722 GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



could plant a little more acreage to got his normol production, give 

 him a rather steady income. You see the point I am driving at? 



Mr. Kasebe.rg. Yes. 



Mr. Hope. In the case of wheat there would be a carry -ov^er from 



I year to the other; lie would have a poor crop to carry over and when 

 he had good weather he would have an opportunity to catch up on 

 some other year. 



Mr. Pace. I think the philosophy of the Department now is con- 

 trary to that. I think the one they are now adopting is the policy of 

 fixing the quotas at the usual yield on the allotted acreage. It used 

 to be the normal, now they have changed back to the actual. 



Mr. Sutton. Mr. Kaseberg, there has been an improvement in 

 average yield since 1930, from 10.8 to 17.5. 



Mr. Kaseberg. For the United States as a whole. 



Mr. Hope. Is that the planted or harvested acre \ield? There was 

 a great deal of abandonment in 1937, you remember. 



Mr. Sutton. This figure is the yield for 1937, on through 1948, and 

 for 1942 it shows 18.3, on these figures— 10.8, 11.6. 11.8, 13.2, 15 and 

 so on, increasing in each year. 



Mr. Hope. We have had some good years, and it is probable that 

 that report contains some very poor years as well as some good years. 



Mr. Pace. Let me say this while we are on that point: I have 

 always embraced acreage control, first because I thought if the farmers 

 were going to enjoy the benefits of aid they should play fair with the 

 Government. 



Mr. Kaseberg. Yes. 



Mr. Pace. Second, I have embraced acreage control because I 

 think it contributes to good farming practices. The statement was 

 made here yesterday to the effect that when you cut down wheat 

 control, wheat acreage, you are going to increase production of wheat 

 in some foreign country. That would not necessarily follow. Wliat 

 is going to happen with wheat is just like what happened to other 

 commodities, that when you reduce the acreage you are going to get 

 better farming operations on less acreage, and pretty soon you are 

 going to be producing as much on the less acreage as you did on the 

 whole acreage. It results in good farming; that is the way you build 

 up the soil and not destroy it. 



Mr. Kaseberg. Yes. 



Mr. Pace. That is exactly what is happening in cotton. Some 

 years ago we used to plant 44,000,000 acres of cotton and got about 



II or 12 million bales. Now we planted last year 23,000,000 acres of 

 cotton and got nearly 15,000,000 bales. Acreage control has not re- 

 duced the over-all total of cotton produced in this country, but it has 

 contributed immeasurably to better farming practices. And cer- 

 tainly if you can produce 60 bushels of wheat on 1 acre you are doing 

 a better job than producing 20 bushels on 3 acres; are you not? 



Mr. Kaseberg. Yes. But, the production of wheat, that is, the 

 biggest controlling factor for our acreage is the weather. 



Mr. Pace. Do you mean to tell me that there is nothing you can 

 do that will co.ntribute toward increasing the yield of your farm? 



Mr. Kaseberg. No, I did not mean that. I said the biggest con- 

 trolling factor. I follow those operations year after year, practically 

 identically the same operation, and yet it is the weather that deter- 

 mines my yield. 



