Honey program

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The honey program is a price support program provided by the United States Department of Agriculture to American honey producers. Federal subsidies to the honey industry began in 1950, when demand for honey decreased following the end of World War II. The program was eliminated in 1993, and re-instated in 2002.

In economics, a price support may be either a subsidy or a price control, both with the intended effect of keeping the market price of a good higher than the competitive equilibrium level.

United States Department of Agriculture department of United States government responsible policy on farming, agriculture, forestry, and food

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), also known as the Agriculture Department, is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, and food. It aims to meet the needs of farmers and ranchers, promote agricultural trade and production, work to assure food safety, protect natural resources, foster rural communities and end hunger in the United States and internationally.

Honey Sweet food made by bees mostly using nectar from flowers

Honey is a sweet, viscous food substance produced by bees and some related insects. Bees produce honey from the sugary secretions of plants or from secretions of other insects, by regurgitation, enzymatic activity, and water evaporation. Bees store honey in wax structures called a honeycomb. The variety of honey produced by honey bees is the best-known, due to its worldwide commercial production and human consumption. Honey is collected from wild bee colonies, or from hives of domesticated bees, a practice known as beekeeping or apiculture.

Contents

History

In the United States, non-recourse marketing loans had long been available to support honey prices until FY1994, when the funding was suspended by provisions in annual appropriations legislation. During World War II, the United States government encouraged the production of honey, which was used as an alternative sweetener to sugar, which was strictly rationed. After the sugar rations were lifted and demand for honey fell, honey producers turned to the federal government for support. Subsidies for honey producers were included in the Agricultural Act of 1949. [1]

Sugar generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates

Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. The various types of sugar are derived from different sources. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides and include glucose, fructose, and galactose. "Table sugar" or "granulated sugar" refers to sucrose, a disaccharide of glucose and fructose. In the body, sucrose is hydrolysed into fructose and glucose.

Agricultural Act of 1949

The Agricultural Act of 1949 is a United States federal law that is known as the "permanent legislation" of U.S. agricultural policy and is, in its amended form, still in effect. The Act was enacted on October 31, 1949. The purpose of the act is "To provide assistance to the States in the establishment, maintenance, operation, and expansion of school-lunch programs, and for other purposes."

In the 1980s, the Reagan administration and the United States Senate unsuccessfully moved to eliminate the program. A report by the General Accountability Office found that the subsidies to beekeepers were no longer necessary to ensure the pollination of American crops. [1] President Bill Clinton proposed ending the honey program as part of his plan to reduce the national deficit. By 1991, over half of honey program subsidies went to fewer than 10% of participating beekeepers. [2] The United States Congress ended the honey program in the 1993 agricultural appropriations bill. [3]

United States Senate Upper house of the United States Congress

The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, which along with the United States House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the legislature of the United States. The Senate chamber is located in the north wing of the Capitol Building, in Washington, D.C.

Bill Clinton 42nd president of the United States

William Jefferson Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Prior to the presidency, he was the governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981, and again from 1983 to 1992, and the attorney general of Arkansas from 1977 to 1979. A member of the Democratic Party, Clinton was ideologically a New Democrat, and many of his policies reflected a centrist "Third Way" political philosophy.

National debt of the United States Face value of federal government securities outstanding

The national debt of the United States is the total debt, or unpaid borrowed funds, carried by the Federal Government of the United States, which is measured as the face value of the currently outstanding Treasury securities that have been issued by the Treasury and other federal government agencies. The national debt was $22.03 trillion as of April 4, 2019. The terms "national deficit" and "national surplus" usually refer to the federal government budget balance from year to year, not the cumulative amount of debt. A deficit year increases the debt, while a surplus year decreases the debt as more money is received than spent.

The 1996 farm bill (P.L. 104-127) repealed the statutory authority for the honey program. A Honey Recourse Loan Program was made available for the 1998 crop only through broader emergency spending authority in the FY1999 agriculture appropriations act (P.L. 105-277).

The Honey Recourse Loan Program was a program authorized by the emergency provisions of the fiscal year (FY) 1999 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) appropriations act that made recourse loans based on a national average rate of $0.56 per pound on 1998-crop honey. Final date to obtain a loan was May 7, 1999. The producer-owned honey was required to be merchantable and stored in acceptable containers. Loans carried an administrative fee of $0.009 per pound, bore an interest rate 1% higher than the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) borrowing interest rate, and matured not later than nine months following disbursement.

In 2002, president George W. Bush signed an agricultural appropriations bill reinstating the honey program. [4] The 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171, Sec. 1201) made honey eligible for marketing assistance loans (and loan deficiency payments, LDPs) from 2002 through 2007.

George W. Bush 43rd president of the United States

George Walker Bush is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He had previously served as the 46th governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000.

Marketing assistance loans are nonrecourse loans made available to producers of loan commodities under the 2002 farm bill. The new law largely continued the commodity loan programs as they were under previous law. Loan rate caps are specified in the law. Marketing loan repayment provisions apply when market prices drop below the loan rates. For farmers who forgo the use of marketing assistance loans, loan deficiency payment (LDP) rules apply.

In United States agriculture policy, Loan deficiency payments are a farm income support program first authorized by the Food Security Act of 1985 that makes direct payments, equivalent to marketing loan gains, to producers who agree not to obtain nonrecourse loans, even though they are eligible. Loan deficiency payments are available under the 2002 farm bill for wheat, corn, grain sorghum, barley, oats, upland cotton, rice, soybeans, other oilseeds, wool, mohair, honey, dry peas, lentils, and small chickpeas.

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The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is a wholly owned United States government corporation that was created in 1933 to "stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices". The CCC is authorized to buy, sell, lend, make payments, and engage in other activities for the purpose of increasing production, stabilizing prices, assuring adequate supplies, and facilitating the efficient marketing of agricultural commodities.

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The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, known informally as the Freedom to Farm Act, the FAIR Act, or the 1996 U.S. Farm Bill, was the omnibus 1996 farm bill that, among other provisions, revises and simplifies direct payment programs for crops and eliminates milk price supports through direct government purchases.

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References

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates  public domain material from the Congressional Research Service document "Report for Congress: Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws, 2005 Edition" by Jasper Womach.

Congressional Research Service Public think tank

The Congressional Research Service (CRS), known as Congress's think tank, is a public policy research arm of the United States Congress. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS works primarily and directly for Members of Congress, their Committees and staff on a confidential, nonpartisan basis.

Citations

  1. 1 2 Risen, James (March 21, 1993). "Is U.S. Stuck With Honey Subsidies?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  2. ↑ Brasher, Philip (April 6, 1993). "Small Number of Beekeepers Share Government's Honey Subsidies With PM". Associated Press. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  3. ↑ LaFraniere, Sharon (October 16, 1993). "Senate Sting Fatal to Honey Program". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  4. ↑ Rauch, Jonathan (May 1, 2002). "The Farm Bill Is a Bad Joke With a Good Punch Line". The Atlantic. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
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