In the decades immediately following the nation's establishment, the federal government focused on expanding and growing the size of the country. As more territory was added, the federal government saw an opportunity to generate revenue without levying more taxes. Public lands were dedicated to settlement, agriculture, and industry. Early sales featured large parcels of land sold at high prices. However, the federal government faced pushback on this approach as time progressed. Federal legislation in the early to mid-1800s began to favor smaller, independent farmers and landowners who used the land to establish their homes. The Homestead Act of 1862 provided parcels of public land to anyone willing to establish a homestead and farm the land. By 1890, much of the land on the American frontier had been cleared, and nearly all the farmland had been claimed. 

Another emphasis of federal agricultural policy in the early years of the American nation was on education and the development of agricultural practices. As more people received public lands to establish their homesteads and began to farm (many for the first time), the federal government recognized the need to provide resources to support these farmers and keep the farms with the same families. As early as the 1820s, many farmers created state and county agricultural societies to provide specialized training and promote research into new agricultural practices. As urban populations grew, more food was needed to feed the nation, thus putting more pressure on farmers to produce more. The federal government responded to this challenge through legislation in the 1860s, 1870s, and 1910s. This includes establishing the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), a system of federally funded agricultural colleges and research stations, and the Cooperative Extension Service. 

The end of World War One and the further growth of urban populations in the 1920s saw a massive increase in the domestic surplus of agricultural commodities, which drove down market prices. The Dust Bowl and the Great Depression in the early 1930s forced the federal government to take more drastic measures to support the national economy. In 1933, Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act, the first “farm bill.” The goal of federal agricultural policy during this time was to give price parity to producers. Producers could receive a “fair” market value for their commodities by controlling supply through production quotas and artificially setting market prices. The USDA Commodities Credit Corporation (CCC) was the primary federal agency overseeing these programs. A common feature in rural landscapes across the country during this time were “government bins,” grain bins erected by the federal government to keep excess grain out of the market. However, in 1936, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the funding mechanism for the CCC (and thus the programs under it) was unconstitutional. Congress responded with the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1936 and the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938. These acts solidified parity as the central tenant of federal agricultural policy through programs such as non-recourse loans and acreage allotments. These Acts also used the conservation of agricultural land as a means of production control. 

Agricultural production changed drastically following World War Two. More farming operations became more mechanized, advancements in hybrid genetics, and the introduction of chemicals and synthetic fertilizers increased yields and domestic supply. However, as Europe rebuilt and agricultural production rebounded, the export destinations of U.S. agricultural commodities began to vanish, causing large surpluses and market prices to fall. The 1949 Agricultural Act is significant to note because it was made permanent legislation, meaning that subsequent farm bills modified provisions of the 1949 Farm Bill. Furthermore, if a farm bill expires and no replacement is enacted, then policies revert to the 1949 framework. The 1954 Farm Bill established a program to help export agricultural commodities to friendly foreign countries struggling with food shortages and famine. This Farm Bill also created a soil bank program that paid producers to take acres out of production to reduce domestic surpluses and improve the conservation of agricultural land. Farm bills in the 1960s did not drastically change the landscape of federal agricultural policy, but it was clear that the end of parity was coming. 

In 1972, President Richard Nixon made a deal to export nearly all the U.S. domestic wheat supply to the Soviet Union. In response to this and a general increase in foreign demand for U.S. agricultural commodities, Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz urged farmers to increase their production by farming “fencerow to fencerow.” The result of this call was an increase in supply but also a decrease in market prices and a deterioration in agroecosystems. The Agricultural and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 shifted federal agricultural policy towards directly supporting farm incomes in response to low market prices. The 1973 Farm Bill is also considered the first “omnibus” farm bill that included nutrition programs, mainly reauthorizing the food stamp program, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). As the 1980s began, the state of the farm economy had severely deteriorated. Changes to farm payments in the early 1980s did reduce government surpluses but cost the federal government tens of billions of dollars in direct payments. The 1985 Farm Bill was the most expensive in history, but it laid the foundation of modern Farm Bills. Not only did the 1985 Farm Bill establish the five-year reauthorization cycle still used today, but it was also the first to have a specific title (section of the bill) dedicated to conservation programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Farm Bills did not change much moving into the 1990s, but it was clear that another shift in federal agricultural policy was coming. 

The early 1990s saw significant changes in global trade, particularly in agriculture. The World Trade Organization (WTO) was formally established following the 1993 Uruguay Round of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations, which included specific conditions on domestic agricultural support. 1993 also saw the ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Additionally, the farm economy improved as market prices increased following the 1980s Farm Crisis. The 1996 Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform Act marked the transition from payments coupled to market prices and production. Also, it removed acreage restrictions that had been a feature of federal agricultural policy for decades. The Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 saw significant reforms to federal crop insurance by reducing the out-of-pocket costs of crop insurance programs. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 was the first Farm Bill to include a title on energy, which aimed to support the growing biofuels sector and promote the use of agricultural commodities in biofuel production. The 2002 Farm Bill also increased conservation funding for programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and established conservation programs such as the Conservation Security Program (CSP). The 2008 Farm Bill renamed the food stamps program to SNAP and added additional support for the biofuels sector. The 2012 Farm Bill ended the direct payments framework from previous Farm Bills and introduced two programs for payments: Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs. ARC uses historical prices and yields to trigger payments, while PLC uses a more traditional system for triggering payments based on market prices. 

This blog post is the first in a two-part series outlining the current landscape of federal agricultural policy and the outlook for the 2024 Farm Bill. This first part goes through the history of agricultural policy at the federal level, from the Nation's early days to the price support era, income support era, and the market-oriented era of the present day. This lays the foundation for the second part, which will analyze the current proposals in Congress and the likelihood of passage before the end of the Congressional term. 

For additional reading, visit the following links:

• A Historical Primer on the U.S. Farm Bill (McGranahan, D.A. et al., 2013): https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.68.3.67A. 
• The Development of American Agricultural Policy (J. Coppess, 2022): https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119632214.ch22. 
• U.S. Farm Policy: The First 200 Years (USDA ERS, 2000): https://www.ers.usda.gov/media/fregl5ap/us-farm-policy_the-first-200-years.pdf?locale=en.