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Wetlands Provisions In The 1985 And 1990 Farm Bills, F. Gregory Hayden

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

In 1984, my national agricultural policy article surprised some readers because its first concern was with policy regarding the natural environment [Hayden 1984]. Others thought it contained the policy agenda that agricultural policymakers could expect in the future. The future came more quickly than most expected when the 1985 Farm Bill (Food Security Act) included provisions to limit harmful impacts of the agriculture industry on the environment. The purpose of this article is to explore the importance, success, and future of the Swampbuster provision that was intended to protect wetlands in the United States from further agricultural destruction.