It was previously common in Australia for the government to form independent 'single desks' that would have a monopoly on buying or selling a particular agricultural commodity with the intention that this would provide better prices for farmers on average over time. (you could still buy potatoes at the supermarket, but you were not allowed to sell a ship of potatoes)
Of course if the single desk is paying you the farmer, better than market prices during a glut, when the market picks up, the single desk is going to have to pay down it's debt and (and Saddam Hussein) before it pays you. This is one of many scenarios under which a bear market socialist might feel a longing for the free market stirring in their soul, and the potato act is the big stick that kept farmers from cutting their own deals.
Of course if the single desk is paying you the farmer, better than market prices during a glut, when the market picks up, the single desk is going to have to pay down it's debt and (and Saddam Hussein) before it pays you. This is one of many scenarios under which a bear market socialist might feel a longing for the free market stirring in their soul, and the potato act is the big stick that kept farmers from cutting their own deals.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_desk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AWB_oil-for-wheat_scandal