Clearing the Air Episode 2 - Feb. 16, 2026

How can agricultural policy support a secure and affordable food supply and prosperous rural communities while navigating the wide range of interests that shape food and agriculture? In the late 1990s, the Commission on 21st Century Production Agriculture was convened to take on exactly that task.

Established in the 1996 Farm Bill, the Commission gathered testimony from across the country and brought together leaders from multiple sectors of agriculture. This week on Clearing The Air — a monthly collaboration between Smoke And Mirrors Pod and the FlinchbaughCenter — we revisited that effort with Mickey Paggi, who served as Director of the Commission. The conversation was hosted by Eric Atkinson, with Brad Lubben and Mark Edelman, members of the Flinchbaugh Board.

The Commission reached consensus around a core principle: government should do what the private sector cannot. It articulated broad policy goals, including an abundant food supply, the family farm as a cornerstone of policy, and rural prosperity.

Its recommendations included:

• A farmer-held voucher system for crop insurance

• Income support concepts not entirely unlike today’s #ARC 

• Continued investment in conservation

We discussed what stuck, what didn’t, and why. Why does this matter?

Because many of the debates we’re having today — about risk management, ad hoc support, trade, and biofuels — aren’t new. Policy has to respond to the latest crisis. But if crisis response is all we do, the future we actually want for agriculture takes a back seat.

🎙️ Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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