CHAPTER 18 —COOPERATIVE MARKETING
§451. "Agricultural products" defined
When used in this chapter the term "agricultural products" means agricultural, horticultural, viticultural, and dairy products, livestock and the products thereof, the products of poultry and bee raising, the edible products of forestry, and any and all products raised or produced on farms and processed or manufactured products thereof, transported or intended to be transported in interstate and/or foreign commerce.
(July 2, 1926, ch. 725, §1,
§452. Supervision of division of cooperative marketing
The division of cooperative marketing shall be under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of Agriculture.
(July 2, 1926, ch. 725, §2,
Editorial Notes
Codification
First sentence of section, which provided that "The Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized and directed to establish a division of cooperative marketing with suitable personnel in the Bureau of Agricultural Economics of the Department of Agriculture or in such bureau in the Department of Agriculture as may hereafter be concerned with the marketing and distribution of farm products" was omitted from the Code as executed.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Transfer to Secretary of Agriculture
Act Aug. 6, 1953, ch. 335, §9,
Executive Documents
Transfer of Functions
Farmer Cooperative Service established in Department of Agriculture Dec. 4, 1953, pursuant to Secretary's Memorandum 1320, Supp. 4, 1953, as successor to functions of Cooperative Research and Service Division, Farm Credit Administration.
Ex. Ord. No. 9322, Mar. 26, 1943, 8 F.R. 3807, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 9334, Apr. 19, 1943, 8 F.R. 5423, removed Farm Credit Administration from Food Production Administration of Department of Agriculture and returned it to its former status as a separate agency of Department.
Ex. Ord. No. 9280, Dec. 5, 1942, 7 F.R. 10179, made Farm Credit Administration a part of Food Production Administration of Department of Agriculture.
Farm Credit Administration transferred to Department of Agriculture by 1939 Reorg. Plan No. I, §401, 4 F.R. 2727,
Ex. Ord. No. 6084, Mar. 27, 1933, set out as a note preceding
Ex. Ord. No. 5200, Oct. 1, 1929, transferred, eff. Oct. 1, 1929, from Department of Agriculture to jurisdiction and control of Federal Farm Board the whole of Division of Cooperative Marketing in Bureau of Agricultural Economics of Department of Agriculture, all functions pertaining to work and services of such division, its records, property, including office equipment, personnel, and unexpended balances of appropriation, pertaining to such work or services.
Exceptions From Transfer of Functions
Functions of Corporations of Department of Agriculture, boards of directors and officers of such corporations; Advisory Board of Commodity Credit Corporation; and Farm Credit Administration or any agency, officer, or entity of, under, or subject to supervision of said Administration excepted from functions of officers, agencies, and employees transferred to Secretary of Agriculture by 1953 Reorg. Plan No. 2, §1, eff. June 4, 1953, 18 F.R. 3219,
§453. Authority and duties of division
(a) The division shall render service to associations of producers of agricultural products, and federations and subsidiaries thereof, engaged in the cooperative marketing of agricultural products, including processing, warehousing, manufacturing, storage, the cooperative purchasing of farm supplies, credit, financing, insurance, and other cooperative activities.
(b) The division is authorized—
(1) To acquire, analyze, and disseminate economic, statistical, and historical information regarding the progress, organization, and business methods of cooperative associations in the United States and foreign countries.
(2) To conduct studies of the economic, legal, financial, social, and other phases of cooperation, and publish the results thereof. Such studies shall include the analyses of the organization, operation, financial and merchandising problems of cooperative associations.
(3) To make surveys and analyses if deemed advisable of the accounts and business practices of representative cooperative associations upon their request; to report to the association so surveyed the results thereof; and with the consent of the association so surveyed to publish summaries of the results of such surveys, together with similar facts, for the guidance of cooperative associations and for the purpose of assisting cooperative associations in developing methods of business and market analysis.
(4) To confer and advise with committees or groups of producers, if deemed advisable, that may be desirous of forming a cooperative association and to make an economic survey and analysis of the facts surrounding the production and marketing of the agricultural product or products which the association, if formed, would handle or market.
(5) To acquire from all available sources information concerning crop prospects, supply, demand, current receipts, exports, imports, and prices of the agricultural products handled or marketed by cooperative associations, and to employ qualified commodity marketing specialists to summarize and analyze this information and disseminate the same among cooperative associations and others.
