The Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust is a reserve of commodities and cash held in trust to supplement food aid made available under P.L. 480 programs. The Trust can hold up to 4 million metric tons of wheat, corn, sorghum, and rice; the authorizing statute also authorizes the Trust to hold cash in lieu of commodities.

The Trust was first established as the Food Security Wheat Reserve

Food Security Wheat Reserve

The Food Security Wheat Reserve is a reserve of up to 4 million metric tons of wheat held by the United States for use in meeting emergency food needs in developing countries, established by Title III of the Agricultural Act of 1980...

 in 1980 in P.L.96-494, Title III. Subsequently the authorization for this reserve was expanded to include corn, rice, and sorghum in addition to wheat by the 1996 farm bill (P.L. 104-127, Sec. 225). Renamed the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust in 1998 legislation (P.L. 105-385, Sec. 211) which also authorized it to hold cash in addition to commodities, it was extended through 2007 by the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171, Sec. 3202). Commodities (or cash) can be released from the Trust to meet unanticipated needs for emergency food assistance or when domestic supplies are insufficient to meet P.L. 480 (7 U.S.C. 1736f-1) programming requirements.

The trust was established by the Africa: Seeds of Hope Act of 1998. It is named for U.S. Congressman Bill Emerson

Bill Emerson

Norvell William "Bill" Emerson was an American politician from Missouri. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1981 until his death in 1996. He was succeeded in the House by his widow, Jo Ann Emerson...

, who served in the House of Representatives from 1981 until his death in 1996.