Novak, James L.

English

Research Papers in Economics

28  CHOICES  3rd Quarter 2008 • 23(3) 
The magazine of food, farm, and resource issues
©1999–2008 CHOICES. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced or electronically distributed as long as attribution to Choices and the Agricultural & 
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AAEA
Agricultural & Applied
Economics Association
A publication of the 
Agricultural & Applied 
Economics Association
Commodity Programs and Beyond in the 
2008 Farm Bill
James L. Novak
Not since 1985 have the words agriculture, farm or some 
recognition of production agriculture been omitted from 
the title of a farm bill. Some see this as a sign of the decline 
in Congressional support for agricultural programs. In the 
Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA), com-
modity funding was cut by an estimated $12 billion from 
the 2002 Farm Bill. Despite cuts in programs affecting pro-
duction agriculture, the FCEA still contains authorization 
for  substantial  spending  on  commodities,  conservation, 
and specialty crops, and contains sufficient implications for 
trade agreements, to be properly called a farm bill.
The articles in this theme discuss major new and re-
newed provisions of the 2008 FCEA affecting traditional 
and specialty agricultural production and trade. ACRE a 
new commodity program based on state and farm revenue 
shortfalls,  and  increased  spending  on  conservation  pro-
grams are discussed in two separate articles. Provisions for 
specialty crops, which for the first time gained their own 
farm bill title, are also highlighted. A final article discusses 
commodity program implications for U.S. trade and trade 
agreements.
A state revenue based commodity program included 
in the farm bill provides a new and untested program for 
producer  consideration.  In  this  issue  Carl  Zulauf,  Mi-
chael Dicks and Jeffrey Vitale describe “ACRE” and what 
it means in comparison to more traditional farm support 
programs. 
James Pease, David Sweickhardt and Andrew Seidl fol-
low up with a discussion of major conservation program 
provisions of the farm bill and implications for future fund-
ing for “working lands” programs. The relative increase in 
the importance of conservation over 2002 is highlighted. 
For the first time, specialty crops have their own farm 
bill  Title  X  (“Horticulture  and  Organic  Agriculture.”) 
Mechel Paggi and Jay Noel explore key provisions of this 
title and the potential benefit to U.S. specialty crop agri-
culture. 
In the final article, Eric Wailes and Parr Rosson look 
at the implications of the farm bill for international trade 
agreements. Issues such as how domestic agricultural sup-
ports in the legislation affect U.S. trade commitments and 
how they are likely to affect future trade negotiations are 
explored.
Guest editor James Novak (novakjl@auburn.edu) is an Exten-
sion Economist and Professor in the Department of Agricul-
tural Economics and Rural Sociology at Auburn University, 
Alabama.
Articles in this Theme:
ACRE (Average Crop Revenue Election) Farm 
Program: Provisions, Policy Background,  
and Farm Decision Analysis ................. 29
Conservation Provisions of the Food, Conservation 
and Energy Act of 2008: Evolutionary Changes 
and Challenges ........................... 36
The U.S. 2008 Farm Bill: Title X and Related  
Support for the U.S. Specialty Crop Sector  .... 41
The WTO and U.S. Domestic Support in the Food, 
Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 ........ 46

Commodity Programs and Beyond in the 2008 Farm Bill

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