(6) To promote the knowledge of cooperative principles and practices and to cooperate, in promoting such knowledge, with educational and marketing agencies, cooperative associations, and others.
(7) To make such special studies, in the United States and foreign countries, and to acquire and disseminate such information and findings as may be useful in the development and practice of cooperation.
(July 2, 1926, ch. 725, §3,
§454. Advisers to counsel with Secretary of Agriculture; expenses and subsistence
The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized, in his discretion, to call advisers to counsel with him and/or his representatives relative to specific problems of cooperative marketing of farm products or any other cooperative activity. Any person, other than an officer, agent, or employee of the United States, called into conference, as provided for in this section, may be paid actual transportation expenses and not to exceed $10 per diem to cover subsistence and other expenses while in conference and en route from and to his home.
(July 2, 1926, ch. 725, §4,
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Transfer to Secretary of Agriculture
Transfer of Division of Cooperative Marketing "(by whatever name now called)" from Farm Credit Administration to Secretary of Agriculture, by act Aug. 6, 1953, ch. 335, §9,
Executive Documents
Transfer of Functions
Farmer Cooperative Service in Department of Agriculture as successor to functions of Cooperative Research and Service Division, Farm Credit Administration, see note set out under
For prior transfers of functions, see notes set out under
Exceptions From Transfer of Functions
Functions of Corporations of Department of Agriculture, boards of directors and officers of such corporations; Advisory Board of Commodity Credit Corporation; and Farm Credit Administration or any agency, officer, or entity of, under, or subject to supervision of said Administration excepted from functions of officers, agencies, and employees transferred to Secretary of Agriculture by 1953 Reorg. Plan No. 2, §1, eff. June 4, 1953, 18 F.R. 3219,
§455. Dissemination of crop, market, etc., information by cooperative marketing associations
Persons engaged, as original producers of agricultural products, such as farmers, planters, ranchmen, dairymen, nut or fruit growers, acting together in associations, corporate or otherwise, in collectively processing, preparing for market, handling, and marketing in interstate and/or foreign commerce such products of persons so engaged, may acquire, exchange, interpret, and disseminate past, present, and prospective crop, market, statistical, economic, and other similar information by direct exchange between such persons, and/or such associations or federations thereof, and/or by and through a common agent created or selected by them.
(July 2, 1926, ch. 725, §5,
§456. Rules and regulations; appointment, removal, and compensation of employees; expenditures; authorization of appropriations
The Secretary of Agriculture may make such rules and regulations as may be deemed advisable to carry out the provisions of this chapter and may cooperate with any department or agency of the Government, any State, Territory, District, or possession, or department, agency, or political subdivision thereof, or any person; and may call upon any other Federal department, board, or commission for assistance in carrying out the purposes of this chapter; and shall have the power to appoint, remove, and fix the compensation of such officers and employees not in conflict with existing law and make such expenditure for rent, outside the District of Columbia, printing, telegrams, telephones, books of reference, books of law, periodicals, newspapers, furniture, stationery, office equipment, travel, and other supplies and expenses as shall be necessary to the administration of this chapter in the District of Columbia and elsewhere, and there is hereby authorized to be appropriated, such sums as may be necessary after the fiscal year 1927, for carrying out the purposes of this chapter.
(July 2, 1926, ch. 725, §6,
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Transfer to Secretary of Agriculture
Transfer of Division of Cooperative Marketing "(by whatever name now called)" from Farm Credit Administration to Secretary of Agriculture, by act Aug. 6, 1953, ch. 335, §9,
Executive Documents
Transfer of Functions
Farmer Cooperative Service in Department of Agriculture as successor to functions of Cooperative Research and Service Division, Farm Credit Administration, see note set out under
For prior transfers of functions, see notes set out under
Exceptions From Transfer of Functions
Functions of Corporations of Department of Agriculture, boards of directors and officers of such corporations; Advisory Board of Commodity Credit Corporation; and Farm Credit Administration or any agency, officer, or entity of, under, or subject to supervision of said Administration excepted from functions of officers, agencies, and employees transferred to Secretary of Agriculture by 1953 Reorg. Plan No. 2, §1, eff. June 4, 1953, 18 F.R. 3219,
§457. Separability
If any provision of this chapter is declared unconstitutional or the applicability thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of the chapter and the applicability of such provision to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby, and nothing contained in this chapter is intended nor shall be construed, to modify or repeal any of the provisions of