Farm Policy

In 1995, Congress will draft legislation reauthorizing federal farm programs, as it does every five years. The basic design of these income and price support programs has changed very little since they were first conceived during the Great Depression of the 1930s, and a growing chorus of voices is calling for reform. Their common refrain is that the programs help those farmers who need it least, provide little or no help to the poorest farmers, make U.S. farm products uncompetitive in world markets and provide no lasting solution to the chronic problem of overproduction. While there is general agreement that current farm programs need some fixing, there is wide disagreement on what form the changes should take and how fast they should be made. Given such uncertainty, analysts expect a heated farm bill debate in 1995.