CONTENTS H. R. 3987. A bill to provide for a minimum acreage allotment for corn, H. R. 10169. A bill to amend the Agricultural Act of 1949 to provide for 215 H. R. 12112. A bill to amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, 295 372 Counihan, Donald M., Caretta & Counihan, counsel for American Creed, Joseph M., counsel, American Bakers Association....... Horan, Hon. Walt, a Representative in Congress from the Fifth Dis- trict of the State of Washington_- Hughes, Herbert J., National Association of Wheat Growers, chairman, field crops committee, National Conference of Commodity Organi- zations; and Floyd Root, president, National Association of Wheat Growers; assisted by Ted Fiedler, chairman, program committee, National Association of Wheat Growers __ McGovern, Hon. George S., a Representative in Congress from the McLain, Marvin L., Assistant Secretary, United States Department of Agriculture; accompanied by Martin Sorkin, assistant to the Secre- tary, USDA; Edward M. Shulman, Deputy General Counsel, USDA; and Albert J. Borton, Chief, Commodity Programs Branch, Grain Division, Commodity Stabilization Service, USDA- Marshall, Charles, member of the board of directors, American Farm Bureau Federation, and president of the Nebraska Farm Bureau; accompanied by Frank Woolley, legislative counsel, The American Farm Bureau Federation; Lewis Munn, president of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau; and G. H. Mikkelson, president of the North Dakota Parker, Joseph O., legislative consultant, The National Grange. Quinlan, William A., general counsel, Associated Retail Bakers of WHEAT ACREAGE ALLOTMENTS-PRICE SUPPORT-IMPROVED FARM PROGRAM TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 1958 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMODITY SUBCOMMITTEE ON WHEAT OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, Washington, D. C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to recess, at 10:10 a. m., in room 1310, New House Office Building, Hon. Carl Albert (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding, Present: Representatives Albert (presiding), Watts, Bass, Belcher, Smith, Krueger, and Dague. Also present: John J. Heimburger, counsel; Mabel C. Downey, clerk. Mr. ALBERT (presiding). The committee will please come to order. We have met this morning to discuss a general wheat program. We have pending before us a number of bills introduced by various members of Congress. Without objection the list of the various bills as shown on the schedule will be inserted in the record, showing the authors and the numbers of the bills. (H. R. 3987, Mr. McGovern; H. R. 10193, Mr. Anderson, Montana; H. R. 10204, Mr. McGovern; H. R. 10228, Mr. Breeding; H. R. 10241, Mr. Metcalf; H. R. 10269, Mr. Burdick; H. R. 10837, Mr. Berry; H. R. 5127, Mr. Holmer; H. R. 4106, Mr. Horan; H. R. 4637, Mr. Berry; H. R. 7815, Mr. Ullman; H. R. 7939, Mr. Smith, Kansas; H. R. 8059, Mr. Breeding; H. R. 10203, Mr. George; H. R. 10169, Mr. Berry; and H. R. 5308, Mr. Horan.) [H. R. 3987, 85th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To provide for a minimum acreage allotment for corn, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 328 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following: "Notwithstanding any other provision hereof, the acreage allotment for corn for any calendar year beginning with 1957 shall not be less than forty-nine million acres." SEC. 2. Price support shall be made available by Commodity Credit Corporation for the 1957 crop of corn at a level not less than $1.60 per bushel therefor, as provided in the Agricultural Act of 1949, as amended. SEC. 3. Section 408 (b) of the Agricultural Act of 1949, as amended, is amended by inserting after the first sentence thereof the following: "For the purpose of price support in the commercial corn producing area for any crop of corn for which an acreage reserve program is in effect, a 'cooperator' shall be a producer who does not exceed 85 per centum of such producer's farm acreage allotment for corn; and (2) who devotes an acreage of cropland (tilled in normal rotation), at the option of the producer, to either the acreage reserve program for corn or the conservation reserve program equal to 15 per centum of such producer's farm allotment for corn." SEC. 4. (a) Notwithstanding any provision of law, the Secretary is authorized and directed to make payments to producers of corn, wheat, cotton, rice, and peanuts who are cooperators, as defined in section 408 of the Agricultural Act of 1949, as amended, under the 1957 acreage allotment programs applicable to such commodities. Such payments shall be made on the normal production of the acreage allotted under such programs in amounts which, when added to the support prices established by the Secretary for the 1957 crops of such commodities, will provide a return to such producers which is as nearly equal to ninety per centum of the parity price for such commodities as the funds made available therefor will permit. (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law and under such regulations as he deems necessary, the Secretary is authorized for the marketing year April 1, 1957, to March 31, 1958, to make payments in connection with marketings of milk and butterfat by dairy farmers at a rate not to exceed that required to bring producers' returns per unit up to amounts which, when added to the support prices established by the Secretary for the 1957-1958 marketing year, is as nearly equal to 90 per centum of the parity price therefor as the funds made available will permit: Provided, That no producer shall be eligible to receive such payments with respect to a volume of sales in excess of 90 per centum of his average sales in the marketing year ending March 31, 1957. (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law and under such regulations as he deems necessary, the Secretary is authorized to make payments with respect to the 1957 crop of feed grains (as defined in section 5 of this Act) to producers of such feed grains who comply with acreage allotments under section 5 at a rate not in excess of that necessary, when added to the support prices established by the Secretary for the 1957 crops of such commodities, to provide such producers with a return on such feed grains, which is as nearly equal to their feed value equivalent to corn at $1.60 per bushel or 90 per centum of the parity price therefor, whichever is higher, as the funds made available will permit. (d) The payments authorized by this section shall be in addition to and not in substitution for any other payments authorized by law and shall be made as soon as possible after determination of compliance under the 1957 acreage allotment programs or other determination of eligibility for payment. The provisions of sections 385 and 388 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, shall apply in all respects to payments made pursuant to this section. