GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 243 



Mr. PoAGE. It seems to me you are going to have to, and it seems to 

 me it should be, as I see it, the best way to put the farmer on notice 

 to that end, and make the farmer imderstand the situation and see to 

 it that he never gets the fall price that he might like to have. Let us 

 say the same as we do in cotton, when he may have rejected the mar- 

 keting quotas. In other words, if a farmer does any positive action 

 on his part to keep from complying with the limitations that are 

 needed, then certainly we should cut do^vn on what he is going to get. 



Secretary Branman. That is right. 



Mr. PoAGE. We say under the law now, "You can get support 

 prices unless the marketing quotas have been voted do^vn." We do 

 not say they have to be voted, because you do not call for a vote if 

 there is a short crop. 



Secretary Brannan. That is right. 



Mr. PoAGE. But if there is a large crop and you have to submit it 

 to a vote we say, "Unless the marketing quotas have been rejected 

 you will get the support price." 



Secretary Brannan. Yes. 



Mr. PoAGE. Should we not put in some provision for all other sup- 

 port crops, if we are going to support them? 



Secretary Brannan. I think it is in the existing law. 



Mr. PoAGE. It is in the existing law that you have the power as 

 Secretary of ./Agriculture to proclaim — what is it? Not marketing 

 quotas. 



Secretary Brannan. Goals. 



Mr. PoAGE. Yes. You have the power to proclaim goals, and if 

 the farmers do not comply with the goals you can cut them off from 

 support. 



Secretary Brannan. You can certainly quite easily cut him off 

 from the production payment. 



Mr. PoAGE. I know you can, but as I understand it you have pro- 

 posed we would go ahead and pay those payments because obviously 

 you do not have in mind cutting anybody oft" when you talk about 

 letting milk sell for 15 cents, and paying the farmers a nickel or 6 cents 

 or 7 cents or any other figure to make up the difference. Obviously, 

 you deliberately contemplate a surplus there. That is, a surplus at 

 the present price. 



Secretary Brannan. That is right. 



Mr. PoAGE. I realize that the consumption will vary according to 

 the price. 



Secretary Brannan. Yes. 



Mr. PoAGE. But you deliberately contemplate that you will have 

 more than will be consumed at the existing level, or the level that 3^ou 

 want to maintain the farm income, so you propose to let him produce 

 more than he could sell at a desirable price and then pay him the 

 difference. 



Secretary Brannan. Take the case of meat, for example. That is 

 well above the support level. 



Mr. PoAGE. Yes. 



Secretary Brannan. What we are trying to do is to get enough 

 emphasis on the production of meat so that at least the price of meat 

 can coro.e down to the support level and be reflected on to consumers 

 at the support level price, but if in trying to get adequate production 

 to even bring the price down to the support level we go beyond that, 



