Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC)
Introduction
Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is one of the leading public corporations in the United States that operate to improve the nation’s economy in various capacities (USDA 2016). It was created in 1933 with an aim of stabilising, supporting and protecting the income and prices derived from the farming activities. Besides, it was also charged with the maintenance a balanced and sufficient supplies of the agricultural products, thus facilitating an organised distribution of commodities. According to Vercammen (2012), the formation of CCC was based on the Delaware charter with the capitalization of $3 million. It was initially managed, guided and operated in close with the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, which played integral roles in financing its activities. However, it was transferred to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1939 and re-established in July 1, 1948, as a public corporation that performs its activities under the USDA. In this case, therefore, CCC has the authority to assists farmers in various important aspects such as the loans, purchases, payments and making available the materials and inputs for farmers that are needed for the production and marketing of agricultural products (USDA, 2016). Today, CCC is regarded as one of the leading federal corporations that continue to thrive and elevate the U.S economy due to various factors such as technological changes and globalisation, industrial models utilised, desire to achieve its mission, and the roles of stakeholders, as discussed in his paper.
Impacts of technological changes and globalisation on CCC’s activities
The technological advancement and globalisation form have constituted the integral component of the CCC’s success. As noted, CCC is involved in assisting farmers through various important aspects such as the loans, purchases, payments and making the materials and inputs available for farmers that are needed for the production and marketing of agricultural products (Agriculture Department, 2015). Besides, the organisation is authorised to sell the agricultural commodities to different agencies within the government and the foreign nations. In this way, CCC offer assistance in the development of new domestic and international markets and facilities for farm products. Recent CCC’s activities have been influenced by technological changes and need to thrust it towards the accomplishment of its missions. For instance, the company has invested $100 million in the Biofuels Infrastructure Partnerships (BIP) with an aim of supporting the expansion of the infrastructure for Biofuels created from the farm commodities (USDA, 2015).
Ideally, the BIP is offered based on competitive grants and consequently matched by federal and private contributions. These programs help create additional markets for the products (Agriculture Department, 2015). While it is noticeable that CCC does not use this program as a technological change to improve its internal operations or for the competitive advantage the consumers, the company is focused on investing in the BIP to improve its services for its customers. In this sense, the corporation funds the establishment of the renewable energy crop through the Biomass Crop Assistance program, which assists the agricultural producers with the production, transportation, and storage of the bio-based commodities (USDA, 2016). Finally, CCC uses technologically developed strategies to strengthen the environmental conservation. In this manner, the CCC uses the Conservation Reserve Programs (CRP) that support the producers to improve protection. As a technological strategy, CRP uses this program to control soil erosion, improve water quality and development of the wildlife ecology (Vercammen, 2012).
Industrial-based and resource based models
As Vercammen (2012) contends, the fundamental aim of the CCC is to promote the stabilisation, support and protection of the income and prices derived from the farming activities. Besides, the organisation is authorised to sell the agricultural commodities to different agencies within the government and the foreign nations. In this case, the corporation’s revenue is generated from the interests earned from the loans and the inputs given to the producers. To sum up, the sales of agricultural products to various public and private agencies and other foreign nations such as Canada and the United Kingdom provide lucrative revenue to the corporation (Vercammen, 2012).
While it is evident that the firm earns huge revenue from these activities, CCC has employed various organizational-based models to facilitate its operations and improve its profitability. These models are implemented in the form of the programs that facilitate organisation’s service delivery. For example, the Facility Guarantee Program (FGP) enables the CCC to extend the credit guarantees to the U.S banks for funding export sales of U.S. capital commodities (Vercammen, 2012 and USDA, 2015). This improves the agriculture-related facilities in the developing markets such as the storage, product handling and processing (Agriculture Department, 2015).
As a model, CCC links the sales of capital goods and services to the projects that have substantial benefits to United States’ agricultural exports. The Market Access Plan (MAP) also constitutes to another important organizational-based model employed by CCC to maximise its revenue, thus earning an above-average income. The funds are used for the development, expansion and maintenance of foreign markets for U.S. agricultural goods and products. Through the application of these models and initiatives, CCC met its financial dollar value target for the agricultural exports resulting from participation in the foreign foods and the agricultural trade shows. Ideally, the international trade shows act as the primary component for strategies of most organisations that receive the development financial assistance from the CCC. Evidently, the cost-share models as used by CCC facilitates the participation of the different enterprises towards the accomplishment of the CCC’s mission and vision.
Influence of vision statement and mission statement on the CCC’s success
The Commodity Credit Corporation is a public corporation dedicated to the stabilisation, support and protection of farm income and prices. Besides, the organisation aims at developing new local and international markets facilities for the farm commodities. This mission statement constitutes to the organisation’s three major roles that include supporting the U.S agricultural producers, providing the agricultural products, and disbursing its authority to the participating organisations (USDA, 2016). On a wider note, the organisation helps America agricultural producers through products, farm storage facilities, loans, purchases and the income support payments. Besides, the incentives availed by CCC also helps establish conservation activities.
Roles of stakeholders and their impacts on the CCC’s overall success
Different stakeholders play varied roles in the CCC. Fundamentally, the Board of Directors manages the CCC and constitutes a primary subject of the general supervision and direction of the Agriculture’s Secretary. In this case, the Board comprise of the seven members including the secretary. On a wider note, the President of the United States appoints the members to the office, thus making them the officials of the USDA. Therefore, the CCC officers are responsible for the maintenance of the liaison with over public and private agencies. Notably, the CCC has no employees and therefore conducts its programs through the employees and facilities of the Farm Service Agency (FSA), and Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). However, the CCC advisors are responsible for the provision of necessary advisory matters with the agricultural production, marketing and the needs of American producers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the paper demonstrates that CCC funds various programs that are directed under the USDA administration. Today, the organisation has continued to support the stabilisation, support and protection of the income and prices derived from the farming activities. In addition, it was also charged with the maintenance a balanced and sufficient supplies of the agricultural products, thus facilitating an organised distribution of commodities. The application of the organisational models in CCC has also facilitated the accomplishment of its mission.
References
Agriculture Department. (2015). Code of Federal Regulations Title 07: Agriculture, Commodity Credit Corporation. Agriculture Department.
United States Department of Agriculture farm service agency (October 2015): Commodity Credit Corporation Fact sheet Retrieved fromhttps://www.fsa.usda.gov/Assets/USDA-FSA-Public/usdafiles/FactSheets/2015/ccc_fact_sheet_oct2015.pdf
United States Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General (2016): Commodity Credit Corporation’s Financial Years 2015 and 2014. Retrieved from https://www.usda.gov/oig/webdocs/06401-0005-11.pdf
Vercammen, J (2012): Agricultural Marketing: Structural Models for Price Analysis. New York
