Hopefully the links below provide some context for the current controversy over the farm bill. Agriculture policy of some sort has been a major component of national public policy since the early years of the republic - manifest destiny was in many ways an effort to provide farm land for the property-less folks out east who would also help settle the new territory.
Farm policy took a new form during the Great Depression beginning with the passage of the Agriculture Adjustment Act of 1933, but codified in related legislation in 1938 which contained a requirement that the bill be updated every five years. It also contained a provision that allowed for the creation of a nutrition program, which would later become food stamps - then SNAP.
What this means is that the farm bill contains two separate, though related items: subsidies for farmers, and food for the poor. This has created broad support for the bill over time, but has led to the current conflict. Republicans have pushed for limits on food stamps and removing them from the farm bill while retaining the subsidies. So the farm bill can be though of in the broader context of the New Deal, and the battle against it - or at least the part that created nutrition programs.
Here are some links with further historical information:
- Wikipedia: Agriculture policy of the United States, and History of Agriculture in the United States.
- Wikipedia: United States Farm Bill.
This provides a good, brief look at the history of these bills and a
list of the major agriculture legislation passed since the late 19th
Century.
- Infographic might provide the most efficient way to get an idea of the history of the farm bill.
- For - what seems to me to be - the most comprehensive list of farm bills and supporting information related to them dating back to 1935, click on the National Agriculture Law Center here.
- Snap to Health has FAQ's about the farm bill.
- NPR: The Farm Bill: From Charitable Start to Prime Budget Target. This provides a good look at the impact the farm bill has on agriculture policy in the US. Click here for similar detail.
- USDA National Agriculture Library: Farm Bill.
