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China's Most-Favored-Nation Status: U.S. Wheat Exports

Description: By June 3, 1994, President Clinton must determine whether or not to recommend to Congress a one-year extension of his Jackson-Vanik waiver authority, in effect extending most-favored-nation (MFN)[1] trading status to China for anothe year. The media are reporting that the President has not yet decided whether he will ask for an extension, and that he may also be deliberating over whether or not to attach conditions to a recommendation for approval.
Date: May 24, 1994
Creator: Ek, Carl & Epstein, Susan B.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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An Introduction to Farm Commodity Programs

Description: The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is required to provide assistance to 20 specified agricultural commodities, to achieve three primary objectives: to support prices, supplement incomes, and manage supplies. Supporters contend that financial help to the farm sector also ensures consumers an abundant supply of reasonably priced food. But critics believe that basic U.S. farm policies, conceived in the 1930s, no longer meet the needs of modern agricult… more
Date: July 20, 1994
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Conservation Reserve Program: Policy Issues for the 1995 Farm Bill

Description: The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), enacted in 1985, enables producers to bid to retire highly erodible or environmentally sensitive crop land for 10 years (or longer under certain circumstances). Successful bidders receive annual rental payments, and cost-sharing and technical assistance to install approved plantings. The program was to enroll between 40 and 45 million acres before 1996. Program goals are to reduce erosion and excess production, and more recently, to provide other environm… more
Date: December 19, 1994
Creator: Zinn, Jeffrey A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Wetlands and Agriculture: Policy Issues in the 1995 Farm Bill

Description: Wetlands protection efforts have been a major concern for agricultural interests since Congress enacted so-called swampbuster provisions in the 1985 Food Security Act. Under these provisions, all producers who alter wetlands risk losing certain farm program benefits. Determining which sites are wetlands and enforcement of penalties remain contentious issues. Controversy has been heightened by confusion over how this program is related to the principal Federal regulatory program to protect wetla… more
Date: December 19, 1994
Creator: Zinn, Jeffrey A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Rural Abandoned Mine Program - A Fact Sheet

Description: The Rural Abandoned Mine Program (RAMP) was designed to restore agricultural land that has been disturbed by strip mining. The program is carried out by the Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service at a current cost of about $10 million per year--a modest share of total Federal abandoned surface mining reclamation efforts that currently exceed $110 million per year, and that has been higher in the past. Critics contend that the RAMP program is inefficient and duplicate… more
Date: June 12, 1995
Creator: Thompson, Duane A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Sustainable Agriculture

Description: The term "sustainable agriculture" is used to designate both a reduced-chemical approach to farming and an alternative political viewpoint on the distribution of economic and social benefits in the farm sector. In practice, sustainable agriculture is characterized by the substitution of more intensive farm resource management--generally involving more labor--for purchased inputs of fertilizers and pesticides. It comprises a range of practices that include integrated pest management (which may i… more
Date: October 25, 1995
Creator: Rawson, Jean M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Humane Treatment of Farm Animals: Overview and Selected Issues

Description: Animal protection activists in the United States are seeking modifications (or even curtailment) of many practices long considered acceptable and necessary to animal agriculture. Examples include rearing large numbers of livestock and poultry in close confinement; performing surgery such as tail-docking or beak trimming; housing layer hens in cages; and isolating veal calves in crates.
Date: December 6, 1995
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Farm Bill: Soil and Water Conservation Issues

Description: This report discusses resource conservation topics, which are a part of the farm bill debate. Debate on existing programs focuses on reauthorization of the Conservation Reserve Program and possible amendments to the reserve, swampbuster, and conservation compliance.
Date: December 29, 1995
Creator: Zinn, Jeffrey A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Survey of Grazing Programs in Western States

Description: This report sets out in chart form a survey of grazing programs on state-owned lands in 16 western states. It presents information on acreage, numbers of permits or leases, and fees for state grazing programs. It also contains information on state policies relating to various features such as non-use, range improvements, and subleasing. The Report is based on telephone interviews with state grazing program officials.
Date: January 30, 1996
Creator: Baldwin, Pamela & Cody, Betsy A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Agricultural Research, Education, and Extension : Questionnaire Responses from Partners and Stakeholders

