GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 513 



I do not see how in the world you can figure it. The Farm Bureau 

 gave an estimate. But just on the liquid side, the 30 percent, I think 

 it would cost beyond a billion or maybe 2 billion on just one item. 



We have to come to Congress to get this money and I do not think 

 Congress would give it to us. 



Mr. Hill. If you go ahead and give it $2,000,000,000, will you solve 

 the problem ? Money never solves a problem. 



Mr. "WiNGATE. I do not think you will have solved the problem. 

 T]\at is all I am going to say about the Brannan plan. 



I just sa}' that certainly we would not want to produce a control for 

 scarcity. If you are going to produce so the people can have an abun- 

 dant supply, you will have that low price. There is no telling how low 

 it will wo. 



Mr. CooLET. Mr. Wingate, one question : 



Of course, the Brannan recommendations are several in number. 

 There is one about the 1,800 units and one about the production pay- 

 ments. 



Have you given any consideration to his calculation of fair prices^ 

 the 10-year period that he uses in determining the fair farm price? 



Mr. Wingate. You mean that 10-year moving average? 



Mr. CooLEY. Yes. 



Mr. WiXGATE. I have not been able to give that much thought to it. 

 I do not think the Secretary under the Brannan plan used the 10-year 

 moving average. 



Mr. CooLET. Not the 10-year moving average we have known in the 

 past but he has a new idea of taking the 10 most recent years and relat- 

 ing the farm income to the nonfarm income group and arriving at 

 what he considers a fair price. 



He takes the figures from out of the sky. 



Mr. WixGATE. I was just going to say that is where they came from. 



Mr. CooLET. Anyway, he arrives at something that is near the old 

 parity formula. It seems to me that he has picked out the last 10 

 jenvs as a period when the farmers would be more prosperous than 

 any other period. 



I just wondered if you were willing to make any statement as to that, 

 whether you approve that or whether you think it is worth}^ of our 

 further consideration ? 



Mr. WiXGATE. To be perfectly frank with you, Congressman, I think 

 unless you are planning to be here a long time we had better give a lot 

 more time to studying the Brannan proposal. 



Mr. CooLEY, He has promised to give us the figures based on some 

 assumptions showing how the j)rogram might operate 10 years in the 

 future. 



I do not suppose any member of the committee has made up his mind 

 on that and will not until he can see the figures. 



Mr. WiXGATE. I think his price of $26,000,000,000 for the agricul- 

 tural income of the Xation is around the level below which we cannot 

 afford to go. 



Mr. PoAGE. Mr. Wingate, I do not want to trv to go into the merits 

 or demerits of the Brannan plan as a whole because I find much that 

 I do not agree with. 



If we are going to consider the Brannan plan would you think it 

 might make any difference as to where or how the payments are made 



