GENERAL FARM PROGRAISI 1183 



As a hog producer, I might sell two or thi'ee hogs to a local buyer. 

 He is not a slaughterer. He sorts my hogs in with those of other 

 producers bought in a similar manner, and sends them on to an or- 

 ganized market. Here they might again be sorted and a few of the 

 shipment go to a slaughterer, while the balance went east. In the 

 East it is possible that some Alaryland farmer might desire to replenish 

 his herd and buy some of these hogs to get on the gravy train. Would 

 the subsidy be denied to the original producer of those hogs? Would 

 those Government inspectors be expected to follow each such shipment 

 to m.ake sure that the hogs were actually slaughtered? And if that 

 Maryland farmer bought som.e gilts, raised some pigs, and then sold 

 his gilts, would he be denied a subsidy? 



Alany farmers of Wisconsin, the Dakotas, and Arkansas in particular 

 have a clim.ate very suitable for raising young pigs but do not have the 

 climate nor the feed to finish them up. They perform, a real service 

 to the consumers and to the Nation. Would they be denied the sub- 

 sidy? It would be completely impractical to have two markets, or to 

 go on the supposition that the buyers of the feeder pigs would make an 

 allowance for the subsidy in his purchases. This buyer would not 

 know until long after his finished hogs had been sold how much that 

 subsidy was. How could he possibly make a fair allowance for it in 

 his purchases? 



After listening to the discussion yesterday, I would like to throw 

 this in on feeder sheep. This would particularly apply on feeder 

 sheep, but I learned from the testim.ony yesterday it is intended to 

 include that in this program.. Our Corn Belt livestock feeders buy 

 feeder lambs from the lamb country. Many of these lambs are con- 

 tracted in the spring to be delivered in the fall to be fattened and mar- 

 keted the next winter. WTio would get the subsidy on the lambs? 

 Would it be the Corn Belt feeder or the rancher? How much would 

 that subsidy be? Our people find it most difficult to gage the market 

 so they can pick out a time sometimes 9 months later and market those 

 lambs at a profit. 



Now, Mr. Brannan would ask them not only to gamble on the price 

 of lambs next winter, but to gamble on the price lambs wiU average 

 all next year. There is only one way that they could do that and that 

 would be to pay such a low price for the feeder lambs that if the price 

 broke 15 percent below the supports, such as he suggests, or 25 percent 

 on hogs, such as I believe would happen, they would still come out. 

 I noticed that he sidestepped the question as to whether or not the 

 packers would be paid a subsidy on lambs. Yet the packers feed 

 thousands and thousands of lambs for market each year. What is he 

 going to do? Knock them, clear out of the business so that the feeder 

 lambs they buy would go lower in price until some new buyer could be 

 found? 



I hold no brief for the packers, but we of the Corn Belt Livestock 

 Feeders Association want to work with them to expand the markets 

 for our products. 



For instance, we have been encouraging them to develop a lard that 

 will meet in competition any other shortening product on the market. 

 We think that great progress is being made right at the present time. 



We would just like to call to your attention that whenever it is 

 necessary for them to come down here with a big force of high-priced 



