Agriculture

Agricultural policy shapes how American food is grown, who grows it, how farmers are supported during economic downturns, and what assistance low-income Americans receive to purchase food. The centerpiece of U.S. agricultural legislation is the Farm Bill — a sweeping, multi-year omnibus reauthorized roughly every five years — which funds crop insurance, commodity price supports, conservation programs, rural development, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps). SNAP alone covers approximately 42 million Americans and accounts for roughly 75 percent of the Farm Bill's total spending, making the bill as much a food security program as an agricultural one. American agriculture is highly concentrated: a small number of large operations account for the majority of food production, while small family farms face economic pressures from commodity price volatility, rising input costs, and competition from large agribusinesses. Trade policy is critical to farmers: U.S. agricultural exports exceed $170 billion annually, and tariff wars — particularly with China — have directly hit soybean, pork, and corn farmers. Climate change poses growing risks to agriculture through droughts, floods, extreme heat, and shifting growing seasons. Internationally, food security — the ability of people to reliably access enough nutritious food — remains a major global challenge, with conflict and climate shocks driving hunger crises in Africa, the Middle East, and elsewhere.