Title 7, AgricultureRelease 119-110

§2113 Certification of Cotton Producer Organizations

Title 7 › CHAPTER 53 — COTTON RESEARCH AND PROMOTION › § 2113

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must certify whether a cotton producer organization can represent that State’s cotton growers to request an order under section 2103 and to help nominate Cotton Board members under section 2106(b). The group must file a factual report with the information the Secretary asks for. The report should show where the group is active; who its members are and how many (with maps and county-level cotton volumes and producer counts); how members take part in setting policy; whether the group is stable and permanent; where it gets money; what it does; and whether it can and will support the program’s goals. The main thing the Secretary looks at is whether the group’s cotton farmer members include enough producers who grow a meaningful share of the State’s cotton to justify joining nominations. The Secretary must certify eligible groups, and that decision is final.

Full Legal Text

Title 7, §2113

Agriculture, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The eligibility of each cotton producer organization to represent cotton producers of a cotton producing State to request the issuance of an order under section 2103 of this title, and to participate in the making of nominations under section 2106(b) of this title shall be certified by the Secretary and shall be based in addition to other available information upon a factual report submitted by the organization which shall contain information deemed relevant and specified by the Secretary for the making of such determination, including the following:

(a)Geographic territory within the State covered by the organization’s active membership;

(b)Nature and size of the organization’s active membership in the State, proportion of total of such active membership accounted for by farmers, a map showing the cotton-producing counties in such State in which the organization has members, the volume of cotton produced in each such county, the number of cotton producers in each such county, and the size of the organization’s active cotton producer membership in each such county;

(c)The extent to which the cotton producer membership of such organization is represented in setting the organization’s policies;

(d)Evidence of stability and permanency of the organization;

(e)Sources from which the organization’s operating funds are derived;

(f)Functions of the organization; and

(g)The organization’s ability and willingness to further the aims and objectives of this chapter:

Provided, however, That the primary consideration in determining the eligibility of an organization shall be whether its cotton farmer membership consists of a sufficiently large number of the cotton producers who produce a relatively significant volume of cotton to reasonably warrant its participation in the nomination of members for the Cotton Board. The Secretary shall certify any cotton producer organization which he finds to be eligible under this section, and his determination as to eligibility shall be final.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

7 U.S.C. § 2113

Title 7, Agriculture

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110