We offer you the pledge of the industry to use our best efforts through the self-help provisions to make this act work to the best advantage of the industry and the United States at the least possible cost to our Government.

Thank you.

Mr. MATTHEWS. Mr. Clyde, thank you very much for a very fine. statement. We appreciate your making it to us. I wonder now if the committee has any questions.

Mr. HILL. I would like, also, to associate myself with my good chairman this morning in complimenting you on this most excellent statement. I think I should say this at this particular moment: This subcommittee of which my dear friend, Mr. Matthews, is presiding, decided to hold this, shall I call it emergency hearing, today so the sheepgrowers of the West who had come a long ways to appear before the Senate committee, could remain over the weekend and give us their testimony. And I should say our good friend, the chairman of this committee, Congressman Poage, of Texas, had to be away. He told me that we should go ahead. So we decided to give you this opportunity to place your arguments before this committee.

I am mighty happy to say that as a supporter of this recommendation the kind of information you are giving us today is just exactly what we need.

I notice a statement on page, I think it is page 4 of your statement, which interests me quite a little. I am from Colorado, as you know. And you make a statement there that is wonderful to me and you say: Now that a serious, a prolonged drought, in the Western and Southwestern States is well on the way out, there are a number of indications that a definite increase in sheep production

and so on. I just wanted to ask this question as to where you got that information that the drought is entirely over? I don't want to embarrass you. If you do not know where you got the information it is perfectly all right with this committee. I am afraid sometimes that it might linger on in a few areas.

Can you assure me that our dry land wheat area will be in good shape next year?

Mr. CLYDE. I have been very greatly influenced by this view from Texas.

Mr. HILL. What kind of view does Texas ever have except dry plains? [Laughter.]

Mr. CLYDE. They have at present, Congressman Hill, a very optimistic view and they say it has rained all over the plains of Texas and it has rained all over in Utah, and if it missed Colorado we will, certainly, see what we can do about it.

Mr. HILL. That is the answer I wanted you to give us. We share your optimism. I do, too. I know it has rained at home. The beetgrowers were worried last fall how they were going to get the beet crop harvested because it was so wet. So I think we might say that we not only hope that it is true but I feel that the drought, certainly, should be about over in that entire area.

I thank you again for a most excellent statement.

Mr. MATTHEWS. Thank you. Congressman Dixon, have you any questions?

Mr. DIXON. I should like to ask Mr. Clyde to give us a statement with regard to the handling of these funds from the checkoff. What assurance has Congress about that?

Mr. CLYDE. We have an organization to which a certain number of directors are elected from each State and they constitute the board, and of course, all expenditures must be O. K.'d by that board of directors.

In addition to that, the Department of Agriculture has a couple of men who always meet with the board. And they watch the expenditures very carefully.

If there is any question that comes up as to how the money should be spent or if there is any question of whether it isn't right, we are very courteously informed by the Department that that is not set up in the act and it should not be done that way.

I think the board of directors are very conscientious to spend this money so that there will be a good receipt for every dollar expended.

Mr. DIXON. Does the Department of Agriculture require an accounting from you?

Mr. CLYDE. Yes.

Mr. DIXON. And an audit?

Mr. CLYDE. The Department of Agriculture audits the funds of the ASPC, I think annually.

Mr. DIXON. I notice you are everlastingly after us to get Basques into this country for sheep herders. What is the necessity for that? Mr. CLYDE. The young people, the young American today, does not like to take on the work of herding sheep. He does not like that isolation that separates him from his automobile, and from the pleasures which most young men look forward to. So they are not interested in going out on the range and staying for any length of time. Therefore it is very difficult to get young men who will go and stay with the sheep and do a good job. So that we have turned to the importation of these Basques, for better help or additional help.

Mr. DIXON. What did you pay them in 1940 and what do you have to pay them today?

Mr. CLYDE. I think offhand back in 1940 we were paying around $125 a month plus board and keep. Today, well, it varies over the sections of the country, but where I live we are paying as high as $225 plus their board and keep.

Mr. DIXON. I was very much taken up with your statement that this Wool Act is of direct assistance to the small farmer, something that we cannot say about some of our other programs.

