United States Secretary of Agriculture

“ I agree that there is reason for such belief by the Secretary of Agriculture, and therefore I am requesting the United States International Trade Commission to make an investigation with respect to this matter pursuant to Section 22 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, as amended. ”

“ When the first Commissioner of Agriculture, Isaac Newton, prepared his initial annual report to President Lincoln, he wrote: "I hardly deem it necessary to attempt to convince our intelligent countrymen of the vast importance of such a department, inasmuch as whatever improves the condition and character of the farmer feeds the life springs of national character, wealth, and power." We can all be grateful that the United States Department of Agriculture continues its vital mission today. ”

“ I have instructed the Secretary of Agriculture to lead a major effort to find new approaches to reduce the heavy cost of our farm programs and to direct more of our effort to the small farmer who needs the help the most. ”

“ Farmers and others are not permitted to resort to their own devices and to make any agreements or arrangements they desire, regardless of the restraints which may be inflicted upon commerce. The statutory program to be followed under the Agricultural Act requires the participation of the Secretary of Agriculture who is to hold hearings and make findings. ”

“ But the land soon proved too valuable for cattle raising, and farming encroached upon and finally broke up the enclosed ranges. Large areas still remain, however, which, with their native grasses, are better suited for cattle raising than for agriculture; but it is in the national forests that cattlemen now find the best grazing lands in the State. These forests are under control of the United States Forest Service, and uniform charges are made for grazing privileges. Wheat was grown early in the rich Palouse country, in the southeastern corner of the State, where the rainfall is moderate. ”

“ If the stabilization program is not suspended pursuant to subsection (b) for six consecutive months or more, the stabilization program shall be suspended whenever the Secretary determines that—
(1) the actual dairy producer margin is greater than $6.00 per hundredweight of milk for two consecutive months; (2) the dairy producer margin is equal to or less than $6.00 (but greater than $5.00) for two consecutive months, and during the same two consecutive months— (A) the price in the United States for cheddar cheese is not less than 97 percent of the world price of cheddar cheese ”

“ The preponderance of the agricultural over any other interest in the United States entitles it to all the consideration claimed for it by Washington. About one-half of the population of the United States is engaged in agriculture. ”

“ Extraordinary costs are involved just in management and disposal of this burdensome surplus. Obviously important adjustments must still come. Congress must enact additional legislation to permit wheat and other farm commodities to move into regular marketing channels in an orderly manner and at the same time afford the needed price protection to the farmer. Only then will agriculture again be free, sound, and profitable. ”

“ The grain crop of this year was the largest in our history—50 per cent greater than that of last year—and yet the new markets that have been opened and the larger demand resulting from short crops in Europe have sustained prices to such an extent that the enormous surplus of meats and breadstuffs will be marketed at good prices, bringing relief and prosperity to an industry that was much depressed. The value of the grain crop of the United States is estimated by the Secretary to be this year $500,000,000 more than last ”

“ The National Government through the Department of Agriculture should do all it can by joining with the State governments and with independent associations of farmers to encourage the growth in the open farming country of such institutional and social movements as will meet the demand of the best type of farmers, both for the improvement of their farms and for the betterment of the life itself. ”

“ This should be noted, however, that, whether the result of the discussions of this Congress or not, the people of the United States have shown an interest in agriculture and the maintenance of soil fertility which they had never shown before. Bankers, railroad officials, capitalists are beginning to see that unless the farmer receives encouragement and efficient aid, this nation will soon cease to be a factor in supplying other nations with food, and will gradually become a consuming [Pg 163] instead of a producing country, so far as the products of the soil are concerned. ”

“ Farmers must cooperate with one another and with the Government, and the Government can best give its aid through associations of farmers, so as to deliver to the farmer the large body of agricultural knowledge which has been accumulated by the National and State governments and by the agricultural colleges and schools.
The grain producing industry of the country, one of the most important in the United States, deserves special consideration at the hands of the Congress. Our grain is sold almost exclusively by grades. ”

“ Unparalleled progress in agricultural production has made the United States the world's food production model. Our ability to conquer disease and advance the health and productivity of our livestock has brought animal scientists and animal production specialists from around the world to our shores to learn the secret of America's agriculture. ”

“ The distress is most acute among those wholly dependent upon one crop.. Wheat acreage was greatly expanded and has not yet been sufficiently reduced. A large amount is raised for export, which has to meet the competition in the world market of large amounts raised on land much cheaper and much more productive.
No complicated scheme of relief, no plan for Government fixing of prices, no resort to the public Treasury will be of any permanent value in establishing agriculture. Simple and direct methods put into operation by the farmer himself are the only real sources for restoration. ”

