Peanuts: Background for 1995 Farm Legislation

Scott Sanford and Sam Evans

No 308422, Agricultural Economic Reports from United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service

Abstract: Throughout much of its history, the peanut program led to surplus production and substantial government costs. To remedy these problems, farm legislation in 1977 initiated a two-price poundage quota peanut program. As efforts to reduce costs continued, the 1981 Act provided for a decrease in the poundage quota each year to eliminate an excess of peanuts being supported at the higher of the two support prices. The 1985 Act extended these provisions and established guidelines for matching the poundage quota with use. The 1990 Act extended most of the 1985 provisions through the 1995 crop as costs seemed to be contained. Now the peanut program finds itself in much the same predicament that plagued its past—surplus production and high costs. Some argue that the current program is flawed and must be changed, while others suggest the program has outlived its purpose and should be eliminated. Few observers disagree that new trade agreements and recent changes in peanut consumption patterns necessitate a fresh look at the peanut program.

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Crop Production/Industries; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; International Relations/Trade (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37
Date: 1995-04
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/308422/files/aer710.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:uerser:308422

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.308422

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Agricultural Economic Reports from United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().