Farm Bill Timeline

  • Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933

    Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933
    The first farm bill, passed in 1933 as part of the New Deal. It offered farmers subsidies in exchange for the limiting of certain crops. The subsidies were meant to limit overproduction so that crop prices could rise.
  • Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938

    Meant to replace the previous bill. The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 continued the 1935 Soil Conservation Act and the 1936 Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, which were acts put in place to prevent soil erosion.
  • Agricultural Act of 1956

    Agricultural Act of 1956
    Established the Soil Bank Program, which helped reduce overproduction of basic crops and maintained soil.
  • Agricultural Act of 1970

    Agricultural Act of 1970
    Established improved programs for other areas of agriculture (producers and consumers of dairy products, wool, wheat, feed grains, cotton).
  • Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973

    Implemented a new “target price” payment system where the government would pay farmers the difference between the market price they received and a higher target price written into law.
  • Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018

    Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018
    The most recent farm bill, signed into legislation by President Donald Trump, covering 12 titles. It increased the amount that producers can borrow through direct and guaranteed loans available and made changes to other loans, such as microloans and emergency loans. It also provides mandatory funding for several programs within the bill (BFRDP, the 2501 Program, FMLFPP, VAPG, OREI, and GusNIP).