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as Congress may determine to be necessary for the purposes of this section. SEC. 5. For each year in which an acreage allotment program will be in effect for corn, an acreage allotment shall be established for other feed grains. For 1957, in the commercial corn-producing area, such acreage allotment for other feed grains shall be 85 per centum of the average acreage on the farm planted to grain sorghums, barley, rye, and oats for the three years 1953, 1954, and 1955; and outside the commercial corn-producing area, such acreage allotments for feed grains shall be 85 per centum of the average acreage of the farm planted to grain sorghums, barley, rye, oats, and corn for the three years 1953, 1954, and 1955. For 1958 and subsequent years in which an acreage reserve program will be in effect for corn, there is hereby established an acreage allotment for feed grains (corn produced outside the commercial corn-producing area, grain sorghums, barley, rye, and oats). Such acreage allotment for feed grains shall be 85 per centum of the average acreage planted to such feed grains for the three years 1953, 1954, and 1955 adjusted to reflect change in the commercial corn-producing area. The acreage allotment of feed grains shall be apportioned by the Secretary among the States on the basis of the acreage of feed grains (planted and diverted) in such States for the five calendar years immediately preceding the calendar year in which the apportionment is made, with adjustments for abnormal weather conditions and for trends in acreage during such period. The acreage allotment of feed grains for each State, less a reserve of not to exceed 3 per centum thereof for apportionment as provided by this subsection, shall be apportioned by the Secretary among the counties on the basis of the acreage of feed grains (planted and diverted) in such counties for the five calendar years immediately pre ceding the calendar year in which the apportionment is made, with adjustments for abnormal weather conditions, for trends in acreage during such period and for the promotion of soil-conservation practices: Provided, That any downward adjustment for the promotion of soil-conservation practices shall not exceed 2 per centum of the average allotment that would otherwise be apportioned to the county. The acreage allotment for the county shall be apportioned by the Secretary through the local committees, among the farms within the county on the basis of past acreage of feed grains (planted and diverted), tillable acreage, crop-rotation practices, type of soil, and topography. The reserve set aside herein shall be apportioned to farms on which feed grains have not been planted for any of the crops for the three years immediately preceding the year for which the apportionment is made (such farms are hereinafter called "new feed grain farms"). Producers shall not be eligible for compensation under the acreage reserve program for feed grains, on new feed grain farms. For purposes of this subsection, and section 4 the terms "plant" or "planted", as used with respect to feed grains, other than corn, shall mean plant or planted for harvest as grain. SEC. 6. Section 103 (a) of the Soil Bank Act is amended by inserting after the phrase "corn produced in the commercial corn-producing area" the following: "corn produced outside the commercial corn-producing area, oats, grain sorghum, rye, barley, pasture and grazing land." SEC. 7. (a) In order to assure the orderly marketing of an adequate national supply of hogs and pork products, and cattle and beef products, to encourage the increased domestic consumption of pork, beef and pork and beef products, to maintain the productive capacity of our hog and cattle farming industry, and to avoid the feeding of hogs and cattle to less desirable weights, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed, whenever he finds (1) that the annual pig crop for any year will exceed the average pig crop for the ten preceding years, or the number of cattle on hand in any year will exceed the average number of cattle on hand for the preceeding ten years, or (2) that the national average price received by farmers for hogs or cattle is less than 90 per centum of the parity price therefor, to make incentive payments to hog and cattle producers to encourage the marketing of hogs and cattle for slaughter at live weights of two hundred pounds or less for hogs and nine hundred and fifty pounds or less for cattle. (b) The amounts of incentive payments under this Act shall be established by the Secretary at such level, not less than $1 or more than $3 per hundredweight, as he determines is necessary to carry out the purposes of this section, except that (1) whenever the national average price received by farmers for hogs or cattle in any month is less than 85 per centum of the parity price for hogs or cattle, respectively, the incentive payment for such month shall not be less than $2 per hundredweight, and (2) whenever such average price for any month is less than 80 per centum of such parity price, the incentive payment for such month shall be $3 per hundredweight. No producer shall be eligible to receive incentive payments under this section totaling in excess of $1,500 in any calendar year. (c) The Secretary is authorized to use any funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation, and any funds appropriated by section 32 of Public Law 320, Seventy-fourth Congress (49 Stat. 774; 7 U. S. C. 612c), as amended, in making the payments provided by this section. (d) Every purchaser of hogs and cattle for slaughter shall supply to the producer of such hogs or cattle a ticket, in such form as may be prescribed by the Secretary, showing the number of hogs sold in weight classes of two hundred pounds or less, or cattle sold in weight classes of nine hundred and fifty pounds or less, and the total weight of the hogs or cattle sold. Such producer shall make application for the payment of incentive benefits under this Act by filing the ticket received by him from the buyer with the county committee for his county appointed under section 8 (b) of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act. (e) Payments shall not be made under this section after December 31, 1960. SEC. 8. That the Soil Bank Act is further amended— (a) by inserting after the second sentence of section 103 (a) the following: "In addition to the foregoing, the Secretary is authorized and directed to formulate and carry out during the period ending June 30, 1960, an acreage reserve program for grazing lands under which farmers or ranchers will be compensated for reducing their acreage of grazing lands and making |