Abstract:

The result of this compromise is a new five-year farm bill that sharply reduces support prices for virtually all commodities while maintaining many of the income support provisions contained in previous U.S. farm bills. The FSA85 was implemented with the 1986 crop season and will provide the basic farm policy foundation for U.S. agriculture through 1990. The FSA85 was designed to reduce government intervention in agricultural markets, and improve U.S. competitiveness in world markets by dramatically lowering basic support levels' primarily the loan rate. The major problems with the FSA85 are associated with the larger than expected costs of the program and the absence of immediate results.