Agricultural Policy
The Gardner Agriculture Policy Program is funded by the Leonard and Lila Gardner/Illinois Farm Bureau Family of Companies endowment. This generous gift is dedicated to the memory of Len Gardner, a leading voice on agricultural policy for decades. The program will coordinate and prioritize analytical and outreach efforts for farm, conservation and international trade policies, elevating the University of Illinois’ voice in the national debate.
Latest in Gardner Policy Series
A Brief Review of the Consequential Seventies
On August 10, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon signed the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 into law, representing the definitive end to the era of parity policy. Within five growing seasons, however, farmers were driving tractors on the…
Considering Policy Reversion: The Parity Paradox
Historically, challenging times create strong temptation to recycle old policy ideas; a reversion to policies discarded in the past when cyclical problems reappear. As is well known, recent years have returned relatively lower commodity prices with expectations of more challenging…
Estimated 2018 ARC-CO Payments
The National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) released county yields for 2018. With these NASS yields, fairly accurate estimates of 2018 Agricultural Risk Coverage at the county level (ARC-CO) payments can be made. We present U.S. maps showing estimated payments per…
High Price Scenarios for the PLC Escalator and Farm Program Decision
As discussed previously, the 2018 Farm Bill’s inclusion of an escalator provision for PLC alters that program and would likely have increased PLC payments if it had been in operation during the 2008 to 2017 crop years. The forecast for…
WTO Dispute Panel Report on China’s Administration of Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs) for Certain Agricultural Products
A World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute panel circulated its report on April 18, 2019 concerning U.S. claims that China’s administration of tariff rate quotas (TRQs) for corn, rice and wheat has been inconsistent with its legal obligations (WTO 2019). This…
A Brief Review of the Consequential Seventies
On August 10, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon signed the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 into law, representing the definitive end to the era of parity policy. Within five growing seasons, however, farmers were driving tractors on the…
Federal Budget Discussion, Part 2: Revenues and Spending
Part 1 opened this series by providing some initial background information and a quick overview of federal budget basics. This article continues the budget discussion with a review of revenue and spending data as reported by the Congressional Budget Office.…
Dead Zones & Drinking Water: Updates on Waters of the U.S., Part 2
The preceding article discussed a lawsuit under the Clean Water Act that will be heard by the Supreme Court. This article continues the discussion by reviewing a proposed rule published jointly by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps…