GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 985 



weather, I am wondering if Uncle Sam should be expected to under- 

 write that entire production or whether he should be expected to 

 underwrite a loan on it? [s this not the fundamental key to it: If I 

 understand the reaction of the growers in my district, the growers 

 themselves \A'ould like the machinery by which they could carry their 

 own potato program without having it cost the Government a whole 

 lot of monej'^. 



Air. Case. I think that is right, sir. 



Mr. Hardy. And if I understand it further, I believe that the 

 growers in my district would favor such a program as this where if 

 they had an unusual surplus they would absorb that provided they 

 got an equitable return on their normal production or on a reasonable 

 production. ^ 



Mr. Case. That may be the attitude of potato growers everywhere. 

 It would be quite fair. I will say that the potato men in considering 

 the 60 percent of parity are hopeful that 3 to 4 years out of 5 the 

 Government will not be in the potato picture at all. 



We hope eventually to balance this law of supply and demand to 

 the place where we wUl only call in the Government on these certain 

 disastrous j^ears. With the 60 percent of parity in mind, we think if 

 a man did get that abnormally high }deld it would stQl be much 

 different from getting it on 95 percent of parity. 



Mr. AxDRESEN. Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. CooLEY. Mr. Andresen. 



Mr. Andresen. You propose two programs here. One is the 60 

 percent of parity with the Government apparently buying the same 

 as they are now or taking the potatoes over. Then you propose the 

 compensatory payment or production pajTnent plan for the potatoes 

 sold generally in the market and bringing market price and where 

 the producer gets the difference. Which of those two programs do 

 ygu prefer? 



Mr. Case. A combination of the two, if necessary, sir. We think 

 the 60 percent of parit}' \\all voluntarily discourage production to the 

 place where we hope that 3 years out of 5 or maybe 4 years out of 5 

 the potato fields will not need to call on the Government. 



But if we are confronted mth noncomplying growers, then the 

 compensatory pajnnent plan, in our judgment, is the one method 

 that we know of that will force the noncomplying grower in line. 



Mr. Andresen. By denying them the payment, of course you 

 could work it the same way under the support loan, by den}dng the 

 noncomplying grower the benefit of the support price. 



Mr. Case. But he would have the benefit of a supported potato 

 market, but in a surplus year, if potatoes were allowed to seek their 

 own level, that market would be very low. Chairman Pace asked 

 me this morning what I thought would be a fair market price of 

 potatoes if last year's production had all gone on the market. I said 

 it would probably cost at least $1 a bushel. 



Personally, I think we would do well in many areas to have seen 

 potatoes at the 35 cents a hundred last year if the entire crop had 

 gone on the market. It would be comparable to the years you and 

 I were talking about a minute ago. 



Mr. Andresen. That would have cost the Government at least 

 half a billion dollars. 



