Farm Bill, Policy, Trade, Food, Nutrition, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q10, Q17, Q18,

Klose, Steven L.

English

Research Papers in Economics

 
2nd Quarter 2011 | 26(2) 
THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE NEXT FARM BILL DEBATE 
Steven L. Klose 
JEL Classifications: Q10, Q17, Q18 
Keywords: Farm Bill, Policy, Trade, Food, Nutrition 
This article is part of a series of Policy Issues articles on the 2012 Farm Bill. You can also find articles on External 
Factors That Will Drive the Next Farm Bill Debate, Farm Bill Stakeholders: Competitors or Collaborators?, Trade 
Issues in the 2012 Farm Bill, and Food and Nutrition Programs in the Next Farm Bill as part of this theme. 
As is always the case, the approaching end of a farm bill brings many questions. At this stage—with the 2012 crop 
year still covered under current legislation—the pressing questions revolve around: When? When will the debate 
begin in earnest? Will the House or Senate Ag Committee lead the way? Will the debate start and conclude in time 
for a policy to be in place before farmers make 2013 crop decisions? Or, will an extension of current legislation be 
necessary? Should we call it the 2012 Farm Bill, or will it not happen until 2013? Certainly, the congressional turnover 
of the 2010 elections has had an impact on the farm bill debate process. New leadership in both the Senate and 
House Agricultural committees requires the development of leadership priorities, agendas, committee staffing, and 
engaging stakeholders. How quickly these get off the ground will dictate how soon the committees can seriously take 
up the next farm bill. What we know for certain is that the current farm bill will expire after the 2012 crop year, and we 
will not plant the 2013 crop under 1949 permanent legislation provisions. So, ready or not, the debate begins. 
Moving beyond “when” and into the more interesting question of “what” opens many more questions about the 
appropriate direction of U.S. farm and food policy. Agricultural economists over the years have played various key 
roles in farm policy. Some have been involved in developing ideology and/or specific programs to implement a set of 
policy ideals. Others are heavily involved in teaching or facilitating appropriate policy development processes. 
Traditionally, a large number of agricultural economists have filled the position of unbiased analyst. The analyst role 
stretches from evaluating potential impacts of policy options to providing impartial education for a wide range of 
stakeholders and policy decision makers. In the spirit of the latter role, this theme of four articles analyzes the 
environment in which the next farm bill will be developed. Rather than offering specific solutions, the articles lay out 
the key factors that will drive the farm bill debate. 
Providing a first-hand perspective of policy development from within the U.S. legislature, Mercier describes the 
factors that will most influence the coming farm bill. She illustrates the political environment including issues of 
committee leadership, partisanship, and the longer term changing influence of agriculture and rural America. Included 
in the article is a glimpse of the landscape specific to a few key farm bill program areas. Finally, she concludes with a 
discussion of how the limited budget will impact both the process and content of the next farm bill. 
An article by Outlaw, Richardson, and Klose presents a discussion of the traditional objectives of agricultural policy 
and the various stakeholders involved. Stakeholder influence fluctuates as the political environment changes and 
interest groups’ goals evolve. The article describes the influential stakeholders and the critical issues that will direct 
policy development in five major categories of farm legislation: food policy, farm policy, energy policy, natural 
resources and the environment, and rural development. Among stakeholder groups there is always an interaction of 
ideals when it comes to formulating policy. That interaction can either be collaborative or competitive in nature, but 
rarely are the interests of different groups independent, especially in a limited budget environment where competition 
for funding is a given. The article highlights the current situation, where collaboration may be of critical importance. 
Another significant factor in the landscape of debating farm policy is the extent to which existing trade agreements, 
current trade negotiations, and participation in the World Trade Organization (WTO) will influence domestic policy programs. While trade agreements and farm policy can develop independently, the results of either can have 
inseparable implications for the other. Josling reviews the general environment of agricultural trade in today’s global 
economy, and the factors that may impact the future of U.S. agriculture exports. The article outlines the status of 
WTO Doha negotiations and various bilateral and regional trade agreements. Finally, he discusses the resolution of 
trade conflicts, and the potential implications for domestic farm policies. 
Many people within traditional agriculture interests pay little attention to food policy, but those heavily involved 
understand its significance. The societal goal of reducing food insecurity has a strong and broad appeal, and 
therefore has become an important political complement in farm legislation. The final article in the theme is written by 
Paggi, who describes the current environment of food and nutrition programs that have recently evolved to consume 
the lion's share of farm bill funding. He presents the status of U.S. food insecurity as well as health issues that impact 
food supplement and nutrition programs. He also highlights the very difficult issue of evaluating the impact of food 
programs in light of budget pressures that will inevitably scrutinize all aspects of the federal farm bill spending. 
The next farm bill debate will be a difficult one with the ever changing landscapes of agriculture and food markets, 
along with the federal budget situation. The four articles of this Choices theme present the broad spectrum of issues 
that will impact debate over the next farm bill and the future direction of U.S. farm and food policy. 
Steven L. Klose (sklose@tamu.edu) is Associate Professor and Extension Economist, Department of Agricultural 
Economics, Texas A&M University System, College Station, Texas 
 
The authors acknowledge the leadership and direction provided for this theme edition by the Southern 
Extension/Research Activities Information Exchange Group (SERA-IEG 39): Public Policy Issues Education. 
© 1999-2011 Choices. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced or electronically distributed as long as 
attribution to Choices and the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association is maintained. 
 

THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE NEXT FARM BILL DEBATE

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