“ A decrease in the world supply of wheat has resulted in a very large increase in the price of that commodity. The position of all agricultural products indicates a better balanced supply, but we can not yet conclude that agriculture is recovered from the effects of the war period or that it is permanently on a prosperous basis. The cattle industry has not yet recovered and in some sections has been suffering from dry weather. Every effort must be made both by Government activity and by private agencies to restore and maintain agriculture to a complete normal relationship with other industries. ”

“ To meet this situation the Food Administration has gone into the wheat business itself. Practically entire control of the buying and selling of wheat is in the hands of the great United States Food Administration Grain Corporation. Through this organization all wheat sales are made to the Army and Navy, to our allies, and to the neutrals. The price which it pays for these huge quantities sets the price for the entire country. The Food Administration also makes the movement of wheat from the farmer to the miller and to the wholesaler as simple and direct as possible. ”

“ We are signally honored by the co-operation of one of the most important members of the President's Cabinet, the Secretary of Agriculture, assisting in our program by the presence of leading officials of his staff, all endeavoring in every possible way to supply excellent sustaining foods to mankind, and to add from many choice products of field or of forest, to the joy and comforts of living. ”

“ We sell two hundred and fifty million dollars' worth of animals and animal products to foreign countries every year, in addition to supplying our own people more cheaply and abundantly than any other nation is able to provide for its people. Successful manufacturing depends primarily on cheap food, which accounts to a considerable extent for our growth in this direction. The Department of Agriculture, by careful inspection of meats, guards the health of our people and gives clean bills of health to deserving exports ”

“ As our next secretary of Agriculture, Tom will not only help ensure that rural America has a true partner in implementing the farm bill and pursuing agricultural research, but that Washington is looking out for everyone, from the small family farms that are feeding our communities to the large farms that are feeding the world. ”

“ Immediate extension of the Renegotiation Act of 1951 is also needed to eliminate excessive profits and to prevent waste of public funds in the purchase of defense materials.
AGRICULTURE
The well being of our 160 million people demands a stable and prosperous agriculture. Conversely, every farmer knows he cannot prosper unless all America prospers. As we seek to promote increases in our standard of living, we must be sure that the farmer fairly shares in that increase. Therefore, a farm program promoting stability and prosperity in all elements of our agriculture is urgently needed. ”

“ Agriculture, confessedly the largest interest of the nation, has not a department nor a bureau, but a clerkship only, assigned to it in the Government. While it is fortunate that this great interest is so independent in its nature as to not have demanded and extorted more from the Government, I respectfully ask Congress to consider whether something more can not be given voluntarily with general advantage. ”

“ The general purchasing power of farm products and the volume of production have advanced. This means not only further progress, in overcoming the price disparity into which agriculture was plunged in 1920-21, but also increased efficiency on the part of farmers and a well-grounded confidence in the future of agriculture.
The livestock industry has attained the best balance for many years and is prospering conspicuously. Dairymen, beef producers, and poultrymen are receiving substantially larger returns than last year. ”

“ Agriculture remains a major bulwark of the nation's economy and an even more important factor in the world food system. The demand for America's agricultural abundance, here and abroad, continues to grow. In the near-term, the strength of this demand is expected to press hard against supplies, resulting in continued price strength.
The health and vitality of current-day agriculture represents a significant departure from the situation that existed when I came to office four years ago. In January 1977, the farm economy was in serious trouble. Farm prices and farm income were falling rapidly. ”

“ The Department of Agriculture has in many places, perhaps especially in certain districts of the South, accomplished an extraordinary amount by cooperating with and teaching the farmers through their associations, on their own soil, how to increase their income by managing their farms better than they were hitherto managed. The farmer must not lose his independence, his initiative, his rugged self-reliance, yet he must learn to work in the heartiest cooperation with his fellows, exactly as the business man has learned to work ”

“ Next week we'll purchase another allotment of the $250 million of wheat we pledged to buy to feed hungry people around the world and help our farmers here at home. And I've directed Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman to do everything within his authority to help farmers who have suffered significant losses and to give them the resources they need now to plan next spring's crops. But with crop and livestock prices still dropping, with foreign markets still in danger of collapse, with family farms still in jeopardy, we know we must do more. ”

“ The most extensive action for strengthening the agricultural industry ever taken by any government was inaugurated through the farm marketing act of June 15 last. Under its provisions the Federal Farm Board has been established, comprised of men long and widely experienced in agriculture and sponsored by the farm organizations of the country. ”

“ Agriculture has not fully recovered from postwar depression. The fact is that economic progress never marches forward in a straight line. It goes in waves