Congressional Research Service Reports - 996 Matching Results
Search Results
- The Agriculture Framework Agreement in the WTO Doha Round
- This report discusses the Doha Development Agenda (DDA). The DDA sets up the focus on curbing trade-distorting domestic support, reducing trade barriers, and getting rid of export subsidies. Moreover, the report details the deadlines that come with the DDA.
- The 2002 Farm Bill: Overview and Status
- This report provides an overview of the 2002 farm bill and an update status of the farm bill.
- The 2008 Farm Bill: Major Provisions and Legislative Action
- This report provides a summary of 2008 farm bill implementation, discusses provisions, and includes a farm bill debate timeline.
- The 2012 Farm Bill: A Comparison of SenatePassed S. 3240 and the House Agriculture Committee’s H.R. 6083 with Current Law
- From Summary: "This report contains a more detailed summary of the major similarities and differences between the House and Senate 2012 farm bills and also provides a side-by-side comparison of every provision in the two farm bills and how these provisions relate to current federal law or policy."
- The 'Terminator Gene' and Other Genetic Use Restriction Technologies (GURTs) in Crops
- Plant Genetic Use Restriction Technologies (GURTs) are a group of complex genetic transformations that insert a genetic "on-off switch" in plants to prevent the unauthorized use of genetic traits contained within. GURTs are one of the latest bioengineering products developed for agriculture, with over 30 patents issued in the United States and Europe since 1997. The current state of biotechnology may allow GURTs to be introduced into the commercial seed market in the next 5 to 7 years
- Fruits and Vegetables: Ongoing Issues for Congress
- The FY2001 appropriations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and related agencies (P.L. 106-387/H.R. 4461) was signed into law on October 28, 2000. The act addressed agricultural emergency assistance (disasters and market losses) for specific fruits, vegetables, and nursery; contingency funding for APHIS to control crop diseases; funding for the methyl bromide transition program; and funding for the National Organic Program. It also would provide for the establishment of a marketing order for Hass avocados, and would redirect the duties charged foreign countries for dumping to injured farmers, ranchers, and others.
- Conservation Reserve Program: Status and Current Issues
- The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), enacted in 1985, enables producers to retire highly erodible or environmentally sensitive cropland, usually for 10 years. Congress reauthorized and amended the CRP in the 1996 Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act (P.L. 104-127; 16 U.S.C. 3811, et seq.). The law caps enrollment at 36.4 million acres and makes funding mandatory through the commodity Credit Corporation.
- Conservation Compliance for Agriculture: Status and Policy Issues
- This program, known as "conservation compliance," was amended in 1990 and 1996. This paper reviews the compliance concept, the program requirements, and the implementation record. It also introduces three policy topics: the effect of compliance on erosion rates and patterns; the effectiveness and flexibility of implementation; and the possible impact of changes to commodity policies enacted in the 1996 farm bill.
- U.S. Farm Income: Recent National and Regional Changes and the Federal Response
- Major segments of U.S. agriculture are experiencing declining farm income and financial difficulty. The degree of decline, however, differs among regions and commodities. In 1996, the overall farm sector experienced record high income that declined 6.7% in 1997, and is forecast to decline by another 3.6% in 1998. Several factors are responsible for the recent drop in farm income. Reduced export demand and large global supplies have reduced crop prices
- International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
- This report provides an overview of the international treaty on plant genetic resources for food and agricultural.
- Conservation Reserve Program: Status and Current Issues
- The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), enacted in 1985, enables producers to retire highly erodible or environmentally sensitive cropland, usually for 10 years. Congress reauthorized and amended the CRP in the 1996 Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act (P.L. 104-127; 16 U.S.C. 3811, et seq.). The law caps enrollment at 36.4 million acres and makes funding mandatory through the commodity Credit Corporation.
- Organic Agriculture in the United States: Program and Policy Issues
- No Description Available.
- Agriculture Conservation Programs: A Scorecard
- 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 program characteristics and performance, especially for those who are less familiar with this conservation effort. This report lists these programs and basic information about each of them.
