GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 613 



The bill passed the Senate, I think, by unanimous consent last week 

 for adding filberts to the commodities to which marketing agreements 

 apply. I think it will probably work in filberts and possibly almonds 

 should be added. When it comes to some of the other commodities like 

 wheat, I do not know that you could use marketing agreements. You 

 have to have a pooling arrangement and I am not at all sure that wheat 

 could be handled by marketing agi'eements. 



Potatoes possibly can. There is an experiment being made now on 

 that. As I see this whole program, I think that we have to evolve 

 gradually the type of program that we are going to have eventually. 

 It seems to me we can start with the Aiken bill and amend that and 

 gradually get where we want to go over a period of time. Maybe we 

 could start with the Brannan program and probably do the same thing, 

 provided we keep the door open for amendments and for changes. 



In our own organization I think probably by the time of our next 

 annual meeting tliere will be a good many of our commodity divisions 

 that will have much more concrete ideas as to what they want than was 

 true at the last meeting of our executive committee. I suspect that 

 that type of thing will happen year after year for a number of years. 

 I think we have to evolve a farm program which is going to be adapted 

 to area needs and to commodity needs. I would very much agree with 

 what you say. 



It seems to me that within our program we must have a basis for the 

 purchase and loan programs, for the marketing agreements, and as I 

 have said, our poultry division feels that in the case of eggs they would 

 like to see compensatory payments tried. 



Mr. HoEVEN. That cannot be worked out by just listing certain com- 

 modities as basic and others as nonbasic and trying to apply one 

 formula to the entire program. 



Mr. Da^t;s. That is correct. 



Mr. HoEVEN. That is the thing I am ooncerned about. You have to 

 start analyzing these particular problems and then break them down 

 geographically and otherwise. The first thing you know you will have 

 such a top-hea\^ and impractical program that it cannot be adminis- 

 tered, 



Mr. Davis. I think maybe your percentage of parity needs to be dif- 

 ferent for different ones. It seems to me you have a pretty logical ba- 

 sis for some difference related to the ease with which you can adjust 

 production in a relatively short time, as, for instance, broilers and 

 annual vegetables. On the other hand, tobacco takes a 3- to 5-year 

 marketing period before it is actually consumed even though the pro- 

 duction is over a short period of time. 



In the case of tree fruits it may be a 20-year proposition. There it 

 is the plant, not the marketing season. The marketing season is 

 annual. 



I think all those things have to be taken into consideration in work- 

 ing out your program. 



Mr. HoEVEN. The very thing this committee has been trying to get 

 away from is vesting in the Secretary of Agriculture more power than 

 he now has. Still, under this complex proposal of yours you would 

 grant additional authority and he would be the only individual who 

 would decide when and where and at what time a particular program 

 should be applied and brought into force and effect. 



