7 U.S.C. § 1282: Declaration of policy

It is declared to be the policy of Congress to continue the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, as amended [ 16 U.S.C. 590a et seq.], for the purpose of conserving national resources, preventing the wasteful use of soil fertility, and of preserving, maintaining, and rebuilding the farm and ranch land resources in the national public interest; to accomplish these purposes through the encouragement of soil-building and soil-conserving crops and practices; to assist in the marketing of agricultural commodities for domestic consumption and for export; and to regulate interstate and foreign commerce in cotton, wheat, corn, and rice to the extent necessary to provide an orderly, adequate, and balanced flow of such commodities in interstate and foreign commerce through storage of reserve supplies, loans, marketing quotas, assisting farmers to obtain insofar as practicable, parity prices for such commodities and parity of income, and assisting consumers to obtain an adequate and steady supply of such commodities at fair prices. afford farmers the opportunity to achieve parity of income with other economic groups by providing them with the means to develop and strengthen their bargaining power in the Nation’s economy; encourage a commodity-by-commodity approach in the solution of farm problems and provide the means for meeting varied and changing conditions peculiar to each commodity; expand foreign trade in agricultural commodities with friendly nations, as defined in section 107 of Public Law 480, 83d Congress, as amended ( 7 U.S.C. 1707 ), and in no manner either subsidize the export, sell, or make available any subsidized agricultural commodity to any nations other than such friendly nations and thus make full use of our agricultural abundance; utilize more effectively our agricultural productive capacity to improve the diets of the Nation’s needy persons; recognize the importance of the family farm as an efficient unit of production and as an economic base for towns and cities in rural areas and encourage, promote, and strengthen this form of farm enterprise; facilitate and improve credit services to farmers by revising, expanding, and clarifying the laws relating to agricultural credit; assure consumers of a continuous, adequate, and stable supply of food and fiber at fair and reasonable prices; reduce the cost of farm programs, by preventing the accumulation of surpluses; and use surplus farm commodities on hand as fully as practicable as an incentive to reduce production as may be necessary to bring supplies on hand and firm demand in balance.”