United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-09-28 monographic deposited born digital 38 p. GA 1.13:GAO-01-964 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-964 P0b002ee18037318e f:d01964 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-964 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-964 GAO-01-964 Agricultural programs Farm credit Farm income stabilization programs Farm subsidies Program management USDA Marketing Assistance Loan Program Other Written Product A01671 Under the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Marketing Assistance Loan Program, the federal government accepts harvested crops as collateral for interest-bearing loans (marketing assistance loans) that are typically due in nine months. When market prices drop below the loan rate (the loan price per pound or bushel), the government allows farmers to repay the loan at a lower rate and retain ownership of their commodity for eventual sale. The difference between the loan rate and the lower repayment rate is called the "marketing loan gain." Conversely, farmers who do not have marketing assistance loans can also receive a benefit when prices are low called a "loan deficiency payment." The loan deficiency payment is equal to the marketing loan gain that the farmer would have received if he had a loan. Farmers may choose to obtain either a marketing loan gain or a loan deficiency payment--both of which are known as the marketing loan benefit. The increase in the payment limit and the availability of commodity certificates had only modest effects on the total $15 billion in marketing assistance loan payments provided for crop year 1999 and for crop year 2000 through May 2001. Because of the increase in the payment limit, total payments over the 2-year period were 1.9 percent more than they would have been under the previous limit, or an additional $261.1 million. Most farmers did not use commodity certificates to receive gains over the payment limit, but a small number of farmers did benefit from the program. According to the best available data from USDA's county offices, 47 farmers used certificates to receive more than $150,000 in 1999 and 100 farmers did so in 2000. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-964/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-964.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-964/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-964.pdf GAO-01-964 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-964 Other Written Product GAO-01-964; Farm Programs: Changes to the Marketing Assistance Loan Program Have Had Little Impact on Payments; Agricultural programs Farm credit Farm income stabilization programs Farm subsidies Program management USDA Marketing Assistance Loan Program