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Choices Article - History and Outlook for Farm Bill Conservation Programs

choicesmagazine.org · 4,434 words · saved by 1 readers

The Agricultural Adjustment Act began a time-honored tradition in American agriculture: the notion that it is necessary to control supply in order for farmers to receive a fair price for their goods. The act attempted to do this by setting price supports, or parity prices, to guarantee that prices did not fall below a set level. This price support was available to producers who participated in voluntary production reduction programs, such as acreage set aside. In reality, the program was hardly voluntary-those who did not participate were subject to the uncertainty of low prices on the open market. The program was financed by levying a processing tax on the commodities. This tax was often passed straight to the consumer, who ended up paying more for food and fiber products. In 1936 this tax was declared unconstitutional on the grounds that Congress had passed a tax that was beneficial to one segment of the nation-the farmer-while causing detriment to everyone else. This setback ultimat

Choices Article - History and Outlook for Farm Bill Conservation Programs Back Issues | Contact | Editorial Team | Submissions | Subscribe | Outreach Partners 4th Quarter 2004 History and Outlook for Farm Bill Conservation Programs by Zachary Cain and Stephen Lovejoy --> Over the last 70 years, the United States Congress has taken on the task of determining how federal dollars will be invested in agriculture through farm bills. 1 The focus of this paper is to determine how conservation programs have arisen and evolved and to speculate about future direction. Conservation programs have taken a

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