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Abstract
"Program" yields for individual farmers are
utilized in determining the amount of deficiency
payments individual farmers receive. They
have been frozen since the 1985 Food Security
Act (FSA). However, some farm groups are
pressing for unfreezing these yields so that
actual yields could be substituted for the program
yields when the actual yields are higher.
This change would indeed lead to higher deficiency
payments. However, it would also stimulate
increased fertilizer and pesticide use Ultimately
resulting in lower net returns to producers.
A preferable approach would be to index
upward all producer program yields by the
same amount.