Abstract

A Farm Bill by And for Farmers

The Farm Policy Reform Act of 1985 is the product of a series of forums sponsored by Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Jim Nichols and his Texas counterpart, Jim Hightower. Hightower calls it a farmer's bill written by farmers. Passage of the bill, which would set policy through 1989, could be crucial to the survival of America's most productive and most jeopardized farm sector, the middle-size, family-style operators, once considered economic models of agriculture. The bill has received support from a coalition of rural and urban Democrats. Introduced in May by Senator Tom Harkin and Representative Bill Alexander, Democratic deputy whip, it is emerging as the main alternative to the Administration's bill, which is all but moribund.