- The U.S. Farm Economy
- No Description Available.
- Specialty Crop Issues in the 109th Congress
- 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.
- Conservation Reserve Program: Status and Current Issues
- The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), enacted in 1985, provides payments to farmers to take highly erodible or environmentally sensitive cropland out of production for ten years or more to conserve soil and water resources. It is the federal government’s largest private land retirement program. The program is administered by the Farm Service Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), with technical assistance provided by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.
- The U.S. Farm Economy
- No Description Available.
- Agriculture as a Source of Barge Demand on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers: Background and Issues
- This report provides background on the linkage between U.S. agriculture and the UMR-IWW navigation system. In addition, it explores several of the key issues and uncertainties behind evolving trade patterns and projections for future agricultural freight traffic on the UMR-IWW navigation system.
- Animal Agriculture: 2007 Farm Bill Issues
- With a few exceptions (such as milk), the products of animal agriculture are not eligible for the price and income supports that Congress historically has written into farm bills for major row crops such as grains, cottons, and oilseeds. However, the meat and poultry industries do look to the federal government for leadership and support in prompting their exports, resolving trade disputes, and reassuring markets that their products are safe, of high quality, and disease free. Farm bills can contain policy guidance and resources to help achieve these objectives.
- Agriculture: U.S.-China Trade Issues
- With China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in December 2001, U.S. agricultural interests were hopeful that longstanding barriers to trade with that vast and growing market would begin to fall. However, critics charge that China is failing to honor commitments to open its markets, affecting U.S. exports of grains, oilseeds, meat and poultry, and other products. U.S. agriculture and trade officials have been working to resolve these differences.
- Livestock Feed Costs: Concerns and Options
- This report discusses higher livestock feed costs. The authors argue the current public policies, including financial incentives that divert corn from feed uses into ethanol production.
- Biodiesel Fuel and U.S. Agriculture
- This report provides an overview of biodiesel fuel and agriculture in the United States.
- Fishery, Aquaculture, and Marine Mammal Legislation in the 109th Congress
- Fish and marine mammals are important resources in open ocean and nearshore coastal areas; many federal laws and regulations guide their management. This report discusses a variety of laws and legislation pertaining to this issue.
- The WTO Doha Ministerial: Results and Agenda for a New Round of Negotiations
- Trade ministers from 142 member countries of the World Trade Organizations met in Doha, Qatar, issuing a ministerial declaration, along with two statements on developing country concerns.
- Agricultural Issues in the 110th Congress
- This report considers the issues the 110th Congress was confronted with in relation to agriculture and the issues inherited from the 109th Congress. The report also includes details about the upcoming farm bill and the usual problems that are examined with the creation of a new farm bill.
- Crop Insurance and Risk Management: Provisions in the Enacted 1996 Farm Bill
- No Description Available.
- The Emergency Agricultural Provisions in the FY1999 Omnibus Appropriations Act
- No Description Available.
- What Is the Farm Bill?
- This report describes the Farm Bill (P.L. 110-246, Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, which was enacted into law on June 18, 2008.
- Federal Agricultural Recovery Resources for Hurricane-Related Losses
- This report provides a short overview of select agricultural recovery resources related to hurricanes such as Harvey and Irma. It is not a comprehensive list (see "CRS Resources" below for more information about programs) and is not intended to provide up-to-date information on unfolding events. For additional support, please contact available CRS experts in hurricane-related issue areas.
- Farm Safety-Net Payments Under the 2014 Farm Bill: Comparison by Program Crop
- This report looks at available Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) and Federal Crop Insurance Act (FCIC) data for the major program crops and compares relative support using several different measures: absolute payments, payments per acre, payments as a share of the value of production, and payments as a share of the cost of production. In addition, price and income support levels are compared to market prices.
