AGRICULTURAL PRICE AND INCOME POLICY: A NEED FOR CHANGE

Agricultural price and income policies operate within a framework established more than 50 years ago. This framework assumes that agriculture is dominated by "family farms," and that the agricultural economy is relatively independent of international and other domestic economic considerations. Yet, the structure of the farm sector today differs greatly from that of 50 or even 20 years ago. The U.S. economy relies on international markets to dispose of 20 to 30 percent of U.S. agricultural output. These changes call for reorientation of U.S. farm policy. Copyright 1986 Western Economic Association International.