Agricultural Acts

Compiled by : Pennsylvania Farm Bureau
Last updated: Summer 2006
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Glossary of Ag Terms

Agricultural Act of 1949 — P.L. 89-439 (October 31, 1949), along with the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, makes up the major part of the permanent law that mandates commodity price and farm income support. The original 1949 Act designated mandatory support for basic commodities and the following nonbasic commodities: wool and mohair, tung nuts, honey, Irish potatoes (excluded in the Agricultural Act of 1954), and milk, butterfat, and their products. Periodic farm bills (most recently the FAIR Act of 1996) make temporary changes in the levels and design of commodity programs.
Agricultural Act of 1954 — P.L. 83-690 (August 28, 1954) established a flexible price support for basic commodities (excluding tobacco) at 82.5-90% of parity and authorized a Commodity Credit Corporation reserve for foreign and domestic relief. Title VII was designated the National Wool Act of 1954 and provided for a new price support program for wool and mohair to encourage increased domestic production. Price support for wool and mohair continued through marketing year 1995, at which time it was phased down and terminated under the explicit mandate of P.L. 103-130 (November 1, 1993).
Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 - This law introduced the price support programs, including production adjustments and the incorporation of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), and established price support loans on eligible commodities, including cotton, corn, turpentine, rosin, tobacco, peanuts, dates, figs, and prunes.
Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 - This law is considered a permanent part of agricultural legislation. The original law created mandatory price supports for corn, cotton, and wheat, to help maintain a sufficient supply for low production times. It established marketing quotas, permissive supports for butter, dates, figs, hops, turpentine, rosin, pecans, prunes, raisins, barley, rye, grain sorghum, wool, winter cover-crop seeds, mohair, peanuts and tobacco. It also established the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation as a government corporation. Provisions of the law are often superseded by more current legislation. However, when the current legislation is not renewed, the law reverts back to the permanent provisions of the 1938 Act, along with the Agricultural Act of 1949.
Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 — P.L. 100-233 (January 6, 1988) was enacted in response to the severe financial crisis of the early- to mid-1980s, which affected both farmers and their lending institutions. The Act authorized a $4 billion financial assistance package for financially vulnerable institutions of the Farm Credit System (FCS), protected the full value of FCS borrower stock when retired, established a permanent insurance mechanism to ensure the repayment of funds borrowed by the FCS for lending purposes, required the FCS and Farmers Home Administration to restructure severely delinquent farm loans that meet certain criteria, mandated FCS consolidation and established a secondary market for farm real estate loans.
Agricultural Fair Practices Act of 1967 — This law (P.L. 90-288) was enacted to protect farmers from retaliation by handlers (buyers of their products) because the farmers are members of a cooperative. The act permits farmers to file complaints with USDA, which can then institute court proceedings, if they believe their rights under the law have been violated. Several bills have been introduced in recent years on behalf of producers (among them, some poultry growers who have contracts with large companies), to give them more bargaining power under the act, which, some producers contend, lacks adequate enforcement authorities.
Alien Species Prevention and Enforcement Act of 1992 — P.L. 102-393 (October 6, 1992) makes it illegal to ship certain categories of plants and animals through the mail. The prohibited species are certain injurious animals, plant pests, plants and materials under federal quarantine, and certain plants and animals under the Lacey Act, a law that pertains to illegal trade in fish, wildlife, and plants.
Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act of 1937 — P.L. 75-210 authorized acquisition by the federal government of damaged lands to rehabilitate and use them for various purposes. Both the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management manage some Bankhead-Jones lands. Some Forest Service Bankhead Jones lands are National Grasslands.
Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act of 1996 — P.L. 104-210 (October 1, 1996) was named in honor of the late Congressman who was a champion of efforts to expand food donations to the poor and to protect those who make donations. It converts the Model Good Samaritan Food Donation Act to permanent law and incorporates it into the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (section 22). Good samaritan laws are designed to encourage the donation of food and groceries to nonprofit charitable agencies by minimizing the risks of legal actions against donors and distributors of foods. The 1996 amendments exclude from civil or criminal liability a person or nonprofit food organization that, in good faith, donates or distributes donated foods for food relief. The new law does not supersede state or local health regulations and its protections do not apply to an injury or death due to gross neglect or intentional misconduct.
