GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 385 



like to mention that has not, I believe, been done as yet, and that I 

 think constitutes one of the reasons for a difficult problem in terms 

 of increasing production to needed levels of livestock and livestock 

 products. 



Historically, it is my recollection that the announcement of price 

 supports has been on a 12-raonth basis, substantially. It has not always 

 been a calendar-year basis or a fiscal-year basis ; but, from some point 

 to 12 months hence, that certain prices would be supported at that 

 level. 



Let me tell you, gentlemen of the committee, that when you expect a 

 man to increase the production of hogs — and that means breeding his 

 sows to farrow in the spring and breeding them back to farrow in the 

 fall — that a support price which will be available, so far as he knows, 

 only for the marketing period for his spring pigs and where he has no 

 knowledge of what the price might be on his fall crop of pigs to be 

 marketed the following spring — leaves him in a rather uncertain posi- 

 tion as to how much of a fall pig crop he should produce, and par- 

 ticularly is it important in relation to any need that we may have now 

 or in the future for the expansion of beef cattle or of dairy products. 

 That applies particularly in beef, because, after all, from the time a 

 farmer or a rancher determines what his foundation herd shall be, 

 how many cows to breed, to calve in the fall, or at whatever period of 

 the year he determines, he knows that it is not going to be just 12 

 months, but it will be 2 or 3 or 4 years from the time he makes that 

 determination before his crop, so to speak, is ready for market. An 

 announcement of a firm support price for a period of 12 months is of 

 absolutely no concern or no value or no help to a farmer in that kind 

 of business. 



It seems to me that we might most readily handle that problem in 

 the interests of the country and give a farmer the protection so he 

 could expand production in the fields of need by merely determining 

 the support prices on the basis of the need and announcing them for 

 a ])roduction cycle in relation to whatever the commodity might be. 



If it is for veal calves, then announce that the calves that are born 

 this spring will be supported at the time they are ready for market 

 next year on a basis of so much money. If it is for 1-year-old or 2-year- 

 old or 3-year-old steei's, announce the support price for that period. 

 It seems to me that administratively that could be worked out rather 

 readily and might be of a very great help if support prices were an- 

 nounced for a production cycle in relation to the commodity, whatever 

 it was, and that is particularly true, of course, in relation to live- 

 stock. 



Section 107 is merely in relation to the administrative machinery 

 so that the Secretary or those responsible for the maintenance of sup- 

 port prices will have some certification from someone, first, that a 

 farmer is a farmer or that his major income comes from farming and 

 he is entitled to the family farm production units, and secondly, as 

 to what volume of commodities he marketed because we are not sup- 

 porting or proposing to support anything beyond wliat a man raises 

 and with a maximum of these ceilings on family farm-production 

 units. 



The latter part of section 107, where we direct that the Commodity 

 Credit Corporation shall be responsible for providing 100 percent of 

 parity or such \v .-< r i)ercentage as is specified in section 101 — that is 



