What is the farm bill?

Farm Bill 2002-2007 Budget Breakdown

Source: USDA Budget Data

Do you think of complicated subsidies or cornfields in the Midwest when you think of farm policy? You'd be partially right, but the farm bill is much more than an agricultural aid package. You might be surprised to learn the farm bill influences you everyday. From the cost and availability of your food, to the tools available to your community to protect farms and ranches from sprawl.

The farm bill is a package of federal legislation enacted every five to seven years to set the general direction for America’s farm and food policy. Congress enacted the first farm bill in the wake of the Great Depression.

The 2002 Farm Bill Authorized a Public Investment of $274 Billion Over Six Years

Nearly half the money was allocated to nutrition programs, such as food stamps and emergency food assistance. The farm bill also dedicates more public dollars to protecting the environment than the Environmental Protection Agency. This year, most of the programs in the 2002 Farm Bill expire. Congress will rethink policies that set the course for America’s food and farming system. Use the links above to learn more about how the farm bill affects you everyday.

» What you can do to support the farm bill

» AFT's farm bill recommendations

What's the deal with subsidies?

A lot of attention, especially in the media, is given to farm subsidies. Subsidies are payments made to farmers who raise any of two-dozen "commodity crops" such as wheat, cotton, rice, or peanuts.

Benefits
Subsidies are considered important for maintaining a safe and secure food supply in the United States. They also provide a safety net to farmers to protect against the fluctuating nature of farming and disasters such as floods or droughts. Domestic crop yield can fluctuate considerably depending on the local weather. As a result of these fluctuations in production levels and prices, there could be very large variations in farm revenues between years. A safety net can help to smooth farmers' income over time and ensure they are not required to maintain debt from year to year in order to maintain a consistent income.

Criticisms
Subsidies are scrutinized because they often fail to provide assistance to those who need them most. While it's often perceived subsidies keep the family farm in business, in actuality most farmers and ranchers do not benefit from federal farm programs. Only one-third of farmers and ranchers qualify for subsidies and of this group, 10 percent receive nearly 70 percent of all subsidy payments. Fruit and vegetable growers and livestock producers do not receive any subsidies.

Subsidies face criticism for distorting the marketplace. Artificial and politically set prices encourage overproduction. This harms the environment because marginal or less productive land is cultivated unnecessarily requiring more inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides. Overproduction also hurts world wide crop prices and the ability for farmers in countries without subsidies to make a living.

Solutions
American Farmland Trust worked with Senators Durbin (IL) and Brown (OH) on the Farm Safety Net Improvement Act of 2007. Parts of this program were adopted in the Senate as the Average Crop Revenue (ACR) program. It would fundamentally transform subsidy programs ito provide better protection, less market distortions and greater equity across crops. Instead of basing payments on politically set prices, it is based on drops in actual revenue (price multiplied by yield) to provide a safety net to farmers when it's needed most without excessive payments.

Who gets subsidy payments?

A database released in June, 2007 provides nearly full disclosure of federal farm subsidy beneficiaries. Using previously unpublished USDA subsidy records, the disclosures include individuals and businesses collecting payments.

» Farm Subsidy Database

Farmers and Ranchers Call for a New Direction

Across America, a diverse group of farmers and ranchers are calling for real changes in our agricultural policy to enhance farmer profitability and competitiveness, expand environmental stewardship, advance rural prosperity and improve the health of consumers.

» Read the Voices for Change

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