Commodity Credit Corporation

The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is a wholly owned government corporation created in 1933 to "stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices" (federally chartered by the CCC Charter Act of 1948 (P.L. 80-806)). The CCC is authorized to buy, sell, lend, make payments and engage in other activities for the purpose of increasing production, stabilizing prices, assuring adequate supplies, and facilitating the efficient marketing of agricultural commodities.

The CCC, which has no staff, is essentially a financing institution for USDA’s farm price and income support commodity programs, commodity export credit guarantees, and agricultural export subsidies. The programs funded through CCC are administered by employees of the Farm Service Agency and the Foreign Agricultural Service. The CCC has the authority to borrow up to $30 billion from the U.S. Treasury to carry out its obligations. Net losses from its operations subsequently are restored through the congressional appropriations process. It issues payments in the form of Commodity Certificates.

History and charter

CCC was incorporated October 17, 1933, under a Delaware charter pursuant to Executive Order 6340 issued the previous day by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It had a capitalization of $3 million subscribed by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Governor of the Farm Credit Administration.

It was initially managed and operated in close affiliation with the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, which funded its operations. On July 1, 1939, CCC was transferred to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Secretary of Agriculture was granted the authority to exercise all rights of ownership of the Corporation's by Executive Order 8219 of 1939.

It was reincorporated on July 1, 1948, as a federal corporation within USDA by the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act (62 Stat.1070; 15 U.S.C. 714).

The 1996 farm bill (P.L. 104-127) expanded the CCC mandate to include funding for several conservation programs (including the Conservation Reserve Program) and made conservation one of the purposes of the CCC.

Basic responsibilities

The CCC Charter Act, as amended, aids producers through loans, purchases, payments, and other operations, and makes available materials and facilities required in the production and marketing of agricultural commodities. The CCC Charter Act also authorizes the sale of agricultural commodities to other government agencies and to foreign governments and the donation of food to domestic, foreign, or international relief agencies. CCC also assists in the development of new domestic and foreign markets and marketing facilities for agricultural commodities.

Organization

CCC is managed by a Board of Directors, subject to the general supervision and direction of the Secretary of Agriculture, who is an ex-officio director and chairperson of the Board. The Board consists of seven members, in addition to the Secretary, who are appointed by the President of the United States by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. All members of the Board and Corporation officers are USDA officials. The president of the CCC is the Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, and the executive director is the Administrator of the Farm Service Agency.

CCC has no operating personnel. Its price support, storage, and reserve programs, and its domestic acquisition and disposal activities are carried out primarily through the personnel and facilities of the Farm Service Agency (FSA). Its overseas surplus disposal and commodity export credit guarantee activities are carried out by personnel of the Foreign Agricultural Service, particularly the General Sales Manager.

See also

• Ever-normal granary

External links

• USDA, Farm Service Agency, Commodity Credit Corporation
• Executive Order 6340, from the Donnelly Collection, a project of The Conservative Caucus
• General Accountability Office reports on and audits of the Commodity Credit Corporation
• CRS Report for Congress: Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws, 2005 Edition - Order Code 97-905, a document in the public domain.