ABSTRACT
Commodity organizations represent individual interests such as com, wheat, cotton, peanuts, tobacco, or dairy. The unique nature of these products has allowed commodity organizations to make specific program demands of Congress. Since only a single commodity is involved, the common economic focus makes development of a consensus policy position easier—although consensus is not always achieved. Food and agricultural legislation has traditionally contained individual commodity titles upon which commodity organizations focused their attention. Important initiatives were taken in the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to bring soybeans into a program framework more nearly likes that of the other major program crops. One of the crucial early votes on the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 was over continuation of the honey program. Honey producers won that vote and, in retrospect, paved the way for passage of more significant and less controversial commodity programs.
