	Introduction

On June 18, 2008, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 ( P.L. 110-246 ) contains the most recent version of the commodity price and income support programs. Five crops (corn, cotton, wheat, rice, and soybeans) account for about 90% of these payments. Farm Commodity Program Provisions

The farm commodity price and income support provisions in the 2008 farm bill include three primary types of payments:
Direct payments unrelated to production or prices; Counter-cyclical payments which are triggered when
(a) prices are below statutorily-determined target prices, or (b) revenue for a commodity falls below a historical guaranteed level, and
Marketing assistance loans that offer interim financing and, if prices fall below loan prices set in statute, additional income support, sometimes paid as loan deficiency payments (LDP) . The 2008 farm bill generally continues the farm commodity price and income support framework of the 2002 farm bill, with modifications. It continues the direct payment, counter-cyclical payment, and marketing loan programs for the 2008-2012 crop years, but adjusts target prices and loan rates for some commodities. The law also creates a pilot revenue-based counter-cyclical program ("ACRE") beginning with the 2009 crop year. It revises payment limitations by tightening some limits and relaxing others. The new law also has a pilot program for planting flexibility, new restrictions on base acres developed for residential use, and elimination of benefits to farms with fewer than 10 acres of program crops. For the 2008 crop year, the programs are essentially unchanged from the 2002 farm bill. The Administration wants to use prices from 2006 and 2007 when implementing ACRE for the 2009 crop year. One sets the maximum amount of farm program payments that a person can receive per year. Limits are tightened by
(a) reducing the AGI limit,
(b) eliminating the "three-entity rule," which allowed individuals to double their payments by having multiple ownership interests, and
(c) requiring "direct attribution" of payments to a living person instead of to a corporation, general partnership, etc. Limits are relaxed by eliminating any limit on marketing loans. The new payment limit rules do not take effect until the 2009 crop year. In terms of the 2008 farm bill, data are not yet available that are specific to the farm bill limits of $500,000 non-farm AGI and $750,000 farm AGI. 6849 , to suspend enforcement of the 10-acre requirement for the 2008 crop year. H.R. The bill now awaits the President's signature. Congress refers to aggregation in the report language for the 10-acre provision.
Farm commodity price and income support provisions in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-246, the 2008 farm bill) include three primary types of payments:
Direct payments unrelated to production or prices; Counter-cyclical payments for a commodity that are triggered when
(a) prices are below statutorily-determined target prices, or(b) revenue falls below a historical guaranteed level; and
Marketing assistance loans that offer interim financing and, if prices fall below loan prices set in statute, additional income support.
The farm commodity programs are the most visible part of the farm bill. In recent years, five crops (corn, wheat, cotton, rice, and soybeans) account for over 90% of government commodity payments to farmers.
The 2008 farm bill generally continues the farm commodity price and income support framework of the 2002 farm bill, with modifications. It continues the direct payment, counter-cyclical payment, and marketing loan programs for the 2008-2012 crop years, but adjusts target prices and loan rates for some commodities. The law also creates a pilot revenue-based counter-cyclical program ("ACRE") beginning with the 2009 crop year. The new law also has a pilot program for planting flexibility, new restrictions on base acres developed for residential use, and elimination of benefits to farms with fewer than 10 acres of program crops. For the 2008 crop year, the programs are essentially unchanged from the 2002 farm bill.
Payment limits both determine eligibility and set a maximum amount of commodity payments per person. The 2008 farm bill revises payment limitations for the commodity programs by tightening some limits and relaxing others. Limits are tightened by (1) reducing the adjusted gross income (AGI) limit to $500,000 of non-farm AGI and $750,000 of farm AGI, (2) eliminating the "three-entity rule," which allowed individuals to double their payments by having multiple ownership interests (doubling by having a spouse continues), and (3) requiring "direct attribution" of payments to a living person. Limits are relaxed by eliminating any limit on the marketing loan program. The new rules do not take effect until the 2009 crop year.
Implementation has been problematic in two ways. First, the Administration did not allow farmers to combine land before enforcing the 10-acre restriction, an allowance Congress mentioned only in report language. Consequently, Congress passed H.R. 6849 to suspend enforcement of the 10-acre provision for one year and offset the cost with reductions in computer technology outlays and changes to the new permanent disaster program. The bill awaits the President's signature.
The second implementation issue is that USDA is considering using prices from crop years 2006 and 2007 for setting the 2009 ACRE revenue guarantee, rather than the immediate past two years of 2007 and 2008, as Congress intended. The regulations, however, have not yet been released.