GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 313 



market place would sell it at a grade. That would govern the Govern- 

 ment's operation with respect to that sale. He would establish grades 

 by his ability to bargain with the seller. 



Mr. Granger. You have that very problem now with hogs, do 

 you not? There are different grades of hogs. B}^ using some formula 

 you have arrived at a parity price of hogs? 



Secretary Brannan. It is $109.50. 



Mr. Granger. You have taken into consideration all classes of 

 hogs in arriving at that, have you not? 



Secretary Brannan. Yes, I think we have, Mr. Granger. 



Mr. Granger. There is a considerable area for differences of 

 opinion under the particular plu-aseology of the law and if you would 

 like to go into that more fully I would have to ask some of my staff. 



Mr. Granger. The problem the gentleman raises about cattle is 

 one that confronts you now in hogs? 



Secretary Brannan. That is right, except there are not so many 

 grades of hogs as there are of cattle. 



Mr. O'SuLLivAN. The grading is done after slaughter, with hogs; 

 is it not? 



Secretary Brannan. No, the grading is chiefly by weight now, sir. 



Mr. O'SuLLivAN. You have not worked out any formula for that 

 part of the program, as I understand it. 



Secretary Brannan. No, we have not, for the reason that we have 

 not worked it out for the existing program. 



Mr. O'SuLLivAN. These cattle feeders have previously been 

 mentioned and attention has been called to the fact that they have 

 been losing money. That was always a very hazardous line of endeav- 

 or, feeding cattle, was it not, because, although a lot of men know 

 how to feed cattle they do not know how to prevent suffering losses? 

 Is this not the real remedy for any cattle feeder: He does not need to 

 depend on the market or the price of corn or anything. He can go 

 to the board of trade when he is going to buy feeder cattle, and after 

 figuring out how much feed he needs, he can protect himself by the 

 proper market transactions. Then it does not matter what he pays 

 afterward for livestock or for feed. 



He does not and cannot lose anything, if he has sense enough to be 

 able to turn do^^^l a string of cattle and walk away from them when 

 the price is too high — he does not necessarily need to lose money 

 unless there is a serious break in the market when he is ready to sell. 



Secretary Brannan. I think that is right. That points up one of 

 the human frailties, does it not? 



Mr. O'Sullivan. Yes. No man is a good cattle buyer who cannot 

 turn his back on the cattle and walk away and say the price is too high. 



Mr. Granger. Mr. Secretary, I have one qaestion. How did you 

 get tobacco into this program? It i§ not a food. 



The Chairman. It is a basic commodity. 



Secretary Brannan. It is an agricultural commodity, just as wool 

 and cotton are not foods, except cottonseed oil. It is a basic agri- 

 cultural commodity. 



^Ir. Granger. It is a robber of the soil, is it not? Is there a crop 

 that is more depleting to the soil than tobacco? 



Secretary Brannan. It is one of the rougher ones. 



Mr. Granger. ^Miy do you put it in a preferred class? 



Secretary Brannan. Let me read the list. Here is the list of items 

 by cash farm incomes from specific commodities, total and percentage 



