YOUR TEXAS AGRICULTURE MINUTE

What’s next for Commodity Credit Corporation?

By Gary Joiner
Publisher

The Biden administration is now looking at the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) through its own policy lens. That’s not unusual. It happens with each administration.

The CCC is a fund in the U.S. Department of Agriculture that borrows from the U.S. Treasury. It dates back to the 1930s. It must be replenished through the congressional appropriation process. The fund currently has a $30 billion dollar borrowing limit.

There is flexibility in how the money can be spent. The Trump administration tapped the CCC for its trade mitigation payments, and it was used as part of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program to provide financial relief to farmers and ranchers impacted by the pandemic.

Reports indicate the Biden administration is considering the fund to target climate change, support restaurants and launch other programs without waiting for Congress.

One program approach could be a carbon bank. The bank would pay farmers for planting crops or adopting farming practices that keep carbon in the soil or plant material.

Is there enough flexibility in the CCC to pursue a carbon bank? That remains to be seen. The program could be an another tool for U.S. agriculture, if structured correctly.

Texas farmers await what’s next for the Commodity Credit Corporation.

The preceding commentary is brought to you by Texas Farm Bureau, the “Voice of Texas Agriculture.” Called “Your Texas Agriculture Minute,” TFB will issue thought-provoking editorials each week—via print and audio—to spark understanding of agriculture in the Lone Star State and its impact on each and every Texan.

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