ABSTRACT
As the debate began on the 1990 farm bill, however, the range of practical choices on key commodity, trade, and environmental issues was relatively narrow. Analysis of farm bill as developed twenty to thirty years ago was limited largely to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Foreign attention to U.S. farm programs has increased over time and will reach a new level in 1990, as domestic farm policies are debated in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) as well as in Congress. Agricultural policy proposals by the executive branch far outside the mainstream of political feasibility in 1981 and 1985 also contributed to the ascendancy of Congress and commodity organizations. Agricultural food policy could develop if the administration adopts a cooperative and transitional approach in its farm bill negotiations with Congress and in its Uruguay Round strategy.
