708 GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



penalized, because the soil is going to wash out; they should be 

 penalized so they will put it back into grass, which must be done if you 

 are to build up the right kind of farming practices. 



Now the second point is that we should intend at all times in this 

 country to have an adequate supply of foodstuffs, of food products, 

 and other products of the farm; that is a most essential thing, and let 

 us be sure that we always have an adequate supply on hand. What 

 would have happened to us if we had not had an adequate supply not 

 only for the time being, but for the immediate future when the war 

 came on, when this last war broke out. I think that the reserve supply 

 was a mighty happy thing to have, and let us see that we have an 

 adequate supply on hand at all times. We need to have satisfactory 

 controls, so we ought to have a little carry-over, because that is 

 another method of controlling production besides the acreage allot- 

 ment and quotas, marking quotas. Let us apply them if we need 

 them, but let us also have a sufficient carry-over, that is a surplus. 

 We have had a surplus of 150 to 200 million; let us make it 300, 350, or 

 400 million bushels ; it will not hurt if we control it properly. And we 

 are talking now particularly about wheat. 



Of course, there are other products that have to be handled differ- 

 ently. There are some products that are perishable and of course 

 you cannot carry over perishable commodities like you can wheat and 

 some of the other farm products like cotton. Cotton will keep. Let 

 us have a rather large surplus and handle it in a way that it will not 

 get out of hand. And in addition to a surplus, let us do a little 

 stock piling. We stock-piled materials, we stock-piled ammunition, 

 we stock-piled gims, we stock-piled in a lot of other things in the 

 emergency for defense purposes. Why not stock-pile some food that 

 we can use? Others have stock-piled. Why, they uncovered tombs 

 of Pharaoh and found wheat had laid there for 5,000 years, and they 

 planted that wheat. It produced and made good bread. Wheat 

 will stock pile. 



Mr. Pace. How are you going to keep it from depressing the price? 



Mr. Sullivan. To keep it from depressing the price? 



Mr. Pace. Yes; how can you handle it? 



Mr. Sullivan. By law, by saying that the wheat will be preserved 

 for emergency, held for emergency. You will hear a lot more about 

 that when my colleague here testifies, because he is going to have 

 something to say about it. 



I want to give you the principles of the program., and as I say, we 

 want the minimum of regimentation; we want to leave the farmer 

 as free as possible. 



Now the fourth point is to maintain a fair price for farm products. 

 One farmer out in my area, when I told him I was going to represent 

 the Western Kansas Development Association, was coming down to 

 talk to the Congress about this farming program, and I asked him if 

 there was anything he wanted me to say, said that the only thing he 

 could say is to come back here and ask for a fair price on all farm 

 products. 



After all, Mr. Chairman, that is reallv the crux of this program. 



Fifth, a fair distribution of the reduction in controls, of reduction 

 in production, not only as between the farmers of anv given product, 

 but as between competitive farm products like corn and wheat for 

 feed. For instance, when wheat or milo maize are fed instead of corn 



