The History of US Farm Policy

By Jonathon Helton

If you don’t farm or hunt, you don’t eat. 

For most of world history, this statement was true for most people. The common man lived a subsistence lifestyle. 

But for the past 100-150 years — depending on the country — this has ceased to be true, especially for Western countries and many high-income countries in the Far East. 

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the United States. Its farm policy is just as old. 

This article will give a rundown of major events in U.S. farm policy history. There are some links for further reading near the end. 

 

Topline Takeaways: 

>> If you voted for IP, congratulations! There are a lot of IP-related topics in ag. 

>> U.S. farm policy over the past 100 years has attempted to protect agricultural producers from price fluctuations. 

>> The environmental movement has challenged many of the scientific advances of modern agriculture. Are pesticides and antibiotics net beneficial? 

>> Don’t run a case about a program in the 2026 Farm Bill until after it passes. 

The Timeline: 

1862: President Lincoln signed legislation creating the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

1862: President Lincoln signed the Morrill Act, which provided for the sale of federal land to fund state colleges that included agricultural education. Other bills aimed at expanding land-grant colleges were approved in 1890 and again in 1994. 

1914: President Wilson signed the Smith–Lever Act of 1914. This bill provided funding to state cooperative extension systems attached to land-grant colleges. These co-ops exist today and run 4-H, one of the country’s largest agricultural education programs. 

1921: In response to a Federal Trade Commission investigation that found meatpackers were colluding to increase prices, Congress passed and President Harding signed the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921, which was intended to deter unfair trade practices and price collusion. 

1922: The Capper-Volstead Act gave agricultural producers certain exemptions from antitrust laws. 

1929: The Great Depression starts, after a tumultuous post-WW1 decade. 

1929: Congress passed and President Hoover signed the Agricultural Marketing Act, which attempts to stabilize prices for farmers. It did not work well. 

1933: The Dust Bowl — a series of dust storms caused by drought and bad farming practices — affects rural areas in Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas for as long as eight years in some areas. It contributed to the economic woes of farmers already reeling from the stock market crash and the Depression. 

1933: Congress passed and President Roosevelt signed the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, which attempted to stabilize commodity prices. It used several tools to accomplish this, such as paying farmers to reduce the number of acres they farmed. The law also created agricultural marketing orders designed to control prices for a variety of non-commodities, especially fruits and vegetables.  

1936: The Supreme Court rules pieces of the Agricultural Adjustment Act unconstitutional in United States v. Butler. 

1938: Congress passed and President Roosevelt signed the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 in response to U.S. v. Butler. The act relied on a series of subsidies and quotas to keep prices stable. 

1942: The Supreme Court rules the 1938 AAA to be constitutional in Wickard v. Filburn, a case that significantly expanded Congress’ power under the Commerce Clause. 

1946: Congress passed and President Truman signed the National School Lunch Act, which provided free or low-cost school lunches to students in public schools. This funding moved through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which purchased many of the lunch foods from U.S. farmers and ranchers. 

1954: Congress passed and President Eisenhower signed the Agricultural Trade Development Act of 1954. The act set up the Food for Peace program, which purchased surplus food products from U.S. producers and donated them to other countries. Thus, food aid became both a farm support tool and an international diplomacy tool. 

1964: Congress passed and President Johnson signed the Food Stamp Act. This formalized a program that had been in operation on and off since the late Depression period. At its onset, the program was meant to provide low-income folks access to food and farmers access to a market for their crops. Under the program now, low-income families are given stamps they could exchange for food products at retailers. Today, the program is administered by the USDA and known as the Supplemental Food and Nutrition Program (SNAP). 

1972: Congress overrides President Nixon’s veto of the Clean Water Act. This law sets up a framework for regulating certain waterways in the United States. In 1977, Congress exempted irrigated farming activities from the definition of “point source” pollution. This is relevant for pesticide runoff. 

1980: Congress passed and President Carter signed the Federal Crop Insurance Act, which set up a framework for federal assistance to help farmers purchase crop insurance.

1990: Congress passed and President Bush signed the Organic Food Production Act, which required the USDA to set up a certification process for organic farms and ranches. 

1994: Congress passed and President Clinton signed legislation to reform the crop insurance program. A series of congressional bailouts to farmers affected by bad weather caused Congress to make crop insurance mandatory; farmers without it could not access federal disaster assistance. 

1996: Congress passed and President Clinton signed the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act. This Farm Bill repealed some price supports for dairy farms and amended the mandatory participation requirement of crop insurance. 

2000 and 2002: Congress enacted a series of bills that further reformed the crop insurance program. The 2002 Farm Bill created the Conservation Security Program — now called the Conservation Stewardship Program — to provide voluntary assistance to farmers who wanted to implement conservation practices on their land. The program focuses on watersheds and wetlands. 

2008: This Farm Bill moved inspection authority for catfish from the Food and Drug Administration to the USDA (Author’s note: I wrote my college honors thesis on the catfish wars between the U.S. and Vietnam). 

2012: Passed in 2014 after two years of congressional squabbles, this Farm Bill further reformed assistance for farmers by creating the Agricultural Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs, which replaced older farm support mechanisms. 

2018: This Farm Bill legalized hemp products and largely continued the farm support programs created by the 2012/2014 Farm Bill. 

2026: The House has approved the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026. Attempts to pass a Farm Bill in 2022 and 2024 faltered, creating an almost eight year gap between major reforms. The provisions of the 2018 Farm Bill are set to expire on September 30, 2026, so expect an agreement to pass Congress by the end of the year, especially if Republicans lose the House, the Senate or both. 

Recommended reading for more history of U.S. agriculture: 

>> Land Rich, Cash Poor: My Family's Hope and the Untold History of the Disappearing American Farmer by Brian Reisinger. 

>> The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan

Recommended reading on the current Farm Bill proposal: 

>> General overview: “Farm Bill 2026: Overview,” National Agricultural Law Center. 

>> Line-by-line comparison of programs: “The 2026 Farm Bill (H.R. 7567): Comparison with Current Law” Congressional Research Service. 

>> Conservation programs: “A Deep Dive into the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026” by Tim Fink from the American Farmland Trust.

>> Rural development programs: “House passes the 2026 Farm Bill with key county priorities” National Association of Counties. 

>> The Feed newsletter: https://nationalaglawcenter.org/category/the-feed/