1150 GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



opposed to a man exceeding his acreage allotments because it would 

 have some relation to the payments that they received. 



Secretary Brannan. That is right, sir. Not only that, who would 

 have all the good-quality potatoes going into the market and some 

 disposition being made of the others. 



Mr. Pace. That is right. 



Mr. CooLEY. I do not believe it is sound or feasible to control part 

 of the production of any commodity and support the other part. If 

 you take the program you have just discussed and apply it to tobacco 

 and let the farmer in my section plant all the tobacco he wants to 

 plant and control part of it, you would ruin the situation because 

 you would have a tremendous crop. Prices would go down and down 

 and the Government would be holding the bag and protecting the man 

 who did not comply. 



I think the same thing will apply to potatoes or any other 

 commodity. 



Secretary Brannan. The difference is that potatoes are a perishable 

 commodity and will get out of the market one way or the other. 

 Tobacco is not perishable and will stay with the market a long time. 



Mr. CooLEY. Potatoes got out of the market under this $220,000,- 

 000 program in different ways, too. Why would it not be well for us 

 to consider penalizing the man who does not comply so as to make 

 him stay within his acreage allotments? 



Secretary Brannan. Mr. Chairman, I am very reluctant to talk 

 about any kind of penalties imposed except after a full vote and ref- 

 erendum of all the people concerned. 



Mr. WooLLEY. I mean that. We would provide in the law that 

 we cannot impose those penalties unless two-thirds of the farmers 

 vote in favor of it. But I think the potato situation is such that 

 certainly two-thirds of the producers in this country would be willing 

 to vote to control production if they knew they were going to be 

 supported. We have it in cotton, peanuts, and wheat. Why not 

 have it in potatoes? It would be an expensive and burdensome pro- 

 gram, but it certainly would not be as expensive and burdensome as 

 this one is. 



Secretary Brannan. I agree with you there. 



Mr. CooLEY. That is all, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. Pace. Are there any other questions on Irish potatoes? 



Mr. Hope. I have some more questions. 



Mr. Pace. Mr. Hope. 



Mr. Hope. Was your figure of 10 to 15 million dollars as the cost 

 of a payment program this year based upon the idea of operating 

 with or without marketing quotas? 



Secretary Brannan. That was operating with marketing quotas. 



Mr. Hope. If we operated without marketing quotas, the cost would 

 be greater, I assume. 



Secretary Brannan. That is right, sir. 



Mr. Pace. Mr. Hill. 



Mr. Hill. Mr. Chairman, in the interest of time, my questions 

 •could be answered very easily by putting a table in the record. When 

 did the Department begin to set up acreage goals for Irish potatoes? 



Secretary Brannan. It was sometime during the war. 



Mr. Hill. Can you furnish us in the record a table showing what 

 year you began the recommendation of acreage goals for Irish pota- 



