DEAR CONGRESSMAN COOLEY: This is in reply to your request for a report on H. R. 4709, a bill to amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, with respect to rice acreage allotment history. This Department recommends the enactment of H. R. 4709, modified as indicated below. H. R. 4709 would amend section 353 (b) of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, so as to provide (1) that persons who have produced rice in any one of the preceding 5 years may qualify for an acreage allotment as "old" producers only if they have produced rice within the State during such period and (2) that the planting of rice in 1957 or any subsequent year on a farm for which no rice acreage allotment was established shall not make the farm eligible for an allotment as an "old" farm or the producers on the farm eligible for an allotment as "old" producers. As the law now stands, any person who produced rice in any 1 of the preceding 5 years can, in a State where farm rice acreage allotments are determined on the basis of past production of rice by the producer on the farm, qualify for an allotment as an "old" producer even though he did not produce rice in the State during the applicable base period. Also, under the present law, the planting of rice on a farm for which no rice-acreage allotment was established will make the farm eligible for an allotment as an "old" farm or the producers on the farm eligible for an allotment as "old" producers. We do not feel that these situations should be permitted to exist and, therefore, recommend the enactment of H. R. 4709. Since the so-called Barden amendment originally was enacted for tobacco, wheat, and cotton and, subsequently, extended by law to peanuts, we feel that similar provisions of law should also be extended to rice. Thus, we propose that H. R. 4709 be modified by adding thereto a new section 2 to read as follows: "SEC. 2. Section 353 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, is amended by adding at the end thereof a new subsection (f) reading as follows: (f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the acreage allotment established, or which would have been established, for a farm which is removed from agricultural production because of acquisition in 1955 or thereafter by any Federal, State, or other agency having a right of eminent domain shall be placed in an allotment pool and shall be used only to establish allotments for other farms owned or acquired by the owner of the farm so acquired by such agency: Provided, That such owner must make application therefor within three years after the end of the calendar year in which such farm was removed from agricultural production: Provided further, That the allotment so made for any farm, including a farm on which rice has not been planted to any of the five crops of rice preceding the crop for which the allotment is made, after taking into consideration the allotment acreage which was placed in the pool from the farm acquired from the applicant, shall be comparable with the allotments established for other farms in the same area which are similar except for the past acreage of rice.'" In order to more effectively discourage rice producers from overplanting their farm allotments and harvesting the excess acreage, which in subsequent years may adversely affect the allotments determined for other producers, and to provide for the termination of marketing quotas on previous crops of rice when quotas are not in effect on the current crop, we propose that H. R. 4709 be further modified by adding thereto a new section 3 to read as follows: "SEC. 3. Section 356 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, is amended (1) by adding at the end of subsection (a) a new sentence reading as follows: 'Effective beginning with the 1958 crop, the rate of penalty on rice shall be 65 per centum of the parity price per pound for rice as of June 15 of the calendar year in which the crop is produced.', and (2) by adding at the end of such section a new subsection (h) reading as follows: '(h) Whenever, in any marketing year, marketing quotas are not in effect with respect to the crop of rice produced in the calendar year in which such marketing year be gins, all marketing quotas applicable to previous crops of rice shall be terminated, effective as of the first day of such marketing year. Such termination shall not abate any penalty previously incurred by a producer or relieve any buyer of the duty to remit penalties previously collected by him.'" Under existing law pertaining to marketing quotas on rice, there are no provisions for terminating quotas on previous crops whenever quotas on the current crop are terminated. The proposed new subsection (h) to be added at the end of section 356 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, provides for such termination and makes clear that the termination would not relieve any person of any penalty on any previous crop which became due and payable prior to such termination. The language in the last sentence of the proposed new subsection (h) makes clear the privileges and liabilities of producers and buyers of rice upon termination of quotas. The Bureau of the Budget advises that there is no objection to the submission of this report. Sincerely yours, Mr. THOMPSON. We will go off the record. (Discussion off the record.) Whereupon, at 11:15 a. m., the hearing was closed.) CONTENTS House Concurrent Resolution 224 Berger, Walter C., administrator, CSS, USDA; Thomas R. Rawlings, Crofton Grain Co., New York, N. Y. Lynn, John C., legislative director, American Farm Bureau Federa- McBride, Jack, Standard Milling Co., New York.. McLain, Marvin L., Assistant Secretary of Agriculture; accompanied Pierce, Edward W., vice president, Continental Grain Co Sverdlik, Irving, secretary, Calabrian Co., Inc., New York, N. Y.; Lynn, John C., legislative director, letter to Hon. True D. Morse, Comparison of barter contracts entered into in specified periods. Page 69 1 51, 95 49 99 19 59 70 67 66 29, 100 21 5 4 15 6 4 Materials delivered or to be delivered from July 1, 1954 |