- Energy Provisions in the 2014 Farm Bill (P.L. 113-79): Status and Funding
- This report focuses on those policies contained in the 2014 farm bill that support agriculture-based renewable energy, especially biofuels. The introductory sections of this report briefly describe how USDA bioenergy policies evolved and how they fit into the larger context of U.S. biofuels policy. Then, each of the bioenergy provisions of the 2014 farm bill are defined in terms of their function, goals, administration, funding, and implementation status. In an appendix at the end of this report, Table A-1 presents data on 2014 farm bill budgetary authority for energy provisions, while Table A-2 presents the original budget authority for Title IX programs under the previous 2008 farm bill. A third table (Table A-3) provides a side-by-side comparison of Title IX energy-related provisions for current versus previous law.
- Dairy Policy Issues
- This report discusses several dairy issues that have been or are being considered by the 109th Congress, some of which affect the three major federal dairy policy tools -- the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program, federal milk marketing orders, and the dairy price support program.
- Agricultural Credit: Institutions and Issues
- The federal government has a long history of providing credit assistance to farmers by issuing direct loans and guarantees, and creating rural lending institutions. These institutions include the Farm Service Agency (FSA) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which makes or guarantees loans to farmers who cannot qualify at other lenders, and the Farm Credit System (FCS), which is a network of borrower-owned lending institutions operating as a government-sponsored enterprise. This report discusses legislation regarding this credit assistance expected in the the 110th Congress. Appropriators will consider funding for FSA’s farm loan programs, and the agriculture committees may consider changes to FSA and FCS lending programs. The 2007 farm bill is expected to be the venue for many of the authorizing issues, although stand-alone legislation may be used for extensive reforms.
- Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2013 Appropriations
- This report discusses the Agriculture appropriations bill—formally known as the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which provides funding for the following agencies: the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
- Emergency Funding for Agriculture: A Brief History of Supplemental Appropriations, FY1989-FY2007
- No Description Available.
- Estimates of Carbon Mitigation Potential from Agricultural and Forestry Activities
- No Description Available.
- Agricultural Issues in the 110th Congress
- This report considers the issues the 110th Congress was confronted with in relation to agriculture and the issues inherited from the 109th Congress. The report also includes details about the upcoming farm bill and the usual problems that are examined with the creation of a new farm bill.
- Avian Influenza: Agricultural Issues
- This report is about Avian Influenza, specifically about agricultural issues.
- The FY2008 Budget Request for the U.S. Department of Agriculture
- No Description Available.
- Broadband Loan and Grant Programs in the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service
- This report provides detailed background information on the Rural Utilities Service RUS broadband loan and grant programs,outlines criticisms of how the RUS broadband program has been implemented and discusses issues that congress might have asked to consider during the reauthorization process.
- Fruits, Vegetables, and Other Specialty Crops: Selected Farm Bill and Federal Programs
- No Description Available.
- Food and Agriculture Provisions in the FY1997 Supplemental Appropriations Act
- This report addresses Food and Agriculture provisions in the FY1997 Supplemental Appropriations Act.
- WTO Doha Round: Implications for U.S. Agriculture
- In July of 2008, a Ministerial conference was held in Geneva to resolve the remaining outstanding issues in the Doha Round negotiations. This report reviewed the status of agricultural negotiations for domestic support, market access, export subsidies, and the potential implications for U.S. agriculture.
- Emergency Funding for Agriculture: A Brief History of Supplemental Appropriations, FY1989-FY2009
- No Description Available.
- Agricultural Provisions in the FY1998 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act (P.L. 105-174)
- This report considers the agricultural funding allocated in the FY1998 supplemental appropriations bill.
- Farmers’ Markets: The USDA Role
- No Description Available.
- Agriculture: Parity, Parity, Parity
- This report addresses Legislative Enactment of Parity
- Agriculture: Proposed Revisions in Federal Disaster Assistance
- This report is about the proposed revisions in federal disaster assistance for the agriculture field.
- Midwest Floods of 2008: Potential Impact on Agriculture
- This report discusses the potential impact on agriculture of June flooding across much of the Corn Belt. As much as 5 million acres of crop production were initially thought to be either lost entirely or subject to significant yield reductions.
- Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2016 Appropriations
- This report discusses the Agriculture appropriations bill for FY 2016, which funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) -- except for the Forest Service -- as well as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and, in even-numbered fiscal years, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).