Shorttitle: | Agricultural Act of 1970 |
Longtitle: | An Act to establish improved programs for the benefit of producers and consumers of dairy products, wool, wheat, feed grains, cotton, and other commodities, to extend the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, as amended, and for other purposes. |
Enacted By: | 91st |
Effective Date: | November 30, 1970 |
Public Law Url: | http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-84/pdf/STATUTE-84-Pg1358-2.pdf |
Cite Public Law: | 91-524 |
Title Amended: | 7 U.S.C.: Agriculture |
Sections Amended: | Chapter 26 ยง 601 |
Introducedin: | House |
Passedbody1: | House |
Passeddate1: | August 5, 1970 |
Passedvote1: | 212-171 |
Passedbody2: | Senate |
Passeddate2: | September 15, 1970 |
Passedvote2: | 65-7 |
Conferencedate: | October 13, 1970 |
Passedbody3: | House |
Passeddate3: | October 13, 1970 |
Passedvote3: | 191-145 |
Passedbody4: | Senate |
Passeddate4: | November 19, 1970 |
Passedvote4: | 48-35 |
Signedpresident: | Richard M. Nixon |
Signeddate: | November 30, 1970 |
In United States federal agriculture legislation, the Agricultural Act of 1970 (P.L. 91-524) initiated a significant change in commodity support policy.[1]
This 3-year farm bill replaced some of the more restrictive and mandatory features of previous law (acreage allotments, planting restrictions, and marketing quotas) with voluntary annual cropland set-asides and marketing certificate payments to achieve parity prices (the precursor to target prices and deficiency payments). For the first time, the law adopted an annual payment limitation per producer (set at $55,000 per crop). Among other things, the Act also amended and extended the authority of the Class I differential in federal milk marketing order areas.