TITLE 7 - AGRICULTURE

CHAPTER 18 - COOPERATIVE MARKETING

§ 451. "Agricultural products" defined.

§ 452. Supervision of division of cooperative marketing.

§ 453. Authority and duties of division.

§ 454. Advisers to counsel with Secretary of Agriculture; expenses and subsistence.

§ 455. Dissemination of crop, market, etc., information by cooperative marketing associations.

§ 456. Rules and regulations; appointment, removal, and compensation of employees; expenditures; authorization of appropriations.

§ 457. Separability.
 
 
 
 

§ 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.
 
 

§ 452. Supervision of division of cooperative marketing
 
 

The division of cooperative marketing shall be under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of Agriculture.
 
 

§ 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.
 
 

§ 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.
 
 

§ 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.
 
 

§ 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.
 
 

§ 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 sections 291 and

292 of this title.