Secretary BRANNAN. Elmer, will you take that?

Mr. KRUSE. It does not make any difference. I think I know this from memory.

Secretary BRANNAN. Go ahead.

Mr. KRUSE. I will explain to the committee what our actual procedures were. You will remember that the 1948 bumper crops were followed by bumper crops in 1949. There were severe limitations on what Commodity Credit Corporation could do in the way of storage until finally, in June of 1949, I think, legislation was enacted which made it clear that the Commodity Credit Corporation could, if they were needed, acquire storage of a temporary nature.

Mr. WHITTEN. Those bumper crops; were they the result of production that had been built up during the war?

Mr. KRUSE. They were a continuation of the production that we had asked for made possible by increased technological knowledge which helped build up the production we had asked for during the war when it was very urgently needed.

Then when the war was over the farmer had this knowledge, he had this machinery, and there was still a lot of need for the exporting of food and grain.

But as that need diminished somewhat, the prices began to sag, and with the big crops that we had the take-over from the 1948 crop was greater than it had been for a great many years.

Mr. WHITTEN. Will you show in the record at this point the actual figures?

Mr. KRUSE. Yes; we have a lot of tabulations on that.

(The information referred to follows:)

Mr. KRUSE. When it became apparent about the 1st of July 1948, that the Corporation, might be asked to take over in excess of 700,000,000 bushels of corn, we began to wonder where we would put the corn.

In addition to that, the wheat harvest had been bountiful in the Southwest and was just starting in June when we got our authorization. The farmers were complaining that they could not take advantage of the Commodity Credit loans because they could not find the storage. The elevators would not take it. They were either full or they wanted to reserve the space for their own use.

It was then on the 7th of June 1949, I think, that we issued the first press release which indicated what action we proposed to takelet me read the release:

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, JUNE 7, 1949.

SECRETARY BRANNAN ANNOUNCES GRAIN STORAGE PROGRAM

Secretary of Agriculture Charies F. Brannan today released the following statement outlining the immediate steps to be taken in a broad program to develop more adequate storage facilities for farm commodities:

The President has just signed a bill restoring to the Commodity Credit Corporation the authority, held by the Corporation from its inception until last year, to assist farmers to store their grain and other products and to provide storage for these commodities when they are turned over to the Corporation in the conduct of the authorized price support programs.

The Department of Agriculture has been prepared to attack the grain storage problem at any time it, regained the authority to do so. It is now in position to go ahead, and is taking immediate action.

The wheat crop is already being harvested in the southwestern part of the country, and it is too late now to do all of the things we had planned earlier as part of a broad program to handle peak grain harvest periods and to carry out our year-round price-support obligations. However, the Department will move at once to put into effect as much of the program as possible at this time.

Three major steps have been specially and realistically adapted to meet the immediate situation and to prepare for the grain storage problems which are almost certain to develop as crops are harvested during the next several months. These steps are:

1. Because wheat is already being harvested in the Southwest, and because farmers are finding it difficult to make use of available commercial storage, CCC will temporarily liberalize the provisions of its price-support grain loan program. This will make it possible for grain farmers to take advantage of the protection offered by the support program, even though adequate storage facilities are not immediately available to them.

In all areas where climatic conditions make it possible to store wheat for short periods on the ground in the open, or in other temporary ways which are available to farmers, CCC will grant "distress" grain loans immediately. These distress loans will be granted with the definite understanding that the farmer himself is to build or acquire satisfactory farm storage facilities within not more than 90 days. When he does, and the wheat is properly housed, the distress loan will become a regular loan under the CCC price-support program.

Seventy-five percent of the full support level will be advanced to the farmer at the time he takes out the distress loan. He will receive the balance of the fullprice support loan when the grain is in his new storage facility. Determination of grade and quality will be made at the time the grain is put under the distress loan. The quantity will be estimated at the time the distress loan is granted, and it will be finally checked and determined when the grain goes into the permanent storage. The farmer will not be responsible for changes in grade and quality which may occur during the period of the distress loan.

In areas where it is not feasible for farmers to leave wheat in the open or in other temporary storage, and where adequate storage facilities are not available