We have had elements of a federal dairy policy since the second year of George Washington’s presidency when a 4 cent per pound tariff was levied on cheese imports from Great Britain. However, we didn’t actually have much agricultural policy until the 1930s when Congress responded to the agricultural plight largely brought on by the Great Depression and the dust bowl years.
There were a variety of acts of Congress dealing with agriculture in the early 1930s, but three permanent laws?the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, the Agricultural Act of 1949, and the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act of 1948?were finally put into place.
The basic provisions of these three acts have been altered by Congress every three to five years with multi-year legislation, the so-called “Farm Bill.” These farm bills have been passed with a termination date, and if Congress doesn’t extend the current farm bill or enact a new farm bill, then agricultural policy reverts to the permanent acts of more than 60 years ago. The current farm bill is called the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002. It was signed into law for six years, and it will expire at the end of 2007. The debate has begun for the provisions of a new farm bill (and the House of Representatives has approved legislation) that, if passed, will affect farm and related programs after enactment.
Mark Stephenson, Cornell Program on Dairy Markets and Policy
