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lapse in wheat prices, the first act of the New Deal was to 

 liquidate this ever normal granary. It was an unfortunate 

 venture, and therefore was considered unwise. The present 

 administration's storage of "surplus" grain was fortunate in 

 that it provided large supplies of grain at the outset of the 

 war. Since it was fortunate, it has been considered wise. Why 

 was it unwise at one time and wise at another? The unpre- 

 dictable fortunes of war change the point of view of some. 

 Fundamentally, there was no difference between the two 

 storage policies. 



During the Third New Deal the policy on food supplies 

 was reversed. To prevent inflation the nation set ceilings on 

 prices. This caused the current stocks of butter and other 

 products to be liquidated more rapidly than normal. 



The feeding of wheat to livestock was encouraged. On 

 January 29, 1942 the Commodity Credit Corporation an- 

 nounced the terms and conditions of the feed-wheat pro- 

 gram, designed to release 100 million bushels of wheat for 

 feeding purposes. By July 1942 about 38 million bushels were 

 sold, when Congress and the President approved the sale of 

 125 million bushels of wheat at a price not less than eighty- 

 five per cent of the parity price for corn. This wheat was fed 

 by February 1943. In March 1943 Congress approved the 

 sale of another 100 million bushels at the parity price of 

 corn. In the middle of June 1943 the President authorized 

 the War Food Administration to make 50 million bushels of 

 wheat available for livestock and poultry to keep corn proc- 

 essing plants supplied with corn for the production of hu- 

 man food and munitions. The government paid relatively 

 high prices to accumulate the stocks of wheat which are now 

 being sold at relatively low prices to encourage the feeding 

 of livestock. 



