- Branche: Government
- Number of terms: 41534
- Number of blossaries: 0
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Direct government payments made to farmers who participated in an annual commodity program for wheat, feed grains, rice, or cotton, prior to 1996. The crop-specific deficiency payment rate was based on the difference between the legislatively set target price and the lower national average market price during a specified time. The total payment was equal to the payment rate, multiplied by a farm’s eligible payment acreage and the program payment yield established for the particular farm. In the latter years of the program, farmers could receive up to one-half of their projected deficiency payments at program signup. If actual deficiency payments, which were determined after the crop year, were less than advance deficiency payments, the farmer was required to reimburse the government for the difference, except for zero, 50/85-92 payments. The FAIR Act of 1996 eliminated deficiency payments and replaced them with production flexibility contract payments.
Industry:Agriculture
A chemical that removes leaves from trees and growing plants; regulated as a pesticide.
Industry:Agriculture
The Delaney Clause in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) states that no additive shall be deemed to be safe for human food if it is found to induce cancerin man or animals. It is an example of the zero tolerance concept in food safety policy. The Delaney prohibition appears in three separate parts of the FFDCA: Section 409 on food additives; Section 512, relating to animal drugs in meat and poultry; and Section 721 on color additives. The Section 409 prohibition applied to many pesticide residues until enactment of the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-170, August 3, 1996). This legislation removed pesticide residue tolerances from Delaney Clause constraints.
Industry:Agriculture
A type of deferred pricing that provides for transfer of title before the price is determined and final settlement made. Contracts including this feature are sometimes called "price-later" contracts.
Industry:Agriculture
In settlement of a futures contract, the tender and receipt of the actual commodity, the cash value of the commodity, or of a delivery instrument covering the commodity (e.g., warehouse receipts or shipping certificates). Futures contracts may be settled by delivery, but more often they are settled by offset or cash. Each futures exchange has specific procedures for delivery of a commodity.
Industry:Agriculture
The specified month within which a futures contract matures and can be settled by delivery. Also referred to as contract month.
Industry:Agriculture
A location where a commodity can be delivered to fulfill a futures contract.
Industry:Agriculture
The charge that a shipper may be required to pay for detaining a rail car (or water carrier) longer than necessary to load it. What length of time is considered reasonable, and the level of demurrage charges, are frequently points of dispute between agricultural shippers and the railroads, particularly in proceedings before federal or state transportation regulatory bodies.
Industry:Agriculture
A polymeric chromosomal constituent of living cell nuclei, composed of deoxyribose (a sugar), phosphoric acid, and four nitrogen bases: adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine. It contains the genetic information for living organisms, and consist of two strands in the shape of double helix. A gene is a piece of DNA.
Industry:Agriculture
USDA was originally established in 1862 and raised to cabinet status in 1889. In FY1997 it had an employment level equal to about 113,000 staff years, working in some 30 separate agencies, carrying out program activities valued at $84 billion, with net federal budgetary outlays of $57 billion. Forestry, natural resource, and farm activities utilized 58% of the staff time. However, about 70% of USDA expenditures went to domestic food assistance programs. Over 90% of the staff are located in local, state, and regional field offices away from the Washington, DC, headquarters. Approximately three-fourths of USDA spending is classified as mandatory spending, which by definition is not constrained by the annual appropriations process. Eligibility for mandatory programs is written into law; any individual or entity that meets the eligibility requirements is entitled to a payment as authorized by the law. The vast majority of mandatory spending is in the Food Stamp Program and certain other food and nutrition programs, the farm commodity programs, the crop insurance program, and the Conservation Reserve Program. The other roughly 25% of USDA budget is classified as discretionary and is subject to annual appropriations, including rural development, agricultural research and education, agricultural credit, international food aid, food marketing and inspection, forestry, and certain nutrition programs. All USDA discretionary programs are funded through an annual Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (except the Forest Service is funded through the Department of Interior appropriations act). Annual appropriations are made to the food stamp and other mandatory nutrition programs based on estimated spending needs. However, supplemental appropriations are generally made if and when these estimates fall short of required spending. An annual appropriation is made to the Commodity Credit Corporation, which funds the commodity programs and the Conservation Reserve Program, in order to cover its past net realized losses. Most, but not all, USDA programs are under the congressional authorizing jurisdiction of the House Committee on Agriculture and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Industry:Agriculture
