The AAA oi ms 



jf PROGRAM for agriculture 



„ /' Tr' ^*' P"' '^^ farmer on an 



^ -^ / even footing with organized 

 ana protected industry, and organized 

 labor with their artificially high price and 

 wage structures. 



This fundamentally is the purjjose of 

 the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 

 which passed the House February 10 

 (263 to 135) and went through the 

 Senate February 14 by a vote of 56 to 31. 

 The act is now in cflFect. 



The purpose clause of the Act says: 



"// is hereby declared to be the pol- 

 icy of Congress to continue the Soil 

 Conservation and Domestic Allot- 

 ment Act, as amended, for the purpose 

 of conserving national resources, pre- 

 venting the wasteful use of soil fertil- 

 ity, and of preserving, maintaining, 

 and rebuilding the farm and ranch 

 land resources in the national public 

 interest: to accomplish these purposes 

 through the encouragement of soil- 

 building and soil-conserving crops and 

 practices: to assist in the marketing 

 of agricultural commodities for do- 

 mestic consumption and for export: 

 and to regulate interstate and foreign 

 commerce in cotton, wheat, corn, to- 

 ' bacco, and rice to the extent necessary 

 to provide an orderly, adequate, and 

 balanced flow of such commodities in 

 interstate and foreign commerce 

 through storage of reserve supplies, 

 loans, marketing quotas, assisting 

 farmers to obtain, insofar as prac- 

 ticable, parity prices for such com- 

 modities and parity of income, and 

 assisting consumers to obtain an ade- 

 quate and steady supply of such com- 

 modities at fair prices." 



Three Point Program 



Stripped of its confusing details the 

 long-awaited program provides: (1) a 

 modified soil conservation program; (2) 

 commodity loans which automatically go 

 into effect when prices fall; and (3) sur- 

 plus crop storage on the farm when sur- 

 pluses threaten to smash fair price levels. 



There will be no contract to sign in 

 this program. 



You either comply, which means you 

 operate your farm according to generally 

 accepted principles of soil conservation 

 and good farm practice and receive the 

 full benefits of the program, or you don't 

 comply and receive lesser benefits. Com- 



Eliance, and compliance alone, is the 

 asis for loans at the full sf)ecified rates 

 and for so-called parity payments. 

 As stated by President Earl C. Smith 



who was in Washington when the meas- 

 ure passed the House, "the bill gives 

 definite assurance to farmers of the corn 

 belt, that, determined by the extent of 

 their cooperation, the price of corn can 

 and will be stabilized at reasonable levels. 

 "To accomplish this, the bill definitely 

 sets forth that each county in the com- 

 mercial corn area is to receive an alloca- 

 tion of corn acreage in such proportion 

 as the average acreage planted to corn in 

 the previous ten years bears to the total 

 acreage planted to corn in the commercial 

 area. 



Each Farm Gets Base 



"Each farm is to receive an allocation 

 of com acreage in such proportion as the 

 tillable acres on the farm bear to the total 

 tillable acres in the county. This is to 

 be modified only by type of soil, topog- 

 raphy and crop rotation practice. 



"Cooperating farmers are assured of a 

 loan on corn which varies with the total 

 annual production. For example, if the 

 total bushelage of corn produced in 1938 

 does not exceed the normal requirement 

 for domestic use and export, which at 

 present is approximately 2,400,000,000 

 bu., and the price of corn on Nov. 15 

 is below 75 per cent of parity, a loan of 

 75 per cent of parity automatically would 

 be in effect. 



"On the other hand, if the total crop 

 exceed,-; normal by not more than 10 per 

 cent, a lo.ir; <..f 70 per cent of the parity 

 price would become effective. As the 

 supply rises, the amount of the loan is 

 correspondingly reduced. Should the an- 

 nual production of corn, including carry- 

 over, exceed 2,750,000,000 bu., the Sec- 

 retary of Agriculture would immediately 

 call for a referendum of corn growers in 

 the commercial area, and unless opposed 

 by one-third of the producers, marketing 

 quotas would become operative. 



"'The bill (AAA oi 1938) which the Pies- 

 ^ idant signed is not perfect. Legislation 

 never is ... . nevertheless, I would say it 

 is the most constructive iann legislation 

 which Congress has ever adopted. It has 

 in it more oi long time benefit to both 

 farmers and consumers than any previous 

 farm legislation. Amendments will be 

 needed especially with respect to cotton 

 and wheat, but on the whole, I am very 

 happy that Congress after nearly a year 

 should have given the formers of the Na- 

 tion this new charter to order their efforts 

 in the interest of themselves and the 

 general welfare." 



Secretary of Agriculture 

 Henry A. Wallace in Radio 

 Address Feb. 17. 



"The effect of this provision would be 

 to require each corn producer (whether a 

 cooperator or non-cooperator) to hold on 

 his farm his just percentage of the ex- 

 cess supply only. Loans would be in 

 effect to non-cooperators on the basis of 

 60 per cent of the amount available to 

 cooperators. 



"In addition to the definite schedule 

 of loans, a provision in the bill makes 

 definite allocation of the total appropria- 

 tion for administration of the program, 

 to the five basic commodities mentioned 

 in the bill, namely, corn, wheat, cotton, 

 tobacco and rice. The amount allotted 

 to com is approximately equivalent to 

 nine cents a bushel on the normal pro- 

 duction of the normal acreage of com 

 in the com belt. 



"If the new bill were in operation to- 

 day, and the annual production and carry- 

 over of corn were approximately normal, 

 a loan schedule of 63 cents a bushel 

 would be in effect. In addition, a co- 

 operating farmer would get a payment of 

 approximately nine cents a bushel on the 

 normal production of his allotted acreage. 



Corn Price Minimum 72c 



"It is believed that this law will permit 

 a program whereby cooperating farmers 

 under the conditions mentioned, would 

 be assured of a minimum of 72 cents a 

 bushel for corn. Soil building practices 

 are to be rewarded as heretofore. 



"The provision covering wheat will 

 operate similarly to that governing corn 

 except that the loan schedule is more 

 general in character, varying from 52 to 

 75 per cent of parity as determined by 

 the Secretary of Agriculure when ap- 

 proved by the President. 



"While several provisions of the Act 

 are unsatisfactory and will undoubtedly 

 require amendment, taken as a whole I 

 believe the measure will insure a sub- 

 stantial improvement over the present 

 soil conservation program, will constitute 

 the basis for a sound, permanent nation- 

 al program, and is worthy of the active 

 support and cooperation of farmers." 



The bill favors the small farmer as 

 against the big farmer. Soil conservation 

 payments are to be increased on small 

 farms from 10 to 40 per cent, and be- 

 ginning with the calendar year 1939 no 

 soil conservation payment for any year to 

 any person shall exceed $10,000. 



The allotment of available funds 

 among the five basic commodities is left 

 to the Secretary of Agriculture with in- 

 structions to take into consideration the 



- (Continued on page 6) 



L A. A. RECORD 



