost through processing taxes
Agricultural Adjustment Act Amendment of 1935

• Allowed president to impose quotas if imports interfered with adjustment programs

• Provided soil conservation and soil building payments

• Re-enacted modified Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act
• Provided acreage allotments, payment limits, protection for tenants
• Introduced comprehensive price support legislation with nonrecourse loans
• Established marketing quotas for several crops

• Shifted price supports from fixed to flexible
• Modernized parity formula

Agricultural Act of 1949

• Completed fundamental federal farm program structure started with 1938 act--last major legislation without an expiration date
• Superseded 1948 act, postponing flexible price supports
• Cushioned impact of new parity formula

• Established flexible price supports, beginning in 1955
• Authorized a Commodity Credit Corp. reserve for foreign and domestic relief

• Began Soil Bank program for long- and short-term removal of land from production

• Launched voluntary acreage reduction program with payment-in-kind (PIK) provisions

• Gave president power to impose mandatory production controls, subject to approval by two-thirds of a commodity's producers

• Created two-year voluntary marketing certificate program for wheat
• Established PIK for cotton

• Represented first multi-year farm bill
• Extended voluntary acreage controls to wheat and cotton, wheat certificate program
• Authorized Class I milk base plan for 75 federal milk marketing orders

Agricultural Act of 1970

• Introduced cropland set-aside program, payment limitation per producer of $55,000 a crop
• Amended and extended authority of Class I milk base plan

Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973

• Established target prices, deficiency payments to replace price-support payments
• Lowered payment limits to $20,000 for all program crops
• Provided disaster payments, disaster reserve inventories
• Emphasized expanded production to meet world demand

Food and Agriculture Act of 1977

• Raised price and income supports
• Created farmer-owned reserve for grains
• Set up two-tiered peanut program

Federal Crop Insurance Act of 1980

• Expanded national crop insurance program to cover majority of crops

Agriculture and Food Act of 1981

• Continued programs in effect since the 1930s
• Set target prices for 4-year length of bill
• Lowered dairy supports, eliminated rice allotments and marketing quotas

Food Security Act of 1985

• Lowered price and income supports
• Established dairy herd buyout program
• Created Conservation Reserve Program

Agricultural Credit Act of 1987

• Provided credit assistance to farmers
• Strengthened Farm Credit System

• Moved agriculture further in market-oriented direction
• Froze target prices
• Allowed increased planting flexibility
• Established Rural Development Administration within USDA
• Extended, improved food stamp and other domestic nutrition programs

• Allowed Farm Credit Bank for Cooperatives to make loans for agricultural exports
• Established new handling requirements for eggs to prevent food-borne illness

Agricultural Credit Improvement Act of 1992

• Created new Farmers Home Administration loan programs for beginning farmers, ranchers

North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act of 1993

• Eliminated all nontariff trade barriers to agricultural trade between the U.S. and Mexico
• Maintained provisions of U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement on agricultural trade

• Approved, implemented trade agreements conducted under auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
• Permitted reduction of tariffs, government subsidies on agricultural products among developed and developing countries

• Eliminated price-sensitive deficiency payments, most acreage-use restrictions, dairy price support beginning in 2000
• Provided 7 years of predetermined direct payments to farmers
• Suspended farmer-owned reserve program
• Reduced spending on commercial agricultural export programs
• Extended conservation and wetland reserve programs
• Authorized new Fund for Rural America
• Modified farm credit and agricultural commodity promotion programs