FarmPolicy

Farm Bill; Budget; Ag Economy; Trade; and MF Global

Farm Bill and Policy Issues

Yesterday, the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) issued a report that focused on some of the key provisions of the Farm Bill passed by the Senate Agriculture Committee last month, “Impacts of Selected Provisions of the ‘Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012.’”

A summary of the FAPRI report (at page one of the report) indicated that, “The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry approved the ‘Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012’ on April 26, 2012. This report examines the possible consequences of several key provisions in the proposed legislation.

1) The elimination of the current Direct and Countercyclical Payment (DCP) and Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) programs.

2) The establishment of the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) program and the Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX).

3) The reduction in the acreage cap for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) from the current 32 million acres to 25 million acres by 2017.

“Models maintained by the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri (FAPRI‐MU) are used to estimate possible impacts of these proposed policy changes. Results are presented relative to a baseline prepared in early 2012 that assumes a continuation of existing farm policies. The analysis uses a stochastic approach that considers 500 possible future outcomes for agricultural commodity markets to examine the consequences of continued market volatility.”

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Posted by Keith Good • May, 31, 2012 • 5:03 am