CCC Drought Feed Claim, Soil Bank to Include Grazing, Livestock (cattle Purchase)

A BILL To amend the Soil Bank Act with respect to its application to producers of flue-cured tobacco Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the first sentence of section 103 (a) of the Soil Bank Act is amended by inserting after "any other provision of law" the following: "(other than section 104 (b))".

SEC. 2. Section 104 of the Soil Bank Act is amended by inserting "(a)" after "SEC. 104." and by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:

"(b) In establishing the national reserve acreage goal for the 1957 crop of flue-cured tobacco, and in establishing the limits within which individual farms producing such tobacco may participate in the acreage reserve program, the Secretary shall consider the acreage allotments in effect for the 1956 crop of fluecured tobacco, and none other, and he shall not restrict the reserve acreage of any producer of flue-cured tobacco to an amount less than the difference between his acreage allotment for flue-cured tobacco in 1957 and such acreage allotment in 1956."

SEC. 3. Section 105 of the Soil Bank Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:

"(d) For the purpose of subsection (a), a fair and reasonable return for a reduction in the acreage of flue-cured tobacco during 1957 shall be fifty per centum of the parity price of the amount of such tobacco the Secretary determines would have been produced on the reserve acreage.'

SEC. 4. Section 106 (a) of the Soil Bank Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new sentence: "Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, any portion of the reserve acreage of a farm applicable to the 1957 crop of tobacco which exceeds the acreage allotment applicable thereto shall not be credited as provided in such sentence."

[H. R. 769, 85th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To amend the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act, 1954, to require the sale abroad at world market prices of one hundred and fifty million pounds of tobacco

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That title III of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act, 1954, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new section:

"SEC. 306. The Commodity Credit Corporation shall offer for sale abroad at world market prices not less than one hundred and fifty million pounds of tobacco.

The Secretary shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this Act. Such regulations, among other things, may prescribe the terms and conditions under which sales under this section shall be made, but no regulation shall be made which will interfere materially with the disposition of tobacco under this section."

Mr. ABBITT. The committee will please be in order.

We have before us for consideration at this time H. R. 768 and H. R. 769, and other legislation relating to tobacco. We are pleased to have with us and will at this time have a statement from Hon. Ralph J. Scott of North Carolina, who is very much interested in this legislation.

Mr. Scott, you may proceed, if you are ready.

STATEMENT OF HON. RALPH J. SCOTT, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

Mr. Scorт. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

On February 18, 1957, I introduced H. R. 4549 for the purpose of amending the Soil Bank Act to increase its benefits in the case of tobacco.

We have in the United States approximately 600,000 families, or 10 percent of the farmers in the United States, who receive the major portion of their income out of the production of some type of tobacco. Through the years the tobacco producers have tried to operate a sound program without loss to the Treasury of the United States. Time and again they have demonstrated their willingness to make the necessary adjustments in production to get supplies in line with demand. I want to commend our tobacco farmers for their splendid operation of the program for the past 20 years.

By referendum, over 95 percent of the tobacco growers have accepted mandatory cuts without compensation to keep their program in the black.

Last year, while the soil bank was being discussed by the Congress of the United States, our tobacco leaders did not insist that tobacco receive serious consideration in the soil bank for fear that they would jeopardize their position of 90-percent parity. Then, too, I do not think that they fully realized the opportunities that they had to use the soil banks as a supplement to the control program. As a result of this lack of interest at the time on the part of tobacco leaders, Congress passed the Soil Bank Act with a maximum ceiling of $45 million for all types of tobacco.

Now we have a national soil bank program of $750 million for the purpose of reducing surpluses and concerving the soils of this Nation. In my opinion, it will be the major farm program for the next few years. My bill raises the ceiling of $45 million for tobacco in the soil bank to $100 million and I am sure that no farmer in this Nation considers it unreasonable in view of the ceiling for corn, wheat, and cotton which now stand at $300 million each.

I simply do not want my tobacco producers to continue to take drastic acreage reductions without compensation at a time when we are paying out millions of dollars to other farms for similar reductions.

The following chart shows the comparative values of five basic crops in 1956 and the percentage of total soil bank funds allocated to each for 1957:

Allocation of funds and value of 1956 crop for basic commodities in 1957 acreage

Tobacco farmers have already accepted several mandatory acreage reductions without compensation. On the basis of crop values, it is suggested that an increase of the allocation for tobacco to $100 million would not be out of keeping with the allocation for wheat, cotton and corn, but would only bring it in line further with the allocation for those crops.

The second provision of my bill provides for a payment of 50 percent of the current loan level as payment for tobacco in the Soil Bank. Tobacco is a high income crop on a small acreage and I think that this is the smallest payment that we can offer and expect to get the desired participation.

Mr. Chairman, I feel that my bill is fair and equitable and I hope that this committee will give it a favorable report.

Mr. ABBITT. Thank you very much, Mr. Scott, for your statement. I assure you that the committee is helped by the information you have given and that your proposal will receive full consideration by the committee.

Mr. SCOTT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. ABBITT. We are pleased to have with us this morning Hon. William R. Natcher from the Second District of Kentucky, whom we will be pleased to hear at this time. Mr. Natcher, it is always a delight to the committee to have you appear before it. We know of your great interest in legislation relating to tobacco and are always helped by the facts and information you furnish us. You may proceed when you are ready.

STATEMENT OF HON. WILLIAM H. NATCHER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF KENTUCKY

Mr. NATCHER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee.

For the record my name is William H. Natcher, and I have the honor of representing the Second District of Kentucky. I am very grateful for the opportunity to appear before your committee in support of House Joint Resolution 195 introduced by me on January 28, 1957, and H. R. 4690, introduced by me on February 11, 1957. House Joint Resolution 195 restores the acreage reduction for dark air-cured and dark fire-cured tobacco ordered by the Secretary of Agriculture Ezra T. Benson on January 25 and relates generally to dark air-cured and dark fire-cured tobacco acreage allotments and marketing quotas. Under the terms of this Resolution the 1957 State

acreage allotments of dark fire-cured and dark air-cured tobacco would be the same as the 1956 allotments.

H. R. 4690 amends the Soil Bank Act with respect to its application to producers of fire-cured and dark air-cured tobacco, and, under the terms of this bill, any and all acreage reductions in the 1957 allotment for dark air-cured and dark fire-cured tobacco will automatically be placed in the soil bank, and for this our farmers will be paid 50 percent of parity instead of the present parity rate of 37% percent.

Kentucky is one of the great tobacco-producing States of_this country. Ďuring the calendar year of 1955 the farmers of our State produced $533 million worth of agricultural commodities, with tobacco representing 44.9 percent of this amount.

It is a recognized fact that the family-size farmer is today bearing the brunt of the postwar decline in farm income. The net income of Kentucky farmers was off some $100 million during the year 1955. The farmer's costs have soared and his gross income has diminished. The dark-tobacco farmer of Kentucky has suffered acreage reductions amounting to approximately 36 percent during the past few years and the reduction order, entered by the Secretary of Agriculture on January 25, is not necessary. Our tobacco farmer is not in a position financially to take an acreage reduction at this time, and I still am of the opinion that an orderly removal of present surplus stocks can be effected if the 1956 allotments for dark tobacco are retained.

The 1956 dark tobacco crop was a dry weather crop. Most of it was thin, sunburned, yellow, white-faced, and very coarse. Only a small portion of it was graded in straight grades, and the poor quality resulted in the Government's purchase of some 29.66 percent of the entire crop. This dry-weather crop and the 1946 production has placed our dark tobacco stocks temporarily in bad shape. The Department of Agriculture knows full well that in 1946 our darktobacco farmer, against his best judgment, was induced to increase production. Sufficient time has not expired to work off this increase which was forced on the trade at that time. If given a chance the Soil Bank will correct this situation.

From 1951 through 1955 we have 46,700,000 pounds of type 36 dark air-cured Green River tobacco produced, and our disappearance during this period was 47,700,000. During this time all types of dark tobacco produced in Kentucky suffered acreage reductions. Between 1946-1955, 17,000 acres were cut from the allotment of types 35 and 36, and the production fell from 45,600,000 pounds to 27,800,000 pounds. Type 35 one-sucker acreage was reduced from 23,000 acres in 1946 to 12,800 acres in 1955, and this brought about a reduction of 10.4 million pounds. Type 36 Green River tobacco acreage was reduced from 14,000 acres in 1946 to 7,200 acres in 1955, bringing about a decline in production of 7,400,000 pounds.

According to figures submitted to me on March 1, the total production for type 22 dark tobacco for 1956 was 40.8 million pounds; for type 23, 14.7 million pounds; for type 35 one-sucker, 19.8 million; for type 36 Green River, 10.5 million; for types 35 and 36, 30.3 million pounds.

One of the most practical ways to assist in solving the surplus problem would be to increase the soil bank payments for dark tobacco. Twelve cents per pound for dark air-cured tobacco and thirteen cents per pound for dark fire-cured tobacco is inadequate. A reasonable

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CCC Drought Feed Claim, Soil Bank to Include Grazing, Livestock (cattle ...