U.S. Commodity Loan Program, The

Commodity loan programs in the United States are one of the major domestic support programs, and have been in existence in various forms since the 1930s primarily covering major field crops. Different versions of these programs, over time, have been designed to provide different benefits to producers, and have addressed different policy goals. The policy goals and program benefits have included price support, income support, price stability, and short term liquidity. The future direction of commodity loan programs will depend, in part, on the combination of policy goals that are to be achieved by the programs.