The 2002 Farm Law at a Glance (open access)

The 2002 Farm Law at a Glance

On May 13, 2002, President Bush signed the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act (FSRIA) of 2002 into law (P.L. 107-171). FSRIA is the latest in a long line of omnibus, multi-year farm bills. The 2002 law is the successor to the last omnibus measure, the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-127). This report, to be updated if events warrant, provides selected highlights.
Date: June 7, 2002
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Farm Commodity Payment Limits: Comparison of Proposals (open access)

Farm Commodity Payment Limits: Comparison of Proposals

This report discusses U.S. policy regard farm commodities. Greater public awareness of the size of commodity program payments reaching a comparatively small number of very large farms has focused the attention of Congress on payment limits. Limits on commodity program payments have been imposed since 1970. As part of the emergency economic assistance packages enacted each of the past three years, the payment limits have been doubled. In addition, a mechanism has been developed that allows farms to circumvent the limit on loan deficiency payments, namely commodity certificates
Date: April 26, 2002
Creator: Womach, Jasper
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Farm Bill Trade and Food Aid Provisions (open access)

Farm Bill Trade and Food Aid Provisions

This report discusses the trade provisions of omnibus farm legislation, passed in May 2002. The measure includes a trade title reauthorizing, through 2007, the major foreign food aid and agricultural export programs. It also contains other provisions affecting agricultural trade, including new country-of-origin labeling requirements for meat, seafood, and produce; and increased domestic farm subsidies with possible implications for U.S. trade relations.
Date: May 8, 2002
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Farm "Counter-Cyclical Assistance" (open access)

Farm "Counter-Cyclical Assistance"

This report discusses recently approved legislation reauthorizing major farm income and commodity price support programs through crop year 2007. This legislation includes new “counter-cyclical assistance” programs for grains, cotton, oilseeds, peanuts, and milk. The intent of counter-cyclical assistance is to provide more government support when farm prices and/or incomes decline, and less support when they improve. In fact, farmers have, for many years, been eligible for various forms of counter-cyclical assistance. At issue has been the need for, and potential impacts of, another counter-cyclical program.
Date: May 31, 2002
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S. & Womach, Jasper
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Farm "Counter-Cyclical Assistance" (open access)

Farm "Counter-Cyclical Assistance"

This report discusses the reauthorization of major farm income and commodity price support programs that expire after crop year 2002. Many agricultural interests expect that a new “counter-cyclical assistance” program will be an integral component of future farm policy. The intent of counter-cyclical assistance is to provide more government support when farm prices and/or incomes decline, and less support when they improve.
Date: March 7, 2002
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S. & Womach, Jasper
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Farm Commodity Programs: A Short Primer (open access)

Farm Commodity Programs: A Short Primer

This report briefly discusses programs designed to provide income support, price support, and/or supply management for approximately 20 specified agricultural commodities. It specifically addresses the proposed farm bill legislation, meant to expand existing services and add new programs, in part to avert ad hoc measures to fill gaps.
Date: June 20, 2002
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Farm Commodity Programs: A Short Primer (open access)

Farm Commodity Programs: A Short Primer

This report briefly discusses programs designed to provide income support, price support, and/or supply management for approximately 20 specified agricultural commodities. USDA farm support programs represent the heart of U.S. farm policy, by virtue of their longevity – they have existed since the early 1930s – and their cost.
Date: September 14, 2001
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Farm Program Spending: What's Permitted Under the Uruguay Round Agreements (open access)

Farm Program Spending: What's Permitted Under the Uruguay Round Agreements

This report discusses farm income and commodity price support proposals that might succeed the programs due to expire in 2002. A key question being asked of virtually every new proposal is how it will affect U.S. commitments under the 1994 Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture (URAA), which commitsthe United States to spend no more than $19.1 billion annually on domestic farm supports most likely to distort trade. The URAA spells out the rules for countries to determine whether their policies are potentially trade distorting, and to calculate the costs.
Date: March 13, 2001
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Agriculture: Prospective Issues for the 107th Congress (open access)

