(a) Whenever any body of agricultural producers, cooperative corporation composed of agricultural producers or cooperative marketing association incorporated under the laws of this Commonwealth, or under the laws of any other state of the United States and licensed to do business in this Commonwealth, which is engaged in marketing agricultural products, other than leguminous food products, for its members shall prepare and deliver to the clerk of any court in this Commonwealth in the office of whom deeds are admitted to record, a book to be called "the contract book of..........." (namely the body, corporation or association), such book shall thereupon become a public record book of such clerk's office, and it shall be the duty of such clerk to record therein the matters and things authorized by the succeeding section.

(b) At any time after any such book shall have been so delivered to the clerk as provided herein, the body, corporation or association which has delivered the same may request the clerk to whom such book has been delivered to record therein any marketing contracts or agreements which have been entered into by such body, corporation or association and any members thereof; provided, however, that if any such contracts or agreements be in the same words and figures as any other contracts or agreements with any other members of the body, corporation or association, and be separately signed by such members of the body, corporation or association, such body, corporation or association may have one of such contracts or agreements recorded in extenso in such book, and may furnish the clerk with a list of the names of persons appearing on such contracts as signers thereof, with the dates of the signatures respectively, whereupon the clerk shall record such names as signers of such contracts or agreements, with the dates of their signatures, respectively, so furnished. Such recordation of the list of signers so furnished shall be equivalent to the recordation in extenso of the contract or agreement of each signer thereon. Such copy of such contract or agreement and such list of names of persons appearing on such contracts as signers thereof shall be sworn to by some officer of the body, corporation or association cognizant of the facts before some officer authorized to take acknowledgments to deeds. But in no case shall any such contract or agreement be deemed to be recorded as to any signer thereof until his name shall be indexed in such book by the clerk, which indexing the clerk is hereby required to do.

(c) When the provisions of the two preceding subsections shall have been complied with, and any such recordation as is therein mentioned is made in the county in which is situated the land on which the produce covered by the particular marketing contract or agreement concerned is grown or produced, such recordation shall operate as constructive notice of the existence of such contract or agreement, and of the terms thereof, and all persons contracting or dealing with any such member in relation to any such produce covered by such contract or agreement shall be bound thereby; and all rights or liens acquired by any such person in such produce subsequent to the date of such recordation shall be subject in all respects to the rights of the body, corporation or association under such contract or agreement; provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall affect the statutory lien of a landlord for advances made to a tenant, or for rent; and provided, also, that nothing herein contained shall affect a bona fide purchaser of any agricultural product, upon the floor of any public warehouse, when such purchaser is without actual notice of the rights of the body, corporation or association under such contract or agreement nor a warehouseman selling such products at public auction on his warehouse floor, without actual notice of such contract or agreement.

(d) For making the recordations authorized by this section, the clerk shall be entitled to the following fees, to be paid by the body, corporation or association for which the service is performed: for recording a contract or agreement in extenso, the same fees as for recording a deed; for recording a sworn list of names when furnished as above provided, two cents for each person. No tax shall be charged on the recordations authorized hereby.

Code 1950, §§ 13-280 to 13-283; 1956, c. 428.