984 GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



Once in a while a man inadvertently overplants and harvests it, 

 and he jrets a red card and pays the penalty. The penalties collected 

 by the Government have been more than sufficient to pay the admin- 

 istrative costs of the program. 



Mr. Bryant. Mr. Chairman, I do not get the impression that the 

 tremendous cost to the Government of the potato program is due 

 to planting over our goals. That is one reason why I think the potato 

 industry cannot quite see how marketing quotas would correct our 

 problem. 



Mr. CooLEY. I agree with Mr. Granger that marketing quotas will 

 not work as successfully with a perishable commodity as with a non- 

 perishable commodity. I Imow that. But I do know also that the 

 potato growers should make every effort to apply some strict control 

 on production. 



Mr. Bryant. The committee recognizes, does it not, that we have 

 not been overplanting our acreage very much? 



Mr. CooLEY. No; I understand that. Of course, we did not over- 

 plant in cotton. 



Mr. Case. One of our problems m potatoes is this very definite 

 unknown factor of what Mother Nature is going to do to us. It is a 

 problem that is serious for the Department of Agriculture, because it 

 could by too rigid restriction lead to a potato famine. 



No man can say now whether the acreage problem this year will 

 create a surplus or a famine. California potatoes were selling at $8 

 a hundred field run. In that particular instance, if it had not been 

 for the over planted acreage in California what would the consumers 

 have paid? For those reasons we like to be sure ot the proper amount 

 as much as we can. We like marketing controls because we have no 

 idea what kind of a yield per acre we can get. 



Mv. Hardy. May I ask a question right there? On that approach 

 would you not agree that in years and areas of unusually high yield 

 perhaps the grower should absorb a portion of that extra production 

 and take it ofl' the market and not expect Uncle Sam to pay for it, 

 if he gets a report on the yield? 



Mr. Case. I do not know whether I can answer for potato men on 

 that. 



Air. Hardy. Bill, you have been in this thing a long time, and I 

 ^vould like to have your reaction to that. 



. Mr. Case. We are talking about the unusually favorable years. 

 Suppose this man has a disastrous year when everyone else has a good 

 year and the price of potatoes did not go abnormally high. Would 

 there h(^ some way of a reward for him? Would the two balance? 



Mr. Hardy. You might accomplish that through the insurance 

 plan Mr. Pace mentioned. But ordinarily when you have a heavy 

 yield it is not on one individual farm, or a poor yield. It is on an 

 area, is that not right? 



Mr. Case. Quite often. 



Mr. Hardy. That is generally, is it not? 



Mr. Case. It can be a comparatively small area, speaking of the 

 United States as a whole. 



Mr. Hardy. But it is generally on an area basis. 



Mr. Case. Yes. 



Mr. Hardy. Assuming that you established an acreage goal and 

 that acreage goal was complied with and you had unusually favorable 



