THE EFFECTS OF 1996 FARM LEGISLATION ON FEED AND FOOD GRAINS

The 1996 Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act of 199 6 has been portrayed as a radical departure from the farm policies of the past 60 years. FAIR brought sweeping institutional changes to the basic price and income support programs, many of which had been in pla ce since the 1930s. Close analysis reveals that many of the reforms of the FAIR Act are less revolutionary innovations and more continuation s of reforms that began with the 1985 farm legislation and were extend ed by the 1990 farm bill. Nor should one believe that the changes will result, as some suggest, in large changes in crop acreages or have la rge effects on the year-to-year variability of farm revenues for these crops. In both cases, the changes in policies may be substantive, but their effective consequences are modest.