Over the past decade the operation of the commodity loan programs and since 1977 the farmer-owned reserve (FOR) programs, has resulted in the accumulation of large quantities of grain stocks both in the hands of the government and in the hands of farmers, sealed under the reserve program. Government and farmer-owned reserve (FOR) stocks for wheat exceeded a billion bushels several times in recent years and for corn reached two and a half billion bushels in 1982/83. The build-up of these stocks in 1982/83 led to the implementation of the massive acreage reduction under the Payment-in-Kind (PIK) program. Government-owned (CCC) and FOR stocks were used in this program as payment to farmers for idling cropland.