454 GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



I had the economics department of our organization make a survey 

 of a typical county in Indiana to scee what the farmer had put into pro- 

 duction plants in that county. They selected Boone County, Ind. 

 We have over $44,000,000 invested in a production plant. Less than 

 $43,000 is invested in a marketing plant. 



In other words, for every thousand dollars invested in production 

 they have less than $1 invested in a marketing plant, or less than one- 

 tenth of 1 percent. There is a broad field for opportunity in research 

 and marketing and production in recent years. We have made very 

 progressive advances there. Research and utilization is another. 



I would like to emphasize this because we are living in a day, gentle- 

 men, when adjusting production to fit a demand seems to be the popular 

 thing to do. I want to always have that right, and I will fight to main- 

 tain that right to adjust production to fit a demand. But we had better 

 sj^end a lot more time in thinking aljout expanding a demand to utilize 

 the production that the American farmer can produce. 



I had a number of other things I wanted to talk about, but I want 

 to divide my time with these people, and that concludes my statement, 

 gentlemen. 



Mr. Pace. Thank you veiy much, Mr. Schenck. 



Mr. Kline, will you present your next witness ? 



Mr. Kline. Mr. Walter Randolph, president of the Alabama Farm 

 Bureau Federation. 



Mr. Pace. We are always delighted to have you before our com- 

 mittee, Mr. Randoli)h. We will be glad to hear from you at this time. 



STATEMENT OF WALTER RANDOLPH, PRESIDENT. ALABAMA FARM 

 BUREAU FEDERATION 



Mr. Randolph. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, my 

 name is Walter Randolph. I am a member of the executive committee 

 of the American Farm Bureau Federation. 



All I want to do is try to answer the question that was raised with 

 reference to the price of cotton and the loan level since 1941. I think 

 it would be well to have that in the record. I hope that I will be accu- 

 rate. I did not bring along any figures, because I did Jiot kuow this 

 was going to come up. 



I believe in every one of those years except one the support level was 

 the major factor in the price of cotton, and even in a part of that one 

 year. I believe it was 1947 when the price level was considerably above 

 the support level. You asked what we thought the price would have 

 been in 1948 without the supports. Xo one knows that except that you 

 can state what you think. I would guess it would have been about 20 

 cents a pound. That is what I have said before. That might be about 

 right, though it is only a guess. I think the support was around 30 

 cents a pound. 



I hope for the sake of clarity to state liow the Agricultural Act of 

 1948 might work with respect to cotton. In order to do so, of course, 

 I would have to make some assumptions. We will assume that this 

 fall the Secretary of Agriculture finds that the supply is 108 percent 

 or more of normal. That is in the law now. Of course, we are rec- 

 ommending that it be changed to enable producers to vote on market- 

 ing quotas for cotton at 100 percent normal supply. But, if it is not 