Do you think that growing of sheep on small farms is increasing? Mr. CLYDE. Very definitely. The States which I mentioned here, I think it was 26, definitely increased their sheep population. Most of those States were in the Midwest, East, and South where there are small farm flocks of sheep.

Mr. DIXON. So it is your belief that raising sheep on family farms is to be encouraged?

Mr. CLYDE. I think it is acting as a wonderful diversification for farms all over the United States. A small band of sheep as I pointed out can be run attractively at no expense and it isn't a big income, but it is a supplementary income to their other operations.

Mr. DIXON. The statement was made by Mr. McLain that we should encourage sheep raising because we do not produce enough for our domestic consumption.

Is there any danger of creating surpluses through the incentive payments?

Mr. CLYDE. Well, I would not worry about a surplus for some years to come. Production increases will not come rapidly due to the nature of our production. I am sure it is not going to grow into any immediate problem.

Mr. DIXON. What do our defense people say as to the minimum amount that we should produce domestically?

Mr. CLYDE. I don't know that I can answer that, Congressman Dixon.

Mr. DIXON. What was the aim of that act, through the incentive payments, to increase how far?

Mr. CLYDE. Up to 300 million pounds of shorn wool.

Mr. DIXON. How far have we gotten in production now?

Mr. CLYDE. Well, last year I think we produced 226 million. So we would be 74 million pounds away.

Mr. DIXON. We are a long way short of what we need.

Mr. HILL. In 1938 we produced 360 million. That is in 1938, and that is 20 years ago.

Mr. CLYDE. Yes, sir.

Mr. HILL. So we have a long ways to go. And the number of sheep given here in the information is that at one time we had in 1942 49,346,000 head of sheep. Now we have 26,370,000 so we can go quite a ways. And when you consider the increase in population, there is no time in the near future when we would be producing anywhere near as much wool as we consume. I don't think there is. Mr. DIXON. I, certainly, appreciate your testimony, Mr. Clyde, and your coming here. We are proud of you. Now that our chairman is here, I would like to thank him personally for scheduling these hearings, so that the men from way out West could appear before the ommittee while they were here in Washington. We appreciate it.

Mr. MATTHEWS. Thank you, Mr. Dixon. And I would like to introduce to this group, although I do not think he needs any introduction, Mr. Harold Cooley, the chairman of the committee. We still have quite a few witnesses to go-we have had several already.

Mr. COOLEY. Thank you very much. I do not wish to ask any questions at this time.

Mr. MATTHEWS. Thank you very much, Mr. Clyde.

Mr. CLYDE. We would like to thank you for your courtesy in extending the hearing while we are here.

Mr. MATTHEWS. Our next witness is Mr. James H. Lemmon, from Lemmon, S. Dak., president of the National Wool Marketing Corp. We are delighted to have you with us and you may proceed as you like.

But before Mr. Lemmon starts, I notice that we have Mr. Paul Etchepare, from Colorado, who has to catch a 2 o'clock plane today. Mr. Lemmon, would you prefer that I let Mr. Etchepare speak first? Is your statement very lengthy?

Mr. LEMMON. I would be glad to let him go first if you do not mind. Mr. MATTHEWs. If you do not mind, suppose we call on Mr. Etchepare, from the State of Colorado. Would you like to introduce him, Mr. Hill?

Mr. HILL. I would like to say that he is from the great State of Colorado. And he is the immediate past president of the National Lamb Feeders Association in my area in the South Platte Valley of Colorado where we feed thousands of head of lambs every year. We are doing very well this year and have for the last 2 or 3 years.

We are proud to have you here this morning, and I am sure that the committee will be enlightened by your statement.

STATEMENT

OF PAUL ETCHEPARE, REPRESENTING THE NATIONAL LAMB FEEDERS ASSOCIATION, DENVER, COLO.

Mr. ETCHEPARE. Thank you. I do want to thank you for the courtesy in asking us to appear before this committee. And I, also, want to thank you for this opportunity to present my statement at this time so that I can catch that 2 o'clock plane this afternoon.

Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, my name is Paul Etchepare. I come from Denver, Colo. I represent the National Lamb Feeders Association of which I am the immediate past president. This is a nonprofit organization made up of some 5,000 active lamb feeders. We have members in every lamb-feeding area in the United States.

I was raised on a Montana sheep ranch. I have managed both commercial and purebred sheep operations. Later, I served as secretary of the Montana Wool Growers Association and then worked for one of the larger meatpackers. For some years I have been an independent livestock operator and lamb feeder.

Our people are vitally interested in the measure before you. Prior to the passage of the 1954 Wool Act, the biggest problem of the lambfeeding industry was instability of market. The act has provided a means by which a greater stability has already been created, and extension of the act holds out the hope to us that the future car bring an even greater stability.

Others have pointed out that the sheep industry is unique in the field of American agriculture. The feeding segment of this industry is somewhat unique in its own right.

Feeding is a separate industry, requiring a very special knowledge, feeding plant, and financing. It is the last link in the chain of production that provides the American housewife with lamb. From the time feeder lambs are purchased 100 to 180 days may elapse before they are ready to go to market. During this time the feeder must risk his feed, work, and money hoping that prices will be high enough when he sells to prevent a loss and make a profit.

A lamb is like a ripening peach--he approaches the final state of perfection quickly. He must then be sold to a processor and cannot be held longer if he is to command the best price. With an unstable or fluctuating market a lamb with a dollar profit in him on Monday may easily become a dollar and a half loser by Thursday. That's why we are interested in a stable market.

We see such price instability not because of oversupply, but because of a narrow market. During and after the war, outlets for our product dwindled to just a few channels of demand. few channels of demand. Perhaps Federal price controls must take the blame for a good portion of this situation. There is little to be gained through a review of past mistakes. The essential thing at the moment is that we profit through this experience,

identify and face our problems, and try to build a program that will accomplish the end that congressional, administration, and industry leaders seek a healthy American sheep industry.

We firmly believe that this can best be accomplished through extension of the National Wool Act of 1954. At the recent convention of our association in Omaha, a resolution was passed unanimously urging that the act be extended. We are especially interested in section 708 (or the self-help provision) of the act because it has been and can continue to be a specific help for the lamb feeder.

We need a much broader market than we have now, and 708 is a means of achieving that market. The temporary seasonal gluts that we see on our narrow market can be erased by channeling some of our lambs to other outlets. Far too large a percent go to the high consumption areas of New York, New England, Philadelphia, and our large west coast cities. Successful diversion during these gluts will help us immeasurably.

These periods of heavier shipment are caused by climatic factors over which we have no control. Sheep producers must lamb their ewes when Mother Nature dictates. This means that many lambs will reach maturity within a short period, and we find it impossible to maintain an even flow to our slaughterers.

The two critical periods come in the fall when the bulk of the milk finished lambs hit the market and again in the late winter-early spring when we feeders sell most of our fed lambs.

Now that we have had opportunity to watch our own educational and advertising program in operation, we are even more convinced that the National Wool Act can cure these seasonal ills of ours and give us the stability the industry needs.

As the 708 program continues and expands, we expect to see an improved marketing of our product and a broadening of the channel through which lamb may be properly retailed. Proper retailing will inevitably result in better year-round demand and better price for lamb. This means that we, as feeders, can pay more for feeder lambs with much more confidence. In other words, 708 has already given us a firm foundation and, if continued, can provide material with which we can build a stable and profitable industry-au industry that is vital to the defense of our Nation.

Because of conditions of terrain, climate, and forage, lamb feeding is an integral part of the cycle of sheep production in the United States. Roughly half of each year's lamb crop goes through a feed lot. Some of these feed-lot lambs do not go for slaughter, but are ewe lambs that are returned to farms and ranches as breeding stock. Thus the feeder serves as a reservoir from which replacement breeding ewes may be drawn.

It is possible to attribute some of the increase in sheep numbers in the Southern States such as Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the increase in lamb feeding in those States. I doubt very much that these increases would have been possible without the help of the Wool Act.

Gentlemen, any new program put into effect has growing pains in its administration and setting up the rules. In our own industry, we have experienced some of these things, yet I want to assure you that our industry is in full accord in our overall approval of the act itself and its stabilizing effect on the industry.