Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 99 Part 2.djvu/534

 99 STAT. 1644 Research and development.

PUBLIC LAW 99-198—DEC. 23, 1985

(b) It is declared to be the policy of the United States that the Department of Agriculture conduct economic research to develop more information concerning the manner in which producers might utilize agricultural commodity futures markets and options markets in connection with their marketing of the agricultural commodities of their own production; and to determine the nature and effect widespread utilization of such markets by producers would have on the prices they receive for their agricultural commodities, and to determine the feasibility of interfacing traditional Federal price support programs with private sector risk avoidance services. STUDY BY THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

7 USC 1421 note.

SEC. 1742. The Secretary of Agriculture shall conduct a study utilizing the services of the various agencies of the United States, including, but not limited to, the United States Department of Agriculture and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, to determine the manner in which agricultural commodity futures markets and agricultural commodity options markets might be used by producers of agricultural commodities traded on such markets to provide such producers with price stability and income protection; the extent of the price stability and income protection producers might reasonably expect to receive from such participation; and of the Federal budgetary impact of such participation compared with the cost of the applicable established price support programs for agricultural commodities. The Secretary shall report the results of such study to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry of the Senate and to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives on or before December 31, 1988. PILOT PROGRAM

7 USC 1421 note. SEC. 1743. In connection with the study to be undertaken by the Supra. Secretary as required by section 1742 of this subtitle, the Secretary shall conduct a pilot program with respect to the crops of wheat, feed grains, soybean, and cotton in at least 40 counties which actively produce reasonable quantities of such major agricultural commoidities traded on the commodity futures markets and the commodity options markets. The Secretary shall, in cooperation with the futures and options industry and the chairman of the commodity futures trading commission, conduct an extensive educational program for producers in the counties selected for the pilot program. The program shall, among other things, provide that a reasonable number of producers, as determined by the Secretary, may at their election and in accordance with pilot program requirements developed by the Secretary, participate in the trading of designated agricultural commodities on a futures market or options market in a manner designed to protect and maximize the return on agricultural commodities of their own production marketed by them in accordance with program requirements. Participating producers shall be assured by the Secretary under the terms of the program, using funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation^ that the net return received for the agricultural commodities that such producers allocate to the program in the manner specified by the Secretary is no less than the price support loan level for such agricultural commodity in the county where it is produced. In the formulation of the pilot program the Secretary shall utilize the

