Farmers are shifting their planting patterns and growing the mix of crops that bring them the greatest returns and meet their individual agronomic needs in an environmentally responsible fashion. The wholesale acreage shifts seen recently could not have occurred under the old farm policy when the disincentives to change crops were simply too great. Its aim is to leave planting decisions in the hands of farmers, not government. To achieve this goal, the FAIR Act provides full planting flexibility, bans production controls and decouples income support payments. The success of the FAIR Act is not to suggest that farmers don't have legitimate concerns.
Trade barriers continue to be enemy number one.
The farm community's rightful demands for policies that promote free trade and open markets have not been fully met. Sanctions policies that punish farmers and do little to punish offending countries need to be reformed. Meanwhile, farmers face continuing trade barriers at the same time that weather conditions and the Asian crisis are compounding the problem. In 1997, the state ranked first in the production of seven crops, second in two, and third in one. Despite the rhetoric of opponents, the FAIR Act isn't the culprit for today's slump in commodity prices.