Ranking Agricultural Commodities by Farm Payments and Federal Food Aid Purchases

Publication Date: June 2004

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Agriculture, forestry and fishing

Type:

Abstract:

The federal government affects the supply and demand of various agricultural goods through farm income support and food donation programs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides payments to farmers and landowners for producing certain program commodities. Ranking commodities by the level of support depends on the criteria and time period. Over FY2003-FY2005, USDA expects to spend about $11 billion annually on farm payments. In total outlays, feed grains receive the most support (29% of the total), followed by wheat, dairy, and cotton (15%-18% each). However, using different criteria based on the proportion of crop revenue from government payments, rice, peanuts, and wool and mohair receive a higher percentage of revenue from the government (42%-51%) than cotton, wheat, and feed grains (12%-25%).

USDA also purchases some of these program commodities and other non-program commodities and processed products for use in domestic and international food aid programs. In FY2003, USDA purchased commodities totaling $1.5 billion for domestic food assistance, and $1.3 billion for international food aid. Beef was the mostpurchased commodity for domestic programs (15% of the total), followed by cheese (14%) and chicken (9%). The child nutrition and school lunch programs were significant users of these commodities. Wheat is the most-purchased commodity for international food aid programs (33%). This report will not be updated.