GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 265 



Mr. Pace. I do not understand that, Mr. Secretary. The present 

 definition of parity for the commodity is that price which will give to 

 the commodity a purchasing price comparable with the purchasing 

 price it had during the base period from 1910 to 1914, and conse- 

 quently under the present parity definition and formula the market 

 price of a commodity has nothing to do with the determination of the 

 parity price. 



Secretary Brannax. If you realistically go back to 1910 to 1914 

 there can be no support price for soybeans because we did not raise 

 them then. 



Mr. Pace. Yes, sir; because we put into the law the rec^uirement 

 on your part to give it a parity price comparable to the other com- 

 modities. When we did that we made you take soj^beans and bring 

 them up with the other commodities. 



Secretary Brannan. They are going through a lot more com- 

 plicated computations than the ones we are recommending here. 



Mr. Pace. I never heard them complain about the price you gave 

 them. 



Secretary Branxan. Certainly we would expect to from here on. 



Mr. Pace. Let me repeat, under the present parity law the pro- 

 ducer is free to produce a commodity abundantly without reducing its 

 parity price, but under this formula, and the Aiken bill formula you 

 put him on notice that if he produces abundantly the commodity will 

 not bring much in the market place and the future parity price is 

 going to be determined by what it brings in the market place. Is not 

 that an inducement not to produce? 



The Chairmax. You do not want to produce abundantly and 

 create a surplus? 



Secretary Braxnax. No, but let us be realistic about it. What 

 farmer is going to sit down on the eve of planting any kind of a crop 

 and say if I produce abundantly this year it may have an effect on the 

 market, and if everybody else like me produces abundantly this year 

 it may affect my price support if I am ever going to get one 10 years 

 from now? I just do not think we are being realistic about it. 



Mr. Pace. Well, what then will be your appeal to him to produce 

 abundantly? 



Secretary Braxxax. Price is the thing which induces him to pro- 

 duce abundantly, and the price he gets in the market place would be 

 the only inducement I would hope we would have to rely on. 



Mr. Pace. I do not want to be unfair, but I think if you pick out 

 these 10 priority commodities and support them at 100 percent of 

 parity that you are going to change the entire agriculture of this 

 Nation, and every farmer is going to start the production of these 10 

 priority commodities. I think it would be a smart thing if he did. 



Secretary Braxxax. He would be no more induced to jump into 

 the production of the 10 priority commodities than today he is induced 

 to jump into the production of the so-called basic commodities. Not 

 a single incentive is there for one over the other except we have put 

 livestock in here and dairy products because we did want to induce 

 the farmers to mcrease their production of them because the price 

 has been too high in the market place to consumers. 



Mr. Pace. You are telling me that farmers seeing 10 commodities 

 that are supported at 100 percent of parity and probablv other 

 commodities which are not supported at all would not make pUins to 



