Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996
Long title | An Act to modify the operation of certain agricultural programs. |
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Nicknames |
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Enacted by | the 104th United States Congress |
Effective | April 4, 1996 |
Citations | |
Public law | 104–127 |
Statutes at Large | 110 Stat. 888 through 110 Stat. 1197 (309 pages) |
Legislative history | |
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The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-127), known informally as the Freedom to Farm Act, the FAIR Act, or the 1996
The law removed the link between income support payments and farm prices. It authorized 7-year
The law specified the total amount of money to be made available through contract payments under production flexibility contracts for each fiscal year from 1996 through 2002. Payment levels were allocated among contract commodities according to specified percentages, generally derived from each commodity’s share of projected deficiency payments for fiscal 1996-2002.
The law increased planting flexibility by allowing participants to plant 100% of their total contract acreage to any crop, except with limitations on fruits and vegetables. The authority for acreage reduction programs was eliminated, while nonrecourse loans (with marketing loan repayment provisions) were continued in a modified form. Minimum loan rates generally were calculated each year at 85% of recent past market prices. Authority for the Farmer-Owned Reserve Program was suspended through the 2002 crop year. Authority for the honey program was eliminated.
Dairy price support was to be phased down for milk over 4 years and then eliminated, but subsequent legislation continued this program. Had dairy support ended, processors could have obtained recourse loans on dairy products. The
Other provisions established a Commission to conduct a comprehensive review of changes to production agriculture under the 1996 Act, required USDA to conduct research on futures and options contracts through pilot programs, capped expenditures for the Export Enhancement Program, and changed the name of the Market Promotion Program to the Market Access Program.
The 1996 Act also reauthorized the
The
See also
- Conservation Reserve Program
- Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant and Loan Program
- Triple base plan
References
This article incorporates public domain material from Jasper Womach. Report for Congress: Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws, 2005 Edition (PDF). Congressional Research Service.
External links
- Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 as amended (PDF/details) in the GPO Statute Compilations collection
- Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 as enacted (details) in the US Statutes at Large
- Summary of the Act's provisions, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Information about the Act from Cornell University[dead link]