GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 1097 



production, and produce animals and animal products for which there 

 is likely to be a greater demand than for the grain. 



As an initial move to help farmers bring then- agricultural production 

 and land use more in line with consumer demands, Congress should 

 discontinue appropriating any funds that foster soil desctruction by 

 supporting overuse of our soil resources for the production of certain 

 row crops and small grains. We are appropriating hundreds of mil- 

 lions of dollars for this purpose every year. 



One of the great travesties on the agricultural scene today is that 

 we do not know actually what the Nation's soil resources are, their 

 condition, or what treatment a vast portion of our land needs to keep 

 it productive. In many ways it's ironic for Congress to legislate for 

 agriculture when it knows actually so little about what our soil 

 resources are. 



Except for the work of the Soil ^Conservation Service in the Nation's 

 soil conservation districts, farmers have no way to obtain information 

 on the capability of their land for best use and production on an acre 

 by acre basis, to learn the condition of their own agricultural food 

 factory. Tn many places these factories are crumliling — saved 

 temporarily by tremendous uses of fertilizers — but nevertheless 

 washing and bleeding away. In other places tremendous use of 

 fertilizers hides from the farmer's eyes what is actually happening to 

 his land. We need the completion of a Nationa-wide land capability 

 survey of our farms, ranch, and woodlands to determine the productive 

 capacity of land conservation needs of each acre. This information 

 should then be furnished to each farmer and rancher, so that he could 

 know what is happening to his food-producing factory, and what his 

 farm needs to keep its productive capacity permanent. 



I believe that if all farmers and ranchers of our Nation knew what 

 was taking place on their land, such as when they bypass minimum 

 soil conserving rotations, we would see one of the greatest changes in 

 land use imaginable, and within a period of a couple of years, I am 

 convinced that when a farmer really knows the truth about his land, 

 he becomes one of the greatest champions for effective soil and water 

 conservation, which in itself would remove most of our present agri- 

 cultural problems. 



In H. R. 2368 I have provided for an early completion of a Nation- 

 wide survey of our soil resources and for furnishing this information to 

 every farmer and rancher. 



Nor is this all this legislation provides. There are provisions for a 

 national land policy, a conservation timetable, and special measures 

 to help landowmers add sufficient acreage to their farm to complete a 

 profitable farm, and thus reduce much land overuse resulting from 

 uneconomic-sized units. This legislation provides technical assistance 

 for soil and water conservation farming for all farmers and ranchers 

 of our Nation who are not now located within a soil conservation dis- 

 trict. There are conservation payments, part of which I described a 

 few moments ago, which will provide for lasting soil conservation. 

 Also, the legislation strengthens the system of farmer control of his 

 agricultural aft'airs and fosters the organization of soil conservation 

 districts. 



