Agricultural Information Bulletin No. (AIB-485) 58 pp

December 1984

History of Agricultural Price-Support and Adjustment Programs, 1933-84

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's concern with price-support and adjustment legislation is carried out under a series of interrelated laws passed by Congress from 1933 to 1984. Beginning with the major proposals of the 1920s for handling and marketing farm surpluses, this history records the establishment of price-support and adjustment programs with the Federal Farm Board in 1929 and the Agricultural Adjustment Acts of 1933 and 1938, and then traces their evolution through 1984. This half century of development is important because it forms the foundation for implementing current and future farm legislation.

Keywords: Price support, production adjustment, history, Depression, commodity programs, agricultural policy

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