ABSTRACT
Farmers and others closely involved with the practical side of the industry are sometimes perplexed by the changes to which they are required to adjust. Central to the explanation of agriculture’s income problems is the tendency for the demand for agricultural products to expand more slowly than does their supply, resulting in a downward pressure on farm prices and on the rewards to be earned from farming. Conversely, agricultural policy is believed to have an impact on various non-agricultural aspects of the economy; trade, environment and rural employment are obvious examples. There seems to be general agreement among academics and commentators working in the policy area that income support is now the fundamental objective of agricultural policy in contemporary western Europe and in industrialised capitalist market economies as a group.
