November 28 has delivered several turning points for American agriculture—moments that reshaped how food is grown, certified, conserved, marketed, and even celebrated. Chief among them is the 1990 farm bill that put “sustainable agriculture” into federal law and created the framework for today’s USDA Organic seal. But the date also evokes cultural and seasonal touchstones—from a Nashville broadcast that helped define rural America’s sound to the rhythms of Thanksgiving markets that often fall on this same day.

1990: The farm bill that made organics federal law and defined “sustainable agriculture”

On November 28, 1990, President George H. W. Bush signed the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-624). It was a sweeping reauthorization that still shapes the fields, pastures, and markets of U.S. agriculture. Two provisions in particular transformed the landscape: a federal definition of “sustainable agriculture,” and the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, which established the national standards that underpin the USDA Organic program.

Organic standards move from patchwork to a national system

Before 1990, organic certification was a patchwork—states and private groups used differing rules, making interstate commerce confusing and undermining consumer confidence. The Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) created a single national framework. It authorized the U.S. Department of Agriculture to set uniform production and handling standards; established the National Organic Standards Board to advise on allowed and prohibited substances; and laid the groundwork for the certification system and label recognition that consumers see today on store shelves. That consistency helped the organic sector evolve from niche to mainstream while holding producers and processors to verifiable practices.

Sustainable agriculture becomes a matter of law

The same statute also put a definition of “sustainable agriculture” into the U.S. Code, anchoring the concept in federal policy. Building on the 1980s Low-Input Sustainable Agriculture effort, the 1990 act expanded and renamed it the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, signaling a durable commitment to research and on-farm innovation in soil health, crop rotations, integrated pest management, and profitability for family farms. For land-grant universities and extension educators, that legal definition became a touchstone for program design and farmer-led trials.

Conservation: from set-asides to ecosystem services

The 1990 law reauthorized and refined the Conservation Reserve Program, which pays producers to retire environmentally sensitive cropland, and it broadened the focus to include water quality and wildlife habitat. It also created the Wetlands Reserve Program to restore farmed wetlands and launched the Water Quality Incentives Program to help producers reduce nonpoint-source pollution. Those tools signaled a turn toward conservation that treats working lands as engines of both production and public environmental benefits.

Trade and markets: building demand abroad

On the marketing side, the act created the Market Promotion Program (today’s Market Access Program), giving producer groups a mechanism to build and diversify export markets for U.S. farm products. The aim was clear: stabilize farm income by expanding demand beyond domestic cycles and seasonality.

Why November 28, 1990 still matters

Much of today’s farm policy architecture—from organic certification and sustainable agriculture grants, to long-term conservation easements and export promotion—traces to this signature date. Millions of acres have since cycled through conservation programs. The USDA Organic label became a fixture for consumers. And sustainable practices moved from the margins into the mainstream of research, extension, and farm management.

• Public Law: Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-624)
• Cornerstones established that day: Organic Foods Production Act; federal definition of “sustainable agriculture” (codified in 7 U.S.C. 3103)
• Key conservation innovations: Wetlands Reserve Program; enhancements to the Conservation Reserve Program; Water Quality Incentives Program
• Market development: Market Promotion Program (now Market Access Program)

1925: A Saturday night barn dance that carried farm country to the nation

Also on November 28—this time in 1925—Nashville’s WSM radio aired a new “Barn Dance” hosted by George D. Hay. Fiddler Uncle Jimmy Thompson played live on that inaugural broadcast. The weekly show would soon be known as the Grand Ole Opry, becoming a totem of rural culture and one of the longest-running broadcasts in U.S. history.

For farm families in the early 20th century, radio wasn’t just entertainment. It was a lifeline for market reports, weather forecasts, and Cooperative Extension advice. The Opry’s rise paralleled a broader era of “farm radio” that connected isolated households, reinforced community identity, and carried agricultural information across vast distances. November 28, 1925 marks the night a local barn dance began echoing from kitchen sets in farmhouses nationwide.

When Thanksgiving falls on November 28: the seasonal pulse of U.S. agriculture

Thanksgiving regularly lands on November 28. That timing has long shaped the cadence of farm markets and supply chains—from turkey placements scheduled months in advance, to cranberry and sweet potato harvests that feed holiday demand, to cold storage inventories and last-mile logistics that shift in the season’s final weeks.

Weather is often the swing factor. Late November can compress harvest windows for remaining corn and soybean acres in the Upper Midwest, complicate livestock movements, and test rural infrastructure. When Thanksgiving week turns stormy, as it has in notable years, farms and food distributors pivot quickly to protect animals, clear backlogs, and keep holiday foods moving to retailers.

The lasting imprint of this date

From the policy architecture signed into law on November 28, 1990 to the radio sounds that first beamed out on November 28, 1925, this date has carried outsized influence on American agriculture’s identity and operations. The modern organic marketplace, a science-based approach to sustainability, and conservation practices that serve both producers and the public all took decisive steps forward on this day. So did the cultural fabric of rural America—stitched together by shared music, shared stories, and the shared work of feeding a nation.