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1954 Farm Bill's Food for Peace also known as P.L. 480, was the government's first attempt to authorize the use of surplus commodities for foreign food aid and to help our allies as well. This passed with little resistance.
Millions of pounds of surplus commodities have been sent around the world to help provide hunger relief to third world countries and allies. It is still in effect today. -
1954 Farm Bill
1954 Farm Bill came one year post the Korean war. New technological advances increased crop yields and farm productivity. The military demand for goods fell off. This created a surplus of farm products that continued to grow as well. -
The Food Security Act of 1985
The Food Security Act of 1985 is provided under 16 U.S.C. 3801-3862. The Act contains provisions designed to discourage the conversion of wetlands into non-wetland areas. These provisions collectively, are commonly referred to as the “Swampbuster” provisions (Food Security Act of 1985 Title XII, Subtitle C)). The Food Security Act of 1985 allowed lower commodity prices and income supports. It also established a dairy herd buyout program. -
Consequences to the farmers of the Food Security Act of 1985
Implementing guidance for the Swampbuster provisions establishes the terms and conditions under which a person, who produces an agricultural commodity on newly converted wetlands, shall be declared ineligible for certain benefits provided by USDA such as: commodity price support or production adjustment payments;
farm storage facility loans;
disaster payments;
payments for storage of grain owned or controlled by the Commodity Credit Corporation;
Federal crop insurance; and
FMHA loans. -
The Agricultural Act of 2014 was signed into law on February 7. Crop insurance has been added
The 2014 Farm Act makes major changes in commodity programs, adds new crop insurance options, streamlines conservation programs, modifies some provisions of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and expands programs for specialty crops, organic farmers, bioenergy, rural development, and beginning farmers and ranchers. -
2014 appealed programs
The 2014 Farm Bill repealed the Direct Payments program, ending nearly 20 years of fixed annual payments. Payments were calculated based on historical production (base) acres, and yields and were paid to producers regardless of whether their farms faced losses. The 2014 Farm Bill also repealed two other programs linked to DPs: Countercyclical Payments, which provided payments to producers on historical base acres and yields but were triggered by movements in current prices.