Agriculture: Prospective Issues for the 107th Congress

Persistent low farm prices and 3 years of multi-billion dollar ad hoc additions to federal spending for farmers are expected to put pressure on the 107th Congress for an early review of federal farm policy. Farm policy is governed by a variety of laws, many of which are incorporated into an omnibus, multi-year farm bill. Most of the provisions of the current farm bill, the Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act of 1996, expire after the 2002 crop year. Key issues are the responsiveness of current policy to low commodity prices and farm income, factors influencing low prices, and options for improving prices and/or providing automatic relief to farmers when prices fall. Increased concentration in the agriculture industry, trade, and environmental regulations affecting agriculture are likely to be part of the debate.
Date: January 29, 2001
Creator: Jones, Jean Yavis
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
StarLink™ Corn Controversy: Background (open access)

StarLink™ Corn Controversy: Background

None
Date: January 10, 2001
Creator: Segarra, Alejandro E. & Rawson, Jean M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Conservation Reserve Payments and Self-Employment Taxes (open access)

Conservation Reserve Payments and Self-Employment Taxes

Farmers enrolling their land in the Department of Agriculture's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) receive payments for refraining from farming their property and for engaging in certain conservation practices mandated by the Department of Agriculture. These payments are described in the contract with the Department of Agriculture as "rental payments." Farmers would like to treat the income as "rental income" because it would not be subject to self-employment taxes, but the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) insists that under certain conditions, the payments are income from the trade or business of farming and thus subject to self-employment taxes.
Date: May 1, 2000
Creator: Morris, Marie B.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Grazing Regulations: Public Lands Council v. Babbitt (open access)

Federal Grazing Regulations: Public Lands Council v. Babbitt

This report discusses new regulations on livestock grazing on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management became effective August 21, 1995. Many aspects of the new regulations were challenged in Public Lands Council v. Babbitt. A federal district court upheld many of the regulations, but struck down four of them and enjoined their implementation. At the appellate level, only the new regulation allowing conservation use to the exclusion of livestock grazing for the full term of a permit was held invalid. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case and argument has been set for March 1, 2000.
Date: February 1, 2000
Creator: Baldwin, Pamela
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Agriculture and the 106th Congress: A Summary of Major Issues (open access)

Agriculture and the 106th Congress: A Summary of Major Issues

Most congressional interest in agriculture in the 106th Congress was focused on persistent low prices for major commodities and proposals to redress declining farm income. Six emergency farm aid bills were approved, increasing agricultural spending by nearly $27 billion for fiscal years 1999-2001. These bills provided disaster relief along with short term “market loss payments”to farmers to shore up farm income. Some longer term changes also were enacted as part of emergency farm legislation, which this report discusses in brief.
Date: December 15, 2000
Creator: Jones, Jean Yavis
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Emergency Funding for Agriculture: A Brief History of Congressional Action, FY1989-FY2001 (open access)

Emergency Funding for Agriculture: A Brief History of Congressional Action, FY1989-FY2001

From FY1989 through FY2001 (to date), nineteen appropriations or farm disaster acts have provided $38 billion in emergency funding for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs. Nearly $27 billion, or about 70 percent of the total amount, has been provided for FY1999-FY2001 alone. Since FY1989, the vast majority of the funds has been paid directly to farmers, primarily in the form of “market loss payments” (just under $17 billion, all since FY1999) to compensate for low farm commodity prices, and disaster payments($15.6 billion) paid to any producer who experienced a major crop loss caused by a natural disaster. The remaining $5.4 billion has funded a wide array of other USDA programs, including other forms of farm disaster assistance, farm loans, overseas food aid, food and nutrition programs, and rural development assistance.
Date: December 11, 2000
Creator: Chite, Ralph M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting (open access)

Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting

This report summarizes the steps taken by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to execute the Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting (LMPR) law which was enforced to provide more information and disclosure on pricing. Updated August 15, 2001.
Date: August 15, 2001
Creator: Heykoop, Jerry
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Pesticide Residue Regulation: Analysis of Food Quality Protection Act Implementation (open access)

Pesticide Residue Regulation: Analysis of Food Quality Protection Act Implementation

This report discusses the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA) which amened the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), governing U.S. registration, sale, and use of pesticide products, and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) under which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets allowable pesticide residue levels for food (tolerances).
Date: November 4, 2002
Creator: Schierow, Linda-Jo
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Pesticide Residue Regulation: Analysis of Food Quality Protection Act Implementation (open access)