Capper-Volstead Act — P.L. 67-146 (February 18, 1922), with a bit of exaggeration, is sometimes called the Magna Carta of Cooperation. The law was passed in response to challenges made against cooperatives using the Sherman Antitrust Act, the Clayton Antitrust Act, and the Federal Trade Commission Act. It gave "associations" of persons producing agricultural products certain exemptions from antitrust laws. The law carries the names of its sponsors, Senator Arthur Capper of Kansas and Congressman Andrew Volstead of Minnesota.
Clean Air Act — The primary federal law governing efforts to control air pollution. Federal legislation addressing air pollution was first adopted in 1955 (Air Pollution Control Act, P.L. 84-159) to provide research and technical assistance. Subsequent amendments, most notably the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970 (P.L. 91-604), 1977 (P.L. 95-95), and 1990 (P.L. 101-549), strengthened the federal role. The Clean Air Act seeks to protect human health and the environment from emissions that pollute the air. The Environmental Protection Agency is required to establish minimum National Standards Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), while states are assigned primary responsibility for developing compliance. Areas not meeting the standards (nonattainment areas) are required to implement specific control measures. There is no direct federal regulation of agriculture under the Clean Air Act. Two of the NAAQS (for particulates and ozone) could affect agriculture: particulates, because certain agricultural practices, such as prescribed burning and tilling, create airborne particles that might be targeted for control in State Implementation Plans; and ozone, because concentrations of ozone above the standard can adversely affect crop yields. Ozone is formed in the atmosphere when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (from manufacturing, transportation, and utilities) react in the presence of sunlight (agriculture rarely if ever represents significant sources of ozone precursors).
Clean Water Act - A federal law that requires states to develop water quality standards and to develop water quality protection criteria and anti-degradation policy consistent with EPA standards.
Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 — Title II of P.L. 103-354 (October 13, 1994) was designated the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 and gave the Secretary of Agriculture broad authority to reorganize USDA to achieve greater efficiency, effectiveness, and economy.
Endangered Species Act -  A Federal law administered by the Department of Interior, designed to preserve species of plants and animals that are endangered or threatened. Pennsylvania has a similar law to protect plants and animals that are indigenous to the Commonwealth.
Extra-Long Staple Cotton Act of 1983 — P.L. 98-88 (August 26, 1983) eliminated marketing quotas and allotments for extra-long staple cotton and tied its support to upland cotton through a formula that set the nonrecourse loan rate at not less than 150% of the upland cotton loan level.
Farm Credit Act of 1971 — P.L. 92-181 (December 10, 1971) recodified all previous acts governing the Farm Credit System (FCS, or System), a cooperatively owned government sponsored enterprise that provides credit primarily to farmers and ranchers.
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) of 1938 — P.L. 75-717 (June 25, 1938) is the basic authority intended to ensure that foods are pure and wholesome, safe to eat, and produced under sanitary conditions; that drugs and devices are safe and effective for their intended uses; that cosmetics are safe and made from appropriate ingredients; and that all labeling and packaging is truthful, informative, and not deceptive. The Food and Drug Administration is primarily responsible for enforcing the FFDCA, although USDA also has some enforcement responsibility. The Environmental Protection Agency establishes limits for concentrations of pesticide residues on food under this Act.
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) — P.L. 94-579 (October 21, 1976) 1) set out for the Bureau of Land Management standards for managing public land, including land-use planning, sales, withdrawals, acquisitions, and exchanges; 2) authorized local advisory councils to represent major citizens groups interested in land use planning and management; 3) established criteria for review of proposed wilderness areas; and 4) provided guidelines for other aspects of public land management such as grazing. This law is also known as the BLM "organic" act.
Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 — Enacted June 30, 1906, as chapter 3913, 34 Stat. 674, and substantially amended by the Wholesome Meat Act 1967 (P.L. 90-201), requires USDA to inspect all cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and horses when slaughtered and processed into products for human consumption. The primary goals of the law are to prevent adulterated or misbranded livestock and products from being sold as food, and to ensure that meat and meat products are slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions. These requirements apply to animals and their products produced and sold within states as well as to imports, which must be inspected under equivalent foreign standards. The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for all meats considered "exotic" at this time, including venison and buffalo.
Federal Noxious Weed Act — P.L. 93-629 (January 3, 1975) was adopted to prevent foreign weeds from entering and becoming established to the detriment of U.S. crops and livestock. Under this act, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service inspects incoming passengers, baggage, and cargo at international airports, seaports and border stations to intercept any of 2,300 listed noxious weeds before they enter the country. If a noxious weed does become established, APHIS has the authority under this act to work with federal, state, and local agencies to confine, eradicate, or control it.

Federal Plant Pest Act — P.L. 85-36 (May 23, 1957) prohibits the movement of plant pests from a foreign country into or through the United States unless authorized by USDA. The law gives USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service broad authority to inspect, seize, quarantine, treat, destroy or dispose of imported plant and animal materials that are potentially harmful to U.S. agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and, to a certain degree, natural resources
Federal Seed Act — P.L. 76-354 (August 9, 1939) requires accurate labeling and purity standards for seeds in commerce, and prohibits the importation and movement of adulterated or misbranded seeds. The law works in conjunction with the Federal Noxious Weed Act to authorize the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to regulate the importation of field crop, pasture and forage, or vegetable seed that may contain noxious weed seeds.
Fluid Milk Promotion Act of 1990 — This is the designation given to Subtitle H of Title XIX of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990. Subtitle H authorized the establishment of a national milk processor check-off program for fluid milk promotion. The program is funded through a 20-cent per hundredweight (cwt.) assessment on all milk processed for fluid consumption. The Act required USDA to conduct a referendum among fluid milk processors to determine if a majority favored implementing the program. The Fluid Milk Order was approved by processors and became effective December 10, 1993.

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Food and Agricultural Act of 1965 — P.L. 89-321 (November 3, 1965) was the first multi-year farm legislation, providing for 4-year commodity programs for wheat, feed grains, and upland cotton. It was extended for 1 more year, through 1970, by enactment of P.L. 90-559. It authorized a Class I milk base plan for the 75 federal milk-marketing orders and a long-term acreage diversion under a Cropland Adjustment Program. The law also continued payment and acreage diversion programs for feed grains and cotton, and certificate and diversion programs for wheat.
Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 — P.L. 95-113 (September 9, 1977) was an omnibus farm bill. It increased price and income supports and established a farmer-owned reserve for grain. It also established a new two-tiered pricing program for peanuts. Under the peanut program, producers were given an acreage allotment on which a poundage quota was set. Growers could produce in excess of their quota, within their acreage allotment, but would receive the higher of the two price-support levels only for the quota amount. Peanuts in excess of the quota are referred to as "additionals." Title XIII was designated the Food Stamp Act of 1977 and replaced the original 1964 Act with a new law making significant changes, including the elimination of the purchase requirement and simplification of eligibility requirements. Title XIV was designated the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act and made USDA the leading federal agency for agricultural research, extension, and teaching programs. It also consolidated the funding for these programs.
Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (RPA) — Provides authority to the Forest Service to prepare and update an assessment every 10 years to inventory and monitor the status and trends of the forest lands and range lands in the National Forest System, and to prepare a long-range plan every 5 years to guide Forest Service policies.
Food Security Act of 1985 — P.L. 99-198 (December 23, 1985), a 5-year omnibus farm bill, allowed lower commodity price and income supports and established a dairy herd buyout program. Changes were made in a variety of other USDA programs. Several enduring conservation program were created, including sodbuster, swampbuster, and the Conservation Reserve Program. Shortly after enactment, the Technical Corrections to Food Security Act of 1985 Amendments (P.L. 99-253, February 28, 1986) gave USDA discretion to require cross-compliance for wheat and feed grains instead of mandating them, changed acreage base calculations, and specified election procedures for local Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation committees.