Is Today’s Agricultural Policy the Appropriate Approach to Meeting the Needs of Rural Farm Families?

Authors

Ray SupallaFollow

Date of this Version

August 2002

Comments

Published in Cornhusker Economics, 08/14/2002. Produced by the Cooperative Extension, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
http://www.agecon.unl.edu/Cornhuskereconomics.html

Abstract

Susan Offutt, Administrator, Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA, and incoming president of the American Agricultural Economics Association (AAEA), gave a stimulating presidential address last week in Long Beach, California. Her theme was that it is time for agricultural policy to begin focusing on rural farm household income rather than just income from the farm business as a measure of rural need and well being.