Commodity Credit Corporation CCC

President Franklin Roosevelt created the Commodity Credit Corporation by executive order on October 17, 1933, as a Delaware corporation to make loans to farmers on their crops during the Depression. The Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act, signed on June 29, 1948, gave it a permanent federal charter. The CCC has no employees of its own: its programs are run by the Agriculture Department's Farm Service Agency and other USDA agencies, and its board is chaired by the Secretary of Agriculture.

The CCC is the financial engine of most federal farm programs. It pays for commodity price and income supports authorized in farm bills, such as marketing loans and payments when crop prices or revenues fall, many conservation programs, export credit guarantees, and some food aid. It can borrow up to 30 billion dollars from the Treasury at a time, and Congress periodically replenishes its losses through appropriations.

Because its charter gives the Secretary of Agriculture broad authority to use its funds to support farm income and markets, administrations have used the CCC for large programs Congress did not specifically approve. During the 2018 and 2019 trade war with China, it paid about 23 billion dollars to farmers hurt by retaliatory tariffs, and pandemic aid followed in 2020. Since 2025 the administration has again turned to it to aid farmers hurt by trade disputes. Supporters say this flexibility lets the government respond quickly to crises, while critics in both parties say it lets the executive branch spend billions without congressional approval.