518 GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



Mr. PoAGE. Did you see a <^ieat group of cotton farmers come to 

 Atlantic City and demand that they be given the riglit to control their 

 cotton program like the Aiken bill sets out? Did vou meet any of 

 them? 



Mr. SiiAw. I do not think I did. 



Mr. PoAGE. Did any of them overpower vou while you w^ere up 

 there? 



Mr, Shaw. I do not think so. 



Mr. PoAGE. It was suggested by one of the witnesses here that this 

 position was simply in response to the overwhelming demand of the 

 cotton farmers to carry out their own program. I just wanted to 

 know if you had met any of them. 



Mr. Shaw\ Well, there was a lot of people there and I did not see 

 them all. 



Mr. Pace. You saw plenty who did not want this bill to go into 

 effect, though? 



Mv. Shaw. Tliat is right. 



]Mr. AxDREHEX. May I ask a question? 



In our tobacco program which has been very successful, of course, the 

 success of that program has depended to a great extent upon the 

 amount j'ou wej-e able to export. 



Mr. Shaw. That is true, and the loyalty of the farmers in support- 

 ing it. 



Mr. Andresex. That is true. Of course, a lot of the exports in 

 the last few years inider the reduced tobacco acreage has been paid 

 for by the Federal Government, has it not. to get it out of the country 

 under the relief program oi* under the EGA program ? 



Mr. Shaw. Not too much. There has been some of that done but 

 not too much. 



Mr. Andresen. One of the best salesmen you have had in selling 

 that to foreign countries has been our very distinguished chairman, 

 Mr. Gooley. 



Supjjose that is cut off so you do not get tlie vohnne of export. That 

 means reducing tobacco acreage, does it not ? 



Mr. Shaw^ Exactly. 



Mr. Andresex. Wliat are you going to plant on that acreage that is 

 reduced from tobacco? 



Mr. Shaw. We would probably shift our production to some type 

 of foods that might be used at home. There is a very limited acreage 

 ])roducing tobacco anyw-ay. The average man has only 2 or 3 acres 

 of tobacco. The amount of land he took out of tobacco would not 

 be a great factor. We reduced it at one time as much as 12 percent 

 and I do not think it upset any part of our agricultural economy at 

 that time. 



Mr. Axdresex. Well, you have gone into livestock and dairying and 

 poukry and other things. 



You raised feed crops dow-n there and potatoes ? 



Mr. SHAW^ The acreage in tobacco is still so small that it w^ould not 

 in any way upset other segments of agriculture. 



Then you went as low as 18,000,000 acres of cotton against 37,000,- 

 000 acres of cotton and it did Jiot upset things there. 



Mr. AxDRESEX. I am more worried about cotton than any other 

 commoditv. 



