 In 1985 , Bedell put forward an agricultural plan that he thought would increase production controls for farmers , thus raising prices for crops . This plan , backed by labor unions and certain Democrats , passed the Agriculture Committee as an amendment to farm legislation . It mandated a referendum that would then be used to determine what types of production controls to enact . The purpose of this plan was <unk> : production controls would decrease the aggregate supply of crops , thus making individual crops cost more ( which would benefit farmers , who were in the middle of an acute debt crisis . ) Second , by styling it as a referendum , the farmers would get to decide the severity of the controls . 
