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Issues Involved in Formulating A Structures Policy for U.S. Agriculture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2015

Neal Walker
Neal Walker*
Affiliation:
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
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Extract

On March 12, 1979, Secretary of Agriculture Bob Bergland issued a call for a full-scale national dialogue on the structure of American agriculture. According to USDA, “Reaction to the speech has been widespread and, in the main, highly positive.” The main factor contributing to this “widespread highly positive” response has been the ambiguity of the subject matter. Farmers, along with special interest groups of all types and persuasions, have eagerly jumped on the structures bandwagon to blame/praise one or more particular aspects of agricultural structure for all the evils/blessings currently within their fields of vision. This broad range of comments and opinions on structure can be attributed to the extreme extent to which the structure of agriculture pervades and is interwoven with the national economy and society in general. Unfortunately, some unreasonable expectations apparently have also emerged concerning which of agriculture's ills can be alleviated via a structures policy. The aim of this article is to attempt to give some perspective to the structures issue.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , July 1980 , pp. 11 - 16
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 1980

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References

Bray, C. E., Castillo, Anne Marie del, and Bjornlund, Eric. “Farm Structure Policy in Other Countries,” in Structures Issues of American Agriculture, USDA/ESCS, Agr. Econ. Rep. 438, Nov. 1979.Google Scholar
Brown, David L. “Farm Structure and the Rural Community,” in Structures Issues of American Agriculture, USDA/ESCS, Agr. Econ. Rep. 438, Nov. 1979.Google Scholar
James, Gwyn. Agricultural Policy in Wealthy Countries. Sydney, Australia: Angus and Robertson Pty. Ltd. (Publishers), 1971.Google Scholar
Schertz, Lyle P. “A Dramatic Transformation,” in Another Revolution in U.S. Farming? by Schertz, Lyle P. and others, USDA/ESCS, Agr. Econ. Rep. No. 441, Dec. 1979.Google Scholar
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