648 GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



that activity is over we are going to go right back to the kind of situa- 

 tion we had in 1941. The cost of farm price supports will then be 

 tremendous. That is why the wheat growers of the Pacific Northwest 

 would like to see you folks in Congress develop the program which 

 would give us parity on the domestically consumed portion of the crop, 

 pass on the cost of such a program to the consumer at prices not to 

 exceed parity, avoid continued drain on the Federal Treasury, and 

 still permit us to operate our farms efficiently under a sound conserva- 

 tion program. The certificate plan may not be the only way in which 

 this can be accomplished, but in order to place a definite policy before 

 you for consideration, we would suggest that you explore its possibili- 

 ties. We believe the certificate plan would be cheaper and simpler to 

 administer than any other two-price plan which has been proposed. 



Mr. Pace. Thank you very much, Mr. Taylor. 



Mr. Hill. Are we to question him now? 



Mr. Pace. Yes. 



Mr. Hill. Mr. Taylor, what do you mean by "summer fallow"? 

 Will you explain that so that even the reporter cftn understand? 



Mr. Taylor. In our area, it has been the practice, practically 

 ever smce the beginning of wheat farming, to follow the summer 

 fallow practice, which means leaving idle half of the land each year. 



Mr. Hill. "What do you mean by "idle"? 



Mr. Taylor. For instance, I plowed under the stubble from last 

 year's crop, and throughout the summer I cultivated that sufficiently 

 to keep the weeds down. 



Mr. Hill. You do not leave it idle, then; you just mean you do not 

 grow a crop on it? 



Mr. Taylor. We do not grow a crop on it. 



Mr. Hill. But you farm it? 



Mr. Taylor. Enough to keep the weeds down, if that is what you 

 mean by "farming"; but it does not produce any income for me this 

 year. 



Mr. Hill. But you farm it all summer, just the same? 



Mr. Taylor. Yes, sir — and have that expense. Then in the fall 

 that is sown with wheat to be harvested next year. 



Mr. Hill. How often do you get a crop? 



Mr. Taylor. Every other year. We follow the practice of putting 

 half in summer fallow every other year. 



Mr. Hill. If you follow the cut — the Secretary proposes to curtail 

 wheat acreage a certain percentage — does he cut the farmer who 

 summer fallows and only has a crop every other year on the same 

 wheat acreage basis that he would cut the man who grows a crop every 

 year? 



Mr. Taylor. That is right. 



Mr. Hill. In other words, if you have 100 acres that you plant to 

 wheat and summer fallow, you would only have 50 acres in wheat 

 every year? 



Mr. Taylor. That is right, and he would cut me. 



Mr. Hill. Then, say he was going to cut the wheat growers 25 

 percent, would you get cut on the acreage you did not put in? 



Mr. Taylor. The percentage would apply to the acreage in wheat. 

 In my case, I have 1,000 acres of farm land. I put 500 acres in wheat 

 every year. My allotment would be cut 20 percent as apphed to the 

 500 acres. 



