| The United States (U.S.) government recently finished its five year ritual of farm legislation. In general, the 1990 Farm Bill, or the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990, extends most of the program features of its predecessor, the Food Security Act of 1985 (FSA). The recent bill continues a 57 year old tradition represented by loan rates, target prices, deficiency payments, base acres and yields, quotas, production controls, marketing loans, and other devices which support prices and income in return for retiring acres. However, the bill introduces several features that move it incrementally in the direction of "decoupling", and continues the trend set in 1985 of adding new environmental restrictions on farm practices. The recently... |
