Congressional Research Service Reports - 996 Matching Results

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Air Quality Issues and Animal Agriculture: A Primer

Description: This report focuses on the environmental quality of water resources as affected by animal agriculture, specifically animal waste, which can harm water quality through surface runoff, direct discharges, spills, and leaching into soil and groundwater. This report also discusses the contribution of emissions from animal feeding operations (AFO), enterprises where animals are raised in confinement, to air pollution.
Date: June 10, 2005
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Air Quality Issues and Animal Agriculture: EPA's Air Compliance Agreement

Description: In an effort to collect scientifically credible data regarding the effect of animal agriculture on water resources (specifically animal waste and emissons from animal feeding operations (AFO), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in January 2005 announced the Air Compliance Agreement. The agreement is intended to produce air quality monitoring data on AFO emissions during a two-year study, while at the same time protecting participants through a “safe harbor” from liability under certain p… more
Date: July 12, 2005
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Previewing a 2007 Farm Bill

Description: Federal farm support, food assistance, agricultural trade, marketing, and rural development policies are governed by a variety of separate laws. However, many of these laws periodically are evaluated, revised, and renewed through an omnibus, multi-year farm bill. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (P.L. 107- 171) was the most recent omnibus farm bill, and many of its provisions expire in 2007, so reauthorization is expected to be enacted in the 110th Congress.
Date: August 18, 2005
Creator: Womach, Jasper
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Agriculture Conservation Programs: A Scorecard

Description: The Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Farm Service Agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture currently administer 20 programs and subprograms that are directly or indirectly available to assist producers and landowners who wish to practice conservation on agricultural lands. The number, scope, and overall funding of these programs have all grown with each recent farm bill. This growth can cause confusion over which problems and conditions each program addresses, and specific pro… more
Date: June 3, 2005
Creator: Zinn, Jeffrey A. & Cowan, Tadlock
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Mandatory Funding for Agriculture Conservation Programs

Description: The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 authorized large increases in mandatory funding for several agricultural conservation programs. Since FY2002, Congress has acted, through the appropriations process, to limit funding for some of these programs below authorized levels. It limited funding for all these programs, combined, to 97.6% of the authorized total in FY2003, 93.1% in FY2004, and 89.5% in FY2005. Program supporters decry these growing reductions as changes that increasingly… more
Date: September 7, 2005
Creator: Zinn, Jeffrey A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Agriculture and FY2006 Budget Reconciliation

Description: On April 29, 2005, Congress completed action on the FY2006 budget resolution (H.Con.Res. 95, H.Rept. 109-62). This measure contains reconciliation instructions that require authorizing committees to report legislation to reduce spending on mandatory programs within each committee’s jurisdiction. To reduce spending in mandatory U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs, conferees instructed the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to reduce mandatory spending by $173 million in FY2006 an… more
Date: May 4, 2005
Creator: Chite, Ralph M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Specialty Crop Issues in the 109th Congress

Description: This report discusses the U.S. specialty crop issues in the 109th Congress. This sector is comprised of producers, handlers, processors, and retailers of fruit, vegetable, tree nut, and nursery crops.
Date: August 19, 2005
Creator: Rawson, Jean M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The FY2006 Budget Request for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Description: This report outlines the Administration’s FY2006 budget request for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), including estimated outlays of $94.6 billion. Discretionary budget authority would fall 12% from FY2005 levels to $19.4 billion ($21 billion outlays), and mandatory outlays would remain steady at $73 billion. The request included proposals to reduce mandatory spending for farm commodity programs, food stamps, rural development, and conservation.
Date: March 2, 2005
Creator: Monke, Jim
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Hemp as an Agricultural Commodity

Description: This report describes Hemp as an Agricultural Commodity. Industry Hemp is a variety of cannabis Sativa and is of the same plant marijuana. However, Hemp is genetically different and distinguished by its use and chemical makeup. Precise data are not available in the U.S market for Hemp based products.
Date: July 8, 2005
Creator: Rawson, Jean M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Agricultural Issues in the 109th Congress

Description: A number of issues affecting U.S. agriculture are receiving attention during the 109th Congress. Some are related to new initiatives or to unfinished legislation from the 108th Congress; others have been the focus of ongoing congressional oversight. The agriculture committees are required by the FY2006 budget resolution to report legislation this year that reduces spending on mandatory food and agriculture support programs by $3 billion over the next five years. Other issues of importance to ag… more
Date: July 6, 2005
Creator: Chite, Ralph M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The U.S. Farm Economy

Description: No Description Available.
Date: February 16, 2005
Creator: Schnepf, Randy
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Agricultural Disaster Assistance

Description: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers several permanently authorized programs to help farmers recover financially from a natural disaster, including federal crop insurance, the non-insured assistance program and emergency disaster loans. In recent years, Congress frequently has made supplemental financial assistance available to farmers and ranchers on an ad-hoc basis, most notably in the form of direct crop disaster payments and emergency livestock assistance. Congress provided an e… more
Date: September 17, 2003
Creator: Chite, Ralph M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Agricultural Disaster Assistance

Description: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers several permanently authorized programs to help farmers recover financially from a natural disaster, including federal crop insurance, the non-insured assistance program and emergency disaster loans. In recent years, Congress frequently has made supplemental financial assistance available to farmers and ranchers on an ad-hoc basis, most notably in the form of direct crop disaster payments and emergency livestock assistance. Congress provided an e… more
Date: November 2, 2004
Creator: Chite, Ralph M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Farm Commodity Programs: A Short Primer

Description: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is required by law to subsidize approximately two dozen specified agricultural commodities. Several permanent statutes provide the basic authority for these subsidies; more recent multi-year farm bills shape their operation and funding levels. The most recent omnibus farm bill is the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (P.L.107-171). However, Congress since FY1989 has also passed 30 appropriations, authorization, or farm disaster acts adding … more
Date: February 7, 2005
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Iraq Agriculture and Food Supply: Background and Issues

Description: This report describes the influence military conflict and international sanctions have had on agriculture in relation to Iraq's economy. This includes the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, the 1991 Gulf War, and 2003 Iraq War, the varying degrees of government effort to promote and/or control agricultural production, and the response to 1990 U.N. Sanctions.
Date: June 7, 2004
Creator: Schnepf, Randy
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Emergency Funding for Agriculture: A Brief History of Supplemental Appropriations, FY1989-FY2005

Description: From FY1989 through FY2005 (to date), 31 appropriations, authorization, or farm disaster acts added approximately $53.2 billion in supplemental funding for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs (excluding the Forest Service, which is funded annually under the Interior appropriations bill). Nearly $41 billion, or 77% of the total amount, was for FY1999-FY2005 alone. Two FY2005 supplementals have been enacted to date, the largest of which was a disaster relief package in response to the … more
Date: June 23, 2005
Creator: Chite, Ralph M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws, 2005 Edition

Description: This report includes a glossary of approximately 2,500 agriculture and related terms (e.g., food programs, conservation, forestry, environmental protection, etc.). Besides defining terms and phrases with specialized meanings for agriculture, the glossary also identifies acronyms, agencies, programs, and laws related to agriculture.
Date: June 16, 2005
Creator: Womach, Jasper
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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