June 1996 - Lubbock, TX
June 1996 - Lubbock, TX Passage of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act of 1996, also known as the Farm Bill, presents challenges and concerns for Texas agriculture, agribusiness, and rural communities. The new Farm Bill will require producers to make major adjustments to operate in a more market-driven system. Texas agriculture may be particularly vulnerable due to its high dependence on program crops such as rice and cotton. Responding to these challenges will mean considering new approaches and developing new strategies for the future. By anticipating the impact of the new farm program provisions, strategies can be developed to ease adjustment and reduce negative effects. This Summit Conference brought together the interested and affected parties to develop a better understanding of the likely impacts of the legislation and to discuss possible actions to take in response. Agricultural producers, lenders, agribusiness representatives, environmental and natural resource stakeholders, and rural community leaders were able to better understand the impacts of the changes in agriculture resulting from the 1996 Farm Bill and identified major issues and developed strategies to address these issues to help Texas manage those changes.
The Planning Committee for this Summit included the following people:
This Summit would not have been possible without financial support from:
For more information about the Summit Initiative, send email to: agsummit@tamu.edu