1046 



GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



The development of a domestic source of tung oil is in line with the present 

 policy of our Government which is trying to make the United States as self- 

 sufficient as possible, particularly with reference to strategic materials. Currently, 

 the domestic production in the United States is only 15 percent of our yearly 

 consumption. 



By giving the necessary assistance to our American tung industry, Congress 

 would not only accomplish the desired objective of making it possible for a new 

 industry to exist, but would also go a long way toward building up an adequate 

 and stable supply of American tung oil of the highest quality for the many con- 

 suming industries which need it. 



It is not the desire of the American Tung Oil Association or the American tung 

 industry as a wb,ole to see imports of foreign tung oil cut off, because we realize 

 and appreciate the needs of American consumers for larger quantities of tung oil 

 than we ourselves are in a position to offer at this time. 



Tung nut production in the United States increased from 1,160 tons in 1939 to 

 a record high of 67,200 tons in 1948. 



The price received by growers has varied from $42 per ton of nuts in 1939 to 

 .$10.5.20 per ton in 1946 when tung oil in the United States reached an all-time 

 high of 38^^ per pound and went under the OPA ceiling until the end of the war. 

 Since the war's end the price received by growers has steadily declined until 

 today it stands at approximately $45 per ton. The foregoing price figures are 

 based upon an oil content of the nut of 18 percent field run. 



The following table compiled by the United States Bureau of Agricultural 

 Economics, demonstrates how the industry has grown in the United States since 

 1939, the year in which the first real commercial production appeared on the 

 market. 



Production 



I Includes small quantities of tung nuts produced in Texas. 



One may readily see from the above table that up to 1948 our American tung 

 industry has shown a constantly increasing trend toward expanding production 

 with an accompanying putting to work of an increasing number of acres of cut-over 

 lands and submarginal and marginal cotton hill lands. An increasing number of 

 employees has been engaged in the industry as it expanded. This trend was 

 stopped in 1946 due to market conditions and rising production costs which were 

 beyond the control of the industry. 



It is conservatively estimated that if American tung growers are encouraged by 

 an adecjuate price support to continue to give their orchards proper management, 

 particularly in the way of fertilization and cultivation, domestic production of tung 

 oil may reasonably be expected to reach a volume of 70 to 75 million pounds per 

 year by the end of the following 5-year period. This volume can be increased to 

 100,000,000 pounds by 1960 by a contiiuiation of proper care and management. 



This increased domestic production of tung oil should be of prime importance 

 to the consumers of tung oil as well as to its producers, since up to the present time 

 one of the greatest concerns of the consumer has been the lack of dependability 

 of supply from foreign sources. 



It is now practically impossible for the American farmer, who is accustomed to 

 enjoy a high standard of living, to compete with the Chinese coolie whose living 

 standards are among the lowest to be found in the world. 



In connection with the expanding production in the industry between the years 

 1939 and 1948 as noted above, acknowledgement should be made of the fine 

 cooperation which the industry has received since 1938 from the United States 

 Department of Agriculture through its Research Division, the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering, and since the mid-forties from the 



