FARM BUREAU 

 Sticks To 194« 

 - FARM ACT 



AFBF President Kline 

 Testifies Before Farm 

 Program Committee in 

 Washington In Support 

 ; of 1948 Agricultural Act 



THE Farm Bureau favors the agri- 

 cultural Act of 1948 with its flexible 

 price supports and modernized parity 

 formula over the new farm proposal 

 of Secretary of Agriculture Charles 

 F. Brannan. Allan B. Kline, president 

 of the American Farm Bureau Federa- 

 tion, made this point clear in his ap- 

 pearance before the national farm pro- 

 gram subcommittee of the House Agri- 

 cultural Committee in Washington re- 

 cently. 



Kline said that Secretary Brannan "s 

 proposal throws away the parity price 

 approach to a fair exchange value for 

 farm commodities. 



Instead the secretary's proposal means 

 government-administered farm prices and 

 .♦ farm income, with government control 

 I of all land and livestock production and 

 a ceiling on opportunity in agriculture, 

 the AFBF president told the subcom- 

 mittee. 



The Brannan program, he added, in- 

 troduces a cheap food philosophy and 

 seeks to establish the principle that tax- 

 ' payers should pay a considerable por- 

 tion of the grocery bill of consumers. 



Kline also said the Farm Bureau be- 

 lieved that the Agricultural Act of 1948 



President Allan B. Kline reads the Amerltan 

 Farm Bureau federation Btatement In sup* 

 port of the Agr/cu/turoi Act of 1948 in the 

 House Agriculture Committee's hearing 

 room. Just behind Kline are four AfBt 

 executive committee members: (left to 

 right) George Wilson, California; Walter 

 Kandolph, Alabama; Massif Schenclc, fn- 

 dlana; and Wilson Heaps, Maryland. Man 

 at right at tabie is shorthand clerk. 



could be improved by certain amend- 

 ments. Included in the amendments 

 recommended by the Farm Bureau were: 



Provide that as a general policy, sub- 

 ject to certain exceptions already in the 

 law, Commodity Credit Corporation shall 

 not sell any farm commodity at less than 

 a price midway between the parity price 

 and the support in effect at the time of 

 the sale. 



Require the secretary of agriculture 

 to establish acreage allotments on all 



basic crops except tobacco before or at 

 the time he announces marketing quotas. 

 That if farmers vote down marketing 

 quotas, cooperators in the acreage allot- 

 ment program would still be permitted 

 to get (oans at the scheduled rate. No 

 loans, howe\'er, would be made available 

 to non-cooperators. 



Provide that as far as is practical 

 price supports be made available to the 

 producers of any nonbasic agricultural 

 commodity whenever acreage allotments, 

 marketing quotas, or marketing agree- 

 ments are in effect for such commodity. 



Amend the parity formula provisions 

 of the 1948 Agricultural Act to require 

 that subsidy payments made to farmers 

 to hold down prices to consumers during 

 the war be included as part of the prices 

 received by farmers in computing parity 

 prices under the 10-year moving average 

 formula. 



Life Manager Visits Costa Rica 



I E. RICHARDSON, manager of 

 m Country Life Insurance Company, 

 ii« had a look at the agriculture of Cen- 

 tral America on a recent trip with his 

 wife to Costa Rica. Through arrange- 

 ments made by Ed Tanner, agricultural 



A. t. Klchardson 

 (right), manager of 

 Cewntry life insur- 

 ance CompcHijr, en a 

 recent trip to Central 

 America enjoyed the 

 privilege of riding on 

 the specioi car of Pro- 

 visional President Hg- 

 weres of Costa Rica. 

 Hgueres Is pictured 

 crt the feft, and his 

 special car operated 

 en rails by automo- 

 tive power is in bacli- 

 grounif. 



JUNE, 1949 



attache of the American embassy at San 

 jose, and Howard Gabbert, of the Food 

 Production division of the Institute of 

 Inter-American Affairs, he attended a 

 soil conservation meeting at Orena in 

 Costa Rica. 



The provisional president of Costa 

 Rica spoke at this meeting and invited 

 the Country Life manager to ride back 

 to San Jose with him. 



Richardson reports that there is con- 

 siderable interest in soil conser\'ation and 

 scientific agricultural development in 

 this territory. The United States is co- 

 operating with the Extension Depart- 

 ment under the Institute of Inter-Amer- 

 ican Affairs. There are a number of 

 county agents located throughout the 

 territory. Mr. Tanner told Mr. Richard- 

 son that he knew many of the Farm 

 Bureau leaders of this country. Principal 

 crops of the area are cofl^ee, banaxias, 

 sugar, some grains and many vegetables. 



Mr. and Mrs. Richardson's daughter, 

 Martha, is a secretary in the American 

 embassy at San Jose. 



