Food and Agriculture Act of 1977

Food and Agriculture Act of 1977

Long title	An Act to provide price and income protection for farmers and assure consumers of an abundance of food and fiber at reasonable prices, and for other purposes.
Nicknames	1977 U.S. Farm Bill Agriculture Act
Enacted by	the 95th United States Congress
Effective	September 29, 1977
Citations
Public law	95–113
Statutes at Large	91 Stat. 913
Codification
Titles amended	7 U.S.C.: Agriculture
U.S.C. sections amended	7 U.S.C. ch. 35A § 1421
Legislative history
Introduced in the Senate as S. 275 by Herman Talmadge (D-GA) on January 18, 1977 Committee consideration by Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Passed the Senate on May 24, 1977 (69–18) Passed the House of Representatives as the Agricultural Act of 1977 on July 28, 1977 (294–114) Reported by the joint conference committee on September 9, 1977; agreed to by the Senate on September 9, 1977 (63–8) and by the House of Representatives on September 16, 1977 (283–107) Signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on September 29, 1977
Major amendments
Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1980

The United States Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 (P.L. 95–113, also known as the 1977 U.S. Farm Bill) was an omnibus farm bill. The S. 275 legislation was passed by the 95th U.S. Congressional session and signed into law by the 39th President of the United States Jimmy Carter on September 29, 1977.^[1]

It increased price and income supports and established a farmer-owned reserve for grain. It also established a new two-tiered pricing program for peanuts. Under the peanut program, producers were given an acreage allotment on which a poundage quota was set. Growers could produce in excess of their quota, within their acreage allotment, but would receive the higher of the two price-support levels only for the quota amount. Peanuts in excess of the quota are referred to as "additionals", or additional peanuts.

Title XIII was designated the Food Stamp Act of 1977 and permanently amended the Food Stamp Act of 1964 by eliminating the purchase requirement and simplifying eligibility requirements.^[2]

Title XIV was designated the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act and made USDA the leading federal agency for agricultural research, extension, and teaching programs. It also consolidated the funding for these programs.

 This article incorporates public domain material from Jasper Womach. Report for Congress: Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws, 2005 Edition (PDF). Congressional Research Service.

• Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 as amended (PDF/details) in the GPO Statute Compilations collection