Description: This report describes the public agricultural, research, education, and extension system. Furthermore, the report summarizes the budgetary issues with the program in terms of under funding from both federal and state government. The report suggests that the need for this funding will be assessed by debating if the program is meeting its research challenges.
Date: March 6, 1996
Creator: Rawson, Jean M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The 1996 Farm Bill: Comparisons of Selected Provisions with Previous Law

Description: Final congressional approval was given to H.R. 2854, the Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act, otherwise known as the "1996 farm bill," on March 28, 1996. President Clinton signed the bill into law on April 4, 1996 (P.L. 104-127). In tabular format, this CRS report lays out in descriptive, rather than legislative language, the major provisions of the new farm bill in contrast to preceding law.
Date: April 4, 1996
Creator: Library of Congress. Environment and Natural Resources Policy Division. Food and Agriculture Section.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Agricultural Marketing and Regulatory Provisions of the 1996 Farm Bill

Description: The Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-127), signed into law on April 4, for the first time grants the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) broad-based authority to establish national generic promotion ("check-off") programs for virtually any agricultural commodity. Formerly, individual programs first had to be authorized expressly by Congress. The new law also explicitly authorizes the establishment of new check-off programs for rapeseed and canola, kiwifruit, a… more
Date: April 30, 1996
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Grazing Fees: An Overview

Description: This report briefly discusses charging fees for grazing private livestock on federal lands, which is a long-standing but contentious practice. Generally, livestock producers who use federal lands want to keep fees low, while conservation groups and others believe fees should be raised to approximate "fair market value."
Date: May 21, 1996
Creator: Cody, Betsy A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Pesticide Legislation: Food Quality Protection Act of 1996

Description: The 104th congress enacted significant changes to the Federal Insecticide, fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), governing U.S. sale and use of pesticide products, and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), which limits pesticide residues on food. The vehicle of these changes was H.R. 1627, the "Food Quality Protection Act of 1996" (FQPA), enacted August 3, 1996, as Public Law 104-170. Under FIFRA, the new law will facilitate registrations and reregistrations of pesticides for spec… more
Date: September 11, 1996
Creator: Schierow, Linda-Jo
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture: Appropriations for FY1997

Description: The FY1997 agriculture appropriations act (P.L. 104-180) was signed into law on August 6, 1996. P.L. 104-180 provides $52.84 billion in FY1997 budget authority for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and related agencies, an amount which is $5.60 billion below the Administration's FY1997 request and $10.25 billion below the FY1996 enacted level. Much of the reduction in funding from FY1996 levels is attributable to an $8.9 billion reduction in the reimbursement for net realized losses of the Com… more
Date: November 12, 1996
Creator: Chite, Ralph M.; Zinn, Jeffrey A.; Hanrahan, Charles E.; Jones, Jean Yavis; Osbourn, Sandra S.; Rawson, Jean M. et al.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Cattle Prices: Questions and Answers

Description: After 7 years of relatively high returns, cattle producers by 1994 were experiencing steeply falling prices--mainly caused by abundant supplies of cattle destined for U.S. feedlots. Record-high grain prices and dry pastures amplified the problem. Because of the lengthy biological cycle governing cattle production, large numbers will be coming onto the market for some time, as producers undertake the slow process of curtailing herd expansion.
Date: November 14, 1996
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The 1995 Farm Bill: Research, Education, and Extension Issues

Description: The House Agriculture Committee has proposed extending Title XVI of the 1990 farm act (P.L. 101-624) for two years. Currently, the title will expire at the end of 1995. The title includes funding authority for the U.s. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) in-house research programs, as well as federal support for cooperative research, higher education, extension programs in the States, and several research grant programs. This report discusses efforts underway to extend this title and reform futu… more
Date: November 30, 1996
Creator: Rawson, Jean M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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