§7313 Comprehensive Review of Past and Future of Production Agriculture

Summary

The Commission must do a full review of how production farming in the United States has changed since April 4, 1996, and how much those changes came from this law and its changes. The first review must look at things like whether production flexibility contracts helped farms stay viable; economic risks by farm size and region; U.S. food security (trade, consumer prices, global competitiveness, supplies, and humanitarian aid); changes in farmland values and producer incomes; whether regulatory and tax relief for farmers was put in place (including capital gains, estate tax, and income averaging); federal actions in export markets and trade agreements; and the likely effects of selling, leasing, or transferring farm poundage quota for peanuts across State lines. The Commission must also do a later review of the future of production agriculture and the proper role of the federal government. That follow-up must assess changes since the first review, decide the federal relationship with production agriculture after 2002, identify USDA personnel and infrastructure needs for that role, and look again at economic risks by farm size and region. As part of the follow-up, the Commission must make specific legislative recommendations to put the chosen future role into law.