GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



le Agricultural Adjustrnent Act of 1938 provides that quotas shall 

 /o apply to corn produced for silage in the commercial area. As in 

 le case of corn produced and fed on farms, the omission of com for 

 /Milage would cause inequities among producers. Production of com 

 for silage is merely another manner of feeding corn. 



Proper administration of corn marketing quotas requires that all 

 corn fed, regardless of the form in which it is fed, be subject to market- 

 ing quotas. If quotas were not applicable to silage corn, it would 

 permit and encourage an enormous increase in silage corn which would 

 replace the market for corn in other form. 



5. Should competing grains, such as grain sorghums, oats, rye, 

 barley, and so forth, be brought under quotas at the same time? 



Unquestionably, these feed grains compete with corn and there will 

 be a tendency for production of these grains to increase up to a certain 

 point in the event marketing quotas are placed on corn. A course of 

 action in dealing with such increases so that they do not get out of 

 hand and interfere with corn programs would be: 



Separate marlvcting quotas could be established for feed grains 

 other than corn. If quotas are to be established for feed grains, two 

 separate quotas may be established — one for feed grains other than 

 corn and one for corn. The establishment of one quota for all feed 

 grains might lead to a shift from feed grains other than corn, with the 

 result that corn supplies would be increased rather than decreased 

 imder the marketing quota program. 



Because of the administrative difficulties that would be involved 

 in imposing marketing fjiiotas on feed grains other than corn, considera- 

 tion may be given to bringing these feed grains under acreage allot- 

 ments rather than marketing quotas when marketing quotas are in 

 effect for corn. 



It is important that production of other feed grains be controlled 

 in some manner if corn is controlled because of the resulting increased 

 competition between these feed grains. Unless production of these 

 other feed grains is controlled, stocks of corn may be expected to 

 accumulate in the hands of the Government. The net effect would 

 be a cumulative downward adjustment of corn production at the same 

 time that supplies of other feed grains are increasing. 



Consideration must also be given to the fact that crops competing 

 with corn are not limited to other feed grains. An important historical 

 illustration was the rapid increase in soybean production in the Corn 

 Belt associated with the corn acreage adjustment program. From 

 1933 to 1942 the acreage planted to corn decreased 21,000,000 acres, 

 while soybean acreage showed an increase of 11,000,000 acres. As a 

 result, soybean oil in vegetable shortening and margarine became an 

 increasingly effective competitor of lard, butter, and cottonseed 

 products, while the soybean meal was a very efficient protein supple- 

 ment in livestock feeding. 



6. Should quotas apply to corn production tliroughout the Nation 

 or be confined to the commercial area, as now provided by law? 



It is not felt that quotas should apply to corn production outside 

 of the commercial area, since it is not likely that production in these 

 areas will be expanded sufficiently to warrant the imposition of mar- 

 keting quotas. In most of the areas outside of the present constituted 

 commercial corn production area, corn production is generally limited 

 to the maintenance of a livestock program for local consumption and, 

 hence, would not be a source of oversupply. 