Pesticide Residue Regulation: Analysis of Food Quality Protection Act Implementation

This report discusses the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA) which amened the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), governing U.S. registration, sale, and use of pesticide products, and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) under which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets allowable pesticide residue levels for food (tolerances).
Date: April 20, 2001
Creator: Schierow, Linda-Jo
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Agroterrorism: Threats and Preparedness (open access)

Agroterrorism: Threats and Preparedness

Although U.S. intelligence agencies have not identified any terrorist acts targeting agricultural production (i.e., agroterrorism) in the United States to date, the events of September 11, 2001 have awakened the nation to their possibility. Some experts estimate that a single agroterrorist attack using a highly contagious livestock disease could cost between $10 billion and $30 billion to the U.S. economy. This report addresses the use of biological weapons against agriculture, rather than the threat of terrorists using agricultural inputs for other purposes. It also focuses more on agricultural production than food processing and distribution.
Date: August 13, 2004
Creator: Monke, Jim
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Agricultural Trade in a U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) (open access)

Agricultural Trade in a U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)

As part of its overall trade strategy, the Bush Administration over the last year began negotiating bilateral free trade area (FTA) agreements with four regional blocs or countries. Negotiations on a U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) involving Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua began in late January 2003 and are currently scheduled to conclude this December. While negotiators have reportedly made progress in a number of areas, efforts to formulate a framework for handling agricultural trade have been slow.
Date: October 31, 2003
Creator: Jurenas, Remy
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Resource Conservation Title: Comparison of Current Law with Farm Bills Passed by the House and Senate (open access)

Resource Conservation Title: Comparison of Current Law with Farm Bills Passed by the House and Senate

None
Date: February 28, 2002
Creator: Zinn, Jeffrey A.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Agroterrorism: Options in Congress (open access)

Agroterrorism: Options in Congress

Although U.S. intelligence agencies have not identified any terrorist acts targeting agricultural production (i.e., agroterrorism) in the United States to date, the events of September 11, 2001 have awakened the nation to their possibility. Some experts estimate that a single agroterrorist attack using a highly contagious livestock disease could cost between $10 billion and $30 billion to the U.S. economy. This report examines the potential threats to America’s agriculture from a deliberate biological attack, describes the current defense structure and capabilities available to respond to agroterrorism, and analyzes current congressional proposals to address the threat of biological weapons to U.S. agriculture.
Date: July 17, 2002
Creator: Segarra, Alejandro E.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Agroterrorism: Options in Congress (open access)

Agroterrorism: Options in Congress

Although U.S. intelligence agencies have not identified any terrorist acts targeting agricultural production (i.e., agroterrorism) in the United States to date, the events of September 11, 2001 have awakened the nation to their possibility. Some experts estimate that a single agroterrorist attack using a highly contagious livestock disease could cost between $10 billion and $30 billion to the U.S. economy. This report examines the potential threats to America’s agriculture from a deliberate biological attack, describes the current defense structure and capabilities available to respond to agroterrorism, and analyzes current congressional proposals to address the threat of biological weapons to U.S. agriculture.
Date: December 19, 2001
Creator: Segarra, Alejandro E.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The 2002 Farm Bill: Overview and Status (open access)

The 2002 Farm Bill: Overview and Status

This report discusses the provisions of the 1996 farm bill, which was due to expire in 2002 but was extended for an additional 6 years on May 13, 2002 by President Bush (P.L. 107-171). The new law is called the "Farm Security and Rural Investment Act (FSRIA) of 2002. The new law generally supersedes the previous omnibus farm bill, the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-127). The new farm law has attracted widespread criticism both in the U.S. and abroad. This report discusses these criticisms as well as the defenses of the law's proponents.
Date: September 3, 2002
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S. & Womach, Jasper
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The 2002 Farm Bill: Overview and Status (open access)

The 2002 Farm Bill: Overview and Status

This report discusses the provisions of the 1996 farm bill, which was due to expire in 2002 but was extended (P.L. 107-171) for an additional 6 years on May 13, 2002.
Date: June 3, 2002
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S. & Womach, Jasper
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library