Every five years Congress passes legislation that sets national policy on agriculture, nutrition, conservation and forestry. The first real farm bill was the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, part of the government’s New Deal response to the Great Depression, following a decade of failed efforts to address low crop prices after World War I. The original goal was to raise prices for farmers to a level at ‘parity’ with 1910-1914. Over the 18 farm bills that have been passed since 1933, various provisions and programs have been added including those related to crop insurance, conservation and nutrition. Livestock, though, has had a limited place in all of these farm bills, including the most recent version, the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (PL 115-334), set to expire in 2023.
This Market Intel will help readers better understand the livestock-related provisions scattered through the farm bill, what they do for U.S. livestock producers, and other risk management tools that are also available outside of the farm bill.
What’s in the Farm Bill for Livestock Producers
Provisions related to livestock inspection restrictions first appeared in the farm bill in 1996 under the Miscellaneous Title. In 2008 livestock was given its own title, Title XI, but was moved back under Miscellaneous in 2018. The 2018 farm bill did very little to expand livestock provisions under the Miscellaneous Title.