GENERAL FARM PROGRAIM 519 



Mr. Shaw. I observe the fact that it did no harm at that time. 



Mr. Andkesex. This year we have aromid 26,000,000 or 27,000,000 

 acres. I tliink. and Ave will probably produce 18,000.000 to 20,000,000 

 bales of cotton. 



Mr. SirAW. That is probably true. 



Mr. Pace. About 15. 



Mr. Axdresex. The Department of Agriculture experts tell me that 

 it may be between 18.000,000 and 20,000,000 bales. Fifteen million 

 woukl be better but under the proposed program submitted to us by 

 the Secretary, cotton is not included in the support payment plan. It 

 comes in under the loan plan. What bothers me is when the Federal 

 Government is holding a year's supply of cotton and the Commodity 

 Credit is unable to get rid of a great deal of it in the foreign market 

 you may have to come to the situation where you cannot produce any 

 cotton at all in 1 year. 



Mr. CooLEY. "Will the gentleman yield? 



Mr. AxDRESEx. Yes. 



Mr. CooLEY. It is a fact, is it not, Mr. Shaw, that but for the provi- 

 sions of existing law the cotton farmers would verj^^ gladly have re- 

 fused their acreage this year and Avould have voted for quotas. 



Mr. Shaav. Absoluteh', but Avith your maximum and minimum 

 gadgets in the laAv the Secretary could not put it into effect. 



Mr. AxDRESEX. That is Avhat he says noAv, but I think he could have 

 put it into effect. 



Mr. Pace. There Avould be a lot less acreage if he had put it into 

 effect. 



Mr. AxDRESEN. We Avere rushing to get through a bill. We started 

 in on January 4 with cotton hearings to get through a bill so as to let 

 the cotton farmers know that if they planted more acreage in 1949 

 it Avould not be considered as a ])art of their base for future years. 

 That is the law noAv. We did not get it through as quickly as we had 

 hoped. I guess the cotton fai-mers had planted all their cotton by 

 that time. I think we should be very much concerned about the future 

 of cotton in this country. 



Mr. Shaw. We are deeply concerned about it. 



Mr. Andresex. You will probabh' haA^e to get down to a production 

 of around 8,000,000 bales of cotton. " 



Mr. Shaw. That is probably true. 



Mr. AxDRESEx. You can do that on about half the acreage you have 

 in this year, so you will have to shift to some other type of production. 

 You cannot shift to peanuts because we will not be able to export the 

 peanuts. 



You will not be able to shift to potatoes because we are producing 

 too many potatoes. 



I am just Avondering what you are going to go into. 



Mr. Shaav. In our State it Avill not be a problem because the acreage 

 iuA^oh^ed in any commodity will be A^erA' limited and we are not self- 

 sufficient on many of the food items Ave need and we can shift our 

 acreage to subsistence conniiodities that we are short on and those 

 that we have a deficit in. 



Mr. AxDRESEx. I think you ought to go into more livestock and 

 dairjnng. I think that Avould be good for the State. 



