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Farm price and income policy: lessons from history

Author

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  • Luther Tweeten

    (Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, Room 235 Ag Admin, Ohio State University, 2120 Fyffe Road, Columbus, OH 43210)

  • Carl Zulauf

    (Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, Room 235 Ag Admin, Ohio State University, 2120 Fyffe Road, Columbus, OH 43210)

Abstract

U.S. farm commodity support programs encompass nearly three quarters of a century and three quarters of a trillion taxpayer dollars. One dividend from that effort is to learn lessons. Farm commodity programs have steadfastly maintained a primary objective of supporting the incomes of a relatively few producers of a relatively few commodities. Nonetheless, farm programs have not been static but have adapted to changing economic and political parameters. Changes in agricultural policy tend to coincide with extremes in the food supply-demand balance. Farm program income transfers leak from their intended beneficiaries to other asset owners. Economic rents, once institutionalized, retain political momentum that sustains the rents. The rise of pressure from the World Trade Organization to provide only non-market-distorting payments may challenge the continued viability of these lessons; however, the lessons also caution against discounting the extant political influence of the farm lobby. [EconLit N500, Q180]. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Suggested Citation

  • Luther Tweeten & Carl Zulauf, 2008. "Farm price and income policy: lessons from history," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(2), pages 145-160.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:agribz:v:24:y:2008:i:2:p:145-160
    DOI: 10.1002/agr.20153
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bazyli CZYZEWSKI & Adam MAJCHRZAK, 2017. "Economic size of farms and adjustments of the total factor productivity to the business cycle in Polish agriculture," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 63(2), pages 93-102.
    2. Bazyli Czyżewski & Andrzej Czyżewski & Łukasz Kryszak, 2019. "The Market Treadmill Against Sustainable Income of European Farmers: How the CAP Has Struggled with Cochrane’s Curse," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-16, February.
    3. Soliwoda, Michał & Kulawik, Jacek & Góral, Justyna, 2016. "Stabilizacja dochodów rolniczych. Perspektywa międzynarodowa, Unii Europejskiej i Polski," Village and Agriculture (Wieś i Rolnictwo), Polish Academy of Sciences (IRWiR PAN), Institute of Rural and Agricultural Development, vol. 3(172), January.

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