GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 911 



Mr. Reed. The minimum prices to producers were fixed under that 

 agreement on the basis of zones and in relation to cheese and milk. 



Mr. HoLMAN. They were differentials rather than minimums. 



Mr. Reed. They were really minimum calculated prices in relation 

 to the actual going price of butter and cheese in the central markets. 



Mr. Murray. When I came down here 10 years ago and when Mr. 

 Holman appeared here the first few times, because of the milk- 

 marketing agreements for bottled milk, and rightly or wrongly, I 

 accused him in my own mind — not publicly — of being interested only 

 in the bottled-milk people. I had to be around towii, here for a 

 couple of years before I found out he was really interested in the 

 milk for manufacturing purposes, and since that time, we have been 

 buddies. 



Mr. Holman. I had a great deal to do with the writing of that 

 particular order of the Department. 



Mr. Murray. The reason I felt that way was because the end 

 product was always left out. They used the cheese and butter 

 base for the basis of their other formulas. 



Mr. Holman. In that period the pool price for fluid milk in New 

 York State in the 200 mile zone, that is, 200 miles out of New York 

 City, fell to the Wisconsin level of prices at the same time. 



Mr. Hope. I have no more questions to ask, but I would like to ask 

 any of the other witnesses if they would like to comment on the ques- 

 tions which have been asked. 



Mr. KopiTZKE. I would like to comment on the price agreement. 

 They are illegal, and, in the second place, they will not work out. 

 The big trouble today is that there is too big a differential between the 

 grade A price and your manufactured products. , 



Mr. Hope. Would you want to say what you think the differential 

 should be? 



Mr. KopiTZKE. I cannot say exactly. There is maybe too much 

 now. Our requirements are much higher all over. They are in Wis- 

 consin. We are supposed to take a sediment and blue test twice a 

 month. I take them every week, and if there is any milk there that 

 is No. 4 or a bad No. 3, we send it home. As I mentioned before, if 

 this milk was so much better why in the world can they not make a 

 cheese out of it? I can point out several points in Wisconsin that are 

 making the worst quality of cheese that I have ever seen. 



Mr. HoE\'EN. You said something about the marketing agree- 

 ments being illegal. Do you base that on the fact that they might 

 tend toward monopoly? 



Mr. KopiTZKE. That is right. Three or four people will get to- 

 gether and they will have no right to set a price that they will charge 

 for their product. Sometimes it has been pretty tough competition 

 for the cheese industry and at times it has been worse for the butter 

 markets. They do get together sometimes and see how much they 

 can charge. 



Mr. Hope. You are not saying that the marketing agreements, in 

 strict compliance with the act, are illegal? 



Mr. KopiTZKE. That would not do us any good. The marketing 

 agreement would not help us. 



Mr. Hope. Could you not get a marketing agreement where you 

 brought in the distributors of grade A milk as well as those engaged in 



91215 — 49 — .ser. u, pt. 5 11 



