Almonds Grown in California; Amendment to the Marketing Order
Key claim: USDA is proposing to let the California almond marketing board borrow money from commercial lenders, which the current marketing order does not allow.
Abstract
(Proposed Rule · Agriculture Department, Agricultural Marketing Service) This rulemaking proposes an amendment to Marketing Order No. 981, which regulates the handling of almonds grown in California. The proposed amendment would establish the authority to borrow funds from a commercial lending institution.
Why this matters
Marketing orders govern how industry-run commodity boards operate under USDA oversight, and borrowing authority affects how the Almond Board can manage cash flow between assessment collections and program expenditures. The change is administrative and narrowly scoped, with no direct effect on almond prices, growers’ assessments, or consumers, but it illustrates how routine marketing-order amendments quietly adjust the financial toolkit of commodity programs.