Volume I--section I: agricultural policy in disarray--agricultural policy in disarray: an overview--where the money goes: the distribution of crop insurance and other farm subsidy payments--section II: multi-commodity farm subsidy program--the US federal agricultural insurance program: time for reform?--title I of the US farm bill: an overview of the commodity title--US farm policy and trade: the inconsistency continues--section III: commodity-specific programs--analysis of the US sugar program--dairy policy progress: completing the move to markets?--unraveling reforms? cotton in the 2018 farm bill and beyond--the US peanut program: an exercise in excess--conclusion--about the authors. Volume II--section I: poverty and US agricultural policy--poverty, hunger, and US agricultural policy: do farm programs affect the nutrition of poor Americans?--the future of SNAP: continuing to balance protection and incentives--international food aid and food assistance programs and the next farm bill--section II: waste not, want not: transactional politics, research and development funding, and the US farm bill--the impact of genetic modification technologies on agricultural productivity: evidence from a comparison of US and EU crop yields--section III: conservation and the environment--the farm bill, conservation, and the environment--waters of the US rule and clean water act and cost-effective approaches to water-quality improvement--biofuels, the renewable fuel standard, and policy ineffectiveness--section IV: regulation and market performance--futures markets regulation--agricultural contracts and competition policies--conclusion--about the authors.
Summary:
"From any coherent policy perspective, agricultural policy in the United States is in total disarray. Not surprisingly, persistent and pervasive rent-seeking by well-funded lobbies explains many of the complex and often internally inconsistent federal programs that fall under the umbrella of US agricultural policy. This two-volume examination of US agricultural policies includes analyses on the federal crop insurance program, the sugar program, constraints on domestic production, and policy-mandated price discrimination. Those subsidy programs and other forms of support are deliberately structured to funnel the vast majority of their benefits to large farm businesses and, in the case of agricultural insurance, an entire segment of the insurance industry that would not otherwise exist. They do nothing to alleviate rural poverty and in most cases encourage farm and other agricultural businesses to waste some of society's scarce resources. Some federal programs do provide benefits for society as a whole. However, collusion among lobbies with competing interests has caused many of those programs to be inefficient. Agricultural Policy in Disarray provides fascinating, detailed, and contemporary evidence of how rent-seeking by small, well-organized interest groups results in government policies that do little good and much harm."--Page 4 of cover.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.