Agricultural Price Support Policies with Special Reference to Grains

Excerpts from the Foreword: Our agricultural price policy is established through 1948. That policy, as embodied in the Steagall legislation, commits the Government to maintain prices of the major farm products at not less than 90 percent of parity. The question as to the policies and program to be followed after current legislation expires at the end of 1948, and what new legislation should be enacted, will demand increased attention of Congress. The following report explores briefly some of the general economic problems which farmers may be expected to face in the years to come, and suggests policies and lines of action that might be considered in the development of new legislation. The specific program of price support as proposed for grain is designed to provide a positive basis for desirable production shifts as emergency conditions of world food shortages recede and farmers will be called upon to readjust their operations to normal market outlets.