ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the farm policymaking process and politics. It also discusses how the agricultural policymaking process operates and how influences that process. Farm policy is designed, enacted, and carried out in a political environment. To the extent that political influence is related to numbers of voters and economic significance, the political clout of the farm sector is growing weaker. Nonfarm special interest groups have become active in the agricultural policymaking process. Groups representing consumers, environmentalists, farm input suppliers, and food marketers are among the contenders for access and influence. Secretary Block has stated that he believes farm policy is at a crossroads and that the direction taken in 1985 will determine agricultural policy for years to come. In the case of agricultural legislation, the committee of referral will usually be the agriculture committee. Once the legislative process to deal with an issue, we will have to track that legislative action to be effective.
