A marketing contract must meet all of the conditions outlined in paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this section.

A marketing contract, at a minimum, must meet all of the following conditions:

Be a legal contract in the State where executed;

Specify the commodity under contract;

Specify crop year;

Be signed by both the participant, or legal representative, and the purchaser of the specified commodity;

Include a commitment to deliver the contracted quantity;

Include a commitment to purchase the contracted quantity that meets specified minimum quality standards and other criteria as specified;

Define a determinable quantity by containing either a:

Specified production quantity or

A specified acreage for which production quantity can be calculated;

Define a determinable price by containing either a:

Specified price or

Method to determine such a price;

Contain a relationship between the price and the quality using either:

Specified quality standards or

A method to determine such quality standards from published third party data; and

Have been executed within 10 days after:

End of insurance period for insured crops or

Normal harvest date for NAP covered crops as determined by FSA.

The purchaser of the commodity specified in the marketing contract must meet at least one of the following:

Be a licensed commodity warehouseman;

Be a business enterprise regularly engaged in the processing of a commodity, that possesses all licenses and permits for marketing the commodity required by the State in which it operates, and that possesses or has contracted for facilities with enough equipment to accept and process the commodity within a reasonable amount of time after harvest; or

Is able to physically receive the harvested production.

In order for the commodity specified in the marketing contract to be considered sold pursuant to the marketing contract, the commodity must have been produced by the participant in the crop year specified in the contract, and at least one of the following conditions must be met:

Commodity was sold under the terms of the contract or

Participant attempted to deliver the commodity to the purchaser, but the commodity was rejected due to quality factors as specified in the contract.

The amount of payment for affected production, as determined in § 760.817(b), sold pursuant to one or more marketing contracts will take into consideration the marketing contract price as determined by FSA.

County committees have the authority to require a participant to provide necessary documentation, which may include, but is not limited to, previous marketing contracts fulfilled, to substantiate and validate quality standards in paragraph (b)(9) of this section and marketing contract price received for the commodity for which crop quality loss assistance is requested. In cases where the county committee has reason to believe the participant lacks the capacity or history to fulfill the quality provisions of the marketing contract the county committee will require such documentation.