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A great deal of attention has been paid to projected expenditures in the farm support portions of the new farm bill. However, an analysis done by AFBF staff members shows that in reality, the 2002 legislation may devote smaller amounts to price supports than what was spent under previous farm bills.

Over the past two decades, annual federal government outlays for farm programs averaged around $12 billion a year? In the next 10 years, average federal government spending for farm programs will likely average a total of $17 billion per year. That seems like a $5 billion increase. However, if average historical outlays are compared with future projections, the change doesn’t appear to be as excessive as some would have you believe.

For instance, during the 7-year period 1982 to 1988 – the last significant farm economic downturn – total farm program outlays totaled nearly $116 billion. That’s an average of more than $16 billion each year.

Similarly, during the four-year period 1998 to 2001, Congress passed much needed ad hoc emergency assistance for farmers in response to historically low commodity prices. Federal outlays totaled $83.4 billion, averaging $21 billion annually.

The bottom line is that this farm bill actually projects lower annual price support spending. If the forecasts hold, yearly outlays will be some $4 billion less than what they’ve been since 1998.