198 GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



In 1948 the goal was 2,352,000 and the acreage planted was 

 2,162,000. 



In every case, the harvested acreage was somewhat below the planted 

 acreage. The over-all goal was not met. The total of all the plant- 

 ings was less than the goals. 



It is my understanding that you did not support the price to any 

 grower unless he comphed with his goal. It seems to me that you had 

 a pretty effective program there as far as acreage was concerned, but 

 what happened was that they complied with the acreage goals and put 

 on more fertilizer and more water and increased their production. 



Secretary Brannan. You are exactly right, Mr. Hope, to the extent 

 that you say the increased production was the result of increased 

 yields per acre. 



I do not agree, sir, that there was an effective control program for 

 the production of potatoes, nor do I say there is an effective control 

 program for the production of potatoes today. If there is, then I 

 ought to confess to the committee that we have been quite derehct 

 in our application of the authorities available to us. 



I want to stop the losses in potatoes which are now going on and 

 which we have suft'ered, and if you can tell me how I could have done 

 it under the existing law or how Mr. Anderson could have done it 

 under the existing law, that would be a great public service, I assure 

 you. 



Mr. Hope. If the Department had put its goals lower, that would 

 have been one way to have done it. 



Secretary Brannan. No, because a good part of the potatoes were 

 marketed by noncompliers, anyhow. A good share of the potatoes 

 were marketed by noncompliers who did not pay any attention to 

 the goals. 



Mr. Hope. Nevertheless, the over-all goals were complied with and 

 the acreage planted was considerably less than the goals which the 

 Department set up. Maybe if you would set your goals lower you 

 would not have had that compliance. 



Secretary Brannan. If we had set our goal at one bushel, Mr. Hope, 

 it would not have made any difference, in particular. 



Mr. Hope. You would not have had to support the price of those 

 growers who did not comply with their goals. If you had set a lower 

 goal and they had exceeded the goals, then you would not have been 

 compelled to support the price. 



Secretary Brannan. As long as we undertook any kind of a pro- 

 gram to support a reasonable percentage of the production, we pro- 

 vided an umbrella under which all the noncompliers came into the 

 market and commanded the market and the compilers sold their po- 

 tatoes to the Government. How you could stop the noncompliers 

 from selling their potatoes into the market and cut off the compilers' 

 excess to the market was the one thing we did not know and did not 

 have authority for and do not have today, and that is the reason we 

 are in the trouble we are in today. The goals are in one sense of the 

 word an idle gesture. 



Mr. Hope. But you did not buy any potatoes, did you, from anyone 

 who was out of compliance as far as his acreage goal was concerned? 



Secretary Brannan. No; I do not think we did, but his neighbor 

 took his place in the market place so that we had to buy all of his 

 production. His noncomplying neighbor commanded the market 

 price and the compiler sold his potatoes to the Government. 



