Economic Effects of Farm Program Payment Limitations

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to quantify the effects of alternative farm program payment limitations policies on the efficiency and viability of farms in the U.S. This objective will be achieved by identifying the payment limitations alternatives to be evaluated and applying those scenarios to various representative farms. The effects of the payment limitations will be estimated using FLIPSIM and representative farm financial data. The financial data will be obtained from the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University, and the remainder of the relevant data will come from USDA’s Economic Research Service. The results of the research will be used to determine whether changes in payment limitations would affect the economic efficiency of U.S. farms by incentivizing farms to reorganize and avoid payment limitations, or affect farm viability by changing net farm income or returns on investment.