Grain Reserves: A Potential U.S. Food Policy Tool

A summary of grain reserve research was made to provide a perspective on agricultural policy, on the newly emerging uncertainty that U.S. grain production can adequately satisfy food needs, and on the factors that need consideration in developing a grain reserve program as part of food policy. Traditionally, U.S. agricultural policy has had three general objectives: maintaining the productive base by attempting to stabilize agricultural prices and maintain farmers' incomes; protecting the domestic consumer by attempting to provide adequate supplies at reasonable prices; and exporting agricultural surpluses for commercial, humanitarian, and political purposes. Adverse weather occurrences, similar to those in 1972 and 1974, would tax existing food supplies, and the United States would be faced with making decisions on domestic price increases and allocations of food abroad. A food reserve that is built during years of plenty and made available during lean years could act as a buffer aginst unpredictable shocks to the food system.