Agricultural Programs in the Seventies: The Political-Economic Environment

Abstract

I shall treat my subject, not as a Government official, which I am, but as a university professor, which I also am, on leave from Purdue University. I begin, like a professor, by defining terms.For about forty years farm policy people have considered the term “agricultural programs” to mean programs for controlling production and price and increasing the income from our major crops. This ignores other agricultural programs like rural development, research and education, regulatory activities, environmental programs, and food distribution. In dollars spent and numbers of persons affected, these other programs bulk larger than the commodity programs. But I interpret my assignment as relating to the commodity programs.