US Dairy Subsidies Remain Convoluted and Costly.
Daniel A. Sumner, Joseph V. Balagtas, and Jisang Yu
Chapter 9 in The Economic Welfare and Trade Relations Implications of the 2014 Farm BillStudies dairy programs and finds that the Dairy Margin Protection Program has the potential to exceed all previous government outlays on dairy subsidies and makes it more difficult for US dairy food processors to be competitive in export markets.

The 2014 Farm Bill, Commodity Subsidies, and California Agriculture.
Hyunok Lee and Daniel A. Sumner. ARE Update, Vol. 17, No. 4, Mar/Apr, 2014
The Agricultural Act of 2014 replaced some outmoded programs with new subsidies. It reauthorizes hundreds of initiatives and programs, from nutrition assistance to export subsidies. The nutrition programs continue to use most of the budget, while farm subsidies that focus on risk management gain new support.

The 2014 Farm Bill: Specialty Crop Programs, Food Safety & FSMA and Thoughts for the Future
AIC Director Daniel Sumner on 2014 Farm Bill Specialty Crop Programs (audio).

Labor, Water, and California Agriculture in 2014
Friday, April 18, 2014, UC Davis Law School
Click for AIC Director Dan Sumner’s slide presentation.

Crop Supply Dynamics and the Illusion of Partial Adjustment
Nathan P. Hendricks, Aaron Smith and Daniel A. Sumner, American Journal of Agricultural Economics 2014.
We use field-level data to estimate the response of corn and soybean acreage to price shocks.

The Effects of Policy Expectations on Crop Supply, with an Application to Base Updating
Nathan P. Hendricks and Daniel A. Sumner American Journal of Agricultural Economics 2014.
We develop a dynamic model to assess the effects of policy expectations on crop supply and illustrate the approach with estimates of the effects of base updating in U.S. crop programs.

The 2014 Farm Bill, Commodity Subsidies, and California Agriculture.
Hyunok Lee and Daniel A. Sumner. ARE Update, Vol. 17, No. 4, Mar/Apr, 2014

How Does the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Affect the United States Economy? By Jeffrey J. Reimer 

A Regional Look at the Distribution of Farm Program Payments and How It May Change with a New Farm Bill By John Antle and Laurie Houston

The Farm Bill and Western Agriculture
Presentation slides from the May 14 2013 workshop about the new Farm Bill and its impacts on agriculture in the West.

"What Is a Farm Bill, What Is in the 2013 Version, and What Does It Mean to California Agriculture?" Sumner, Daniel A. ARE Update, Jul/Aug, 2013

"Changes Are Coming to U.S. Dairy Policy." Balagtas, Joseph V., Daniel A. Sumner, and Jisang Yu. ARE Update, Jul/Aug, 2013

"What Can Be Done to Reinvigorate U.S. Agricultural Research?" Pardey, Philip G., Julian M. Alston, and Connie Chan-Kang. ARE Update, Jul/Aug, 2013

"Risk Management and the Farm Bill: The Role of Crop Insurance." Lee, Hyunok and Daniel A. Sumner. ARE Update, Jul/Aug, 2013

2007 Farm Bill

AEI Briefs, Alston Radio Interview, IFATPC Briefs, WIE Briefs

AIC Farm Bill Briefs

#1 The Farm Bill and California Food and Agriculture
Daniel A. Sumner (pdf, 300kb)
Every five years or so the United States reconsiders its major food, farm and rural policies in a new “Farm Bill.” This brief provides an overview for considering the options for the 2007

#2 Nutrition Issues to Address in the Farm Bill 2007: A California Perspective
Lucia Kaiser and Catherine Lamp (pdf, 100kb)
The Nutrition title of the 2007 Farm Bill provides Congress the vehicle to revise these programs and reorient the outlays to the most important national priorities. California consumers, producers and taxpayers have a major stake in assuring that revisions be undertaken in the interest of more effective programs.

#3 Organic Agriculture in the 2007 Farm Bill
Karen Klonsky (pdf, 300kb)
The 2007 Farm Bill is likely to address issues important for producers and consumers, especially research and development and additional support to facilitate the growth of the organic industry.

#4 Agricultural Research Policy and the 2007 Farm Bill: Some California Perspectives
Julian M. Alston and Philip G. Pardey (pdf, 100kb)
USDA spending under “Research, Education and Economics” accounted for $2.7 billion, only 2.2 percent of USDA spending in 2005, but is much more important than the expenditure share would suggest.

#5 The Farm Bill and California Dairy
Joseph Balagtas, Hayley Boriss and Daniel A. Sumner (pdf, 160kb)
Dairy policy is particularly important to California. Dairy producers, consumers, and the rural economy and environment all have a stake in federal dairy policy. Dairy is by far the largest agricultural industry in California, accounting for about 14 percent of agricultural value in the state

.#6 Agricultural Conservation and the 2007 Farm Bill: A California Perspective
Antoine Champetier de Ribes and Daniel A. Sumner (pdf, 81kb)
Revising conservation programs can have significant impacts on both agricultural production and environmental quality. The brief describes the main environmental programs in the Farm Bill and considers their implications from a California perspective.

#7 Farm Bill Energy Provisions: a California Perspective
Hyunok Lee and Daniel A. Sumner (pdf, 360 kb)
Energy is among the most discussed topics in the lead up to the 2007 Farm Bill. While the high cost of energy to farmers and ranchers has been raised, that issue has not been central to the discussion. Instead, the main focus has been on programs related to agriculture as a producer of energy, especially biofuels.

The 2007 Farm Bill & Beyond: Working Papers

American Enterprise Institute 

The 2007 Farm Bill and Beyond
Bruce L. Gardner and Daniel A. Sumner
This book, released by AEI in May 2007, includes a series of
briefing papers that summarize main policy points made in
the AEI farm bill research studies.

Specialty Crops and the 2007 Farm Bill
Mechel S. Paggi

U.S. Agricultural Policy Reform in 2007 and Beyond
Bruce L. Gardner and Daniel A. Sumner

Farm Subsidy Tradition and Modern Agricultural Realities
Daniel A. Sumner

Who Really Benefits from U.S. Farm Subsidies?
Julian M. Alston

U.S. Dairy Policy: Analysis and Options
Joseph V. Balagtas

Lessons from Agricultural Policy Reform in Other Countries
Julian M. Alston

The Farm Bill and WTO Compliance
Daniel A. Sumner

Payments for Ecosystem Services and U.S. Farm Policy
John M. Antle

Public Policy Solutions to Environmental Externalities from Agriculture
Nicolai V. Kuminoff

Radio interview with AIC associate director Julian Alston (mp3, 17 MB)
KXJZ "Insight" June 19, 2007

International Food & Agricultural Trade Policy Council

Farm Programs and the Economics of LDC Cotton.
Daniel A. Sumner, University of California Agricultural Issues Center
Seminar presentation at " The Next Steps for Africa: An International Conference on Cotton" October 2006, Washington, DC

US Farm Policy and the White Commodities: Cotton, Rice, Sugar, and Milk
Daniel A. Sumner, June 2007
Cotton, rice, sugar and dairy are important commodities to the developing world, and US agricultural policy plays a role in shaping the world market for these goods. While the debate over the 2007 Farm Bill is underway, the US has faced global pressure to remove trade distorting aspects of its farm programs for white commodities. This IPC Policy Focus outlines the unique nature of these support programs, and shows how they are emblematic of the distorting nature of US agriculture policy.

US Farm Bill Subsidies and World Commodity Markets
Daniel A. Sumner, April 2007
The second in a series of IPC “Farm Bill Briefs,” the following presents an overview of agricultural policies created or continued by the Farm Security and Rural Investment
Act of 2002, their potential influence on the global economy, and the market implications of alternative policies under consideration in 2007.

Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University

U.S. Agricultural Policy and The 2007 Farm Bill (PDF - 13mb, entire book)
Editors: Kaush Arha, Tim Josling, Daniel A. Sumner, and Barton H. Thompson