The Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust (BEHT) is a strategic grain reserve held by the United States for the benefit of other countries.
It can contain commodities and cash held in trust to supplement food aid made available under programs created by Public Law 480, the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954.
Subsequently, the authorization for this reserve was expanded from wheat alone to also include corn, rice, and sorghum by the 1996 farm bill (P.L.
Since then, the trust is solely a cash reserve, invested in low-risk, short-term securities or instruments.
[2] Since it no longer holds commodities, it can respond to local food crises outside the US, but not to a global one that affects the USA itself.