Farm Bill Capsule: A Look Back at Past Farm Bills And A Look Ahead to 2012

摘要

At the risk of sounding like my dad and uncle, who used to tell me cautionary tales about farming back in the Great Depression — or the "Dirty '30s," as they always described that era — let me offer some background prior to getting into the "Farm Bill update" that is found in the second half of this article. Many will remember well what I am about to describe. The first time I fully realized that actions by Congress could adversely affect my farm was back in the spring of 1982, when the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service office — aka the ASCS — forwarded the new rules established by the 1981 farm bill for enrolling into the farm program. Among the many notable "changes" was a return to fixed acreage bases in lieu of the "plant what you want, doesn't matter anymore" mantra of the 1977 farm bill, which had followed the explosion in commodity prices in the mid-'70s that was caused by the "Great Russian Grain Robbery" of 1972.