The Fault Lines of Farm Policy: A Legislative and Political History of the Farm Bill

by Jonathan Coppess

At the intersection of the growing national conversation about our food system and the long-running debate about our government’s role in society is the complex farm bill. American farm policy, built on a political coalition of related interests with competing and conflicting demands, has proven incredibly resilient despite development and growth. In The Fault Lines of Farm Policy Jonathan Coppess analyzes the legislative and political history of the farm bill, including the evolution of congressional politics for farm policy. Disputes among the South, the Great Plains, and the Midwest form the primordial fault line that has defined the debate throughout farm policy’s history. Because these regions formed the original farm coalition and have played the predominant roles throughout, this study concentrates on the three major commodities produced in these  cotton, wheat, and corn. Coppess examines policy development by the political and congressional interests representing these commodities, including basic drivers such as coalition building, external and internal pressures on the coalition and its fault lines, and the impact of commodity prices. This exploration of the political fault lines provides perspectives for future policy discussions and more effective policy outcomes.   

Genres: Economics, Politics, Agriculture

504 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2018

Reviews

[skip thurnauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up The Fault Lines of Farm Policy because it was written by one of my son's college friends. Jonathan Coppess provides an analysis on the legislative and political history of farm policy in America, beginning in the early 20th century and continuing through the farm bill of 2014. Farm bills affects every American, but few are aware of the complexity of the issue and legislation. It didn't take long to realize this was a scholarly work and I was over my head in the cornfields of farming. While I would hesitate to recommend The Fault Lines to people without an academic or legislative interest in the subject, I am glad I plowed on through the decades of policy debate and legislative action. To some degree, farmers are the victims of their own success. Improved farming methods and technology have increased productivity immensely and driven down prices. Except for unusual periods like war and extreme drought, farms yields have outstripped demand. This results in surpluses and depressed prices. Natural fault lines exist between crops - corn and wheat vs cotton, between regions - South vs Midwest and West, urban needs supporting food stamps vs subsidies for rural farmers, environmental issues, and much more. You can find the seeds for current farm policy in the New Deal support for depression-wracked farmers. FDR's New Deal legislation also provided the genesis of the food stamp program, the National Food Allotment Plan that enabled low income families to purchase stamps that could then be used to buy surplus commodities and improve their diet. Moving forward through the decades, additional fault lines developed around and among a myriad of farm issues - price guarantees, crop insurance, acreage allotments, ethanol and renewable fuels, hogs, peanuts, sharecroppers rights and racism, crops for domestic consumption/crops for export, etc., etc. Professor Coppess provides an orderly march through the tug-of-war of farm policy with insights gained through his service as chief counsel for the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, as well as his experience as administrator for farm programs for the USDA. The Fault Lines of Farm Policy is an excellent reference for those wanting an in-depth history of the evolution and status of American farm policy.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reasonably comprehensive and accessible history of U.S. farm policy from 1920 to 2014. Written before the 2018 Farm Bill, the history's premise is that successful Farm Bills are based on fragile, shifting alliances to serve competing or even adversarial interests. The power of Southern legislators from the first successful Farm Bills during the New Deal ensured that agricultural legislation was discriminatory and designed to maintain racist structures in the Jim Crow south. Cotton interests are at odd with grains. What benefits grain producers hurts livestock producers. Perishable commodities have different needs than producers of commodities that can be stored. Producers that depend on export markets have different incentives on trade policies than those that rely on domestic markets.

Farm policy declined after World War II and created fracturing that became increasingly partisan and ideological. The Great Society of the 1960s introduced nutrition programs, which initially had strong bi-partisan support as well as bi-partisan opposition. With the Southern congressional delegation now in Republican control, nutrition programs have become highly partisan. However, the rural districts that benefit from the economic support of farmers do not have enough votes to pass legislation without some nutrition programs.

Now, the 2023 Farm Bill is long overdue, and there is no sign that a viable coalition of farm and non-farm interests can coalesce to resolve these deepening and widening cracks along the fault lines identified. The Farm Bill may well be broken beyond repair, and a fresh start may be needed after a painful readjustment.

The author disappointed me on several points. While historians are not supposed to predict the future, I at least expect some lessons to help guide future farm policy. Clearly he thinks that the fault lines of the Farm Bill have created an increasingly dysfunctional situation in both agriculture and food systems. H0wever, his concluding chapter is a disappointment that offers little hope for the future. The book mentions "organic farming" only once, and very early on. Granted, it is a small program, but an innovative one that offers possible hope for future policy. The author also pays little attention to programs designed to give access to local food.

If nutrition programs are eviscerated from the Farm Bill, and we go back to pre-Great Society or even pre-New Deal nutrition policies while at the same time increasing concentration of market power in the modern industrial food system, developing resilient systems at the local level will become a strategy of growing importance. Food policy in the future will almost certainly require us to think outside of the box, and to look beyond the beltway for sustainable ways to grow food and feed the people.