GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 139 



The result of all this study is not likely to startle anyone; I have no 

 revolutionary ideas to present to you. But I do have some definite 

 recommendations for your consideration. 



These recommendations are not advanced as the final and con- 

 clusive answers to our farm problems. I would much rather have a 

 program that will work well in the irmnediate future than one which 

 will partly do the job for 20 years. And, frankly. I doubt our ability 

 to provide so well for the future that future Congresses and adminis- 

 trations will have no changes to offer. We need to be clear about 

 policy objectives, which apply to the long-time future as well as the 

 present. At the ver}- least, our program must cope with problems 

 now in sight. We proceed from where we are — not from a theoretical 

 time and place. And the present economic situation is somewhat less 

 favorable to farmers than at any time in recent years. 



In view of the problems we face, I am thankful that we have had a 

 great deal of excellent legislation and much good experience on which 

 to base an effective farm program. We can learn much of great value 

 from the farm legislation and experience of the last two decades. 



The programs we have had are the firm foundation on which we can 

 build. We have learned in depression, in a defense period, and in the 

 initial phase of a new postwar period. Throughout this experience, 

 we have seen that the measures deaUng with the selling prices of farm 

 products and the incomes of producers are the keys to a successful 

 program . 



What is required of a program: From our experience, we can set up 

 realistic criteria by which to judge and by which to guide our program. 

 Prominent among the criteria and requu-ements will be the following: 



First. The program must effectively serve the farmer and his family. 

 As an isolated individual, the farmer has no control over the prices he 

 will receive, and no adequate way of adjusting the total market vol- 

 ume of his commodities to the changing demand. After he has 

 planted a crop, he is at the mercy of weather, price, and many other 

 forces with which he is powerless to cope. On many occasions in the 

 past, he has labored all season and produced a good crop only to find 

 that, because of circumstances beyond his control, his labor will go 

 uncompensated and sometimes his cash investment in seed, fertilizer, 

 and other operating costs will be only partially recovered. A program 

 to help him meet those basic difficulties is the very minimum for which 

 we should strive. 



Second. In serving the farmer the program must not discriminate 

 unfairly against any group. It should be fair to consumers and busi- 

 ness people. The customers of agriculture want plentiful and steady 

 supplies, and they have a right to expect that a program supported by 

 the public will help meet this need. Farmers want to furnish plentiful 

 supplies regularly. 



Third. The program must be efficiently operated and the cost must 

 be commensurate with the benefits to the Xation. 



Fourth. It must serve general policy objectives, mcluding national 

 security, the maintenance of high-level employment, and cooperation 

 with other nations in the interests of peace and prosperity. It can 

 do this b}^ conserving and strengthening our basic productive resources, 

 providing reserves against national emergencies, and encouraging 

 free-flowing world trade by reasonably assuring sufficient products for 

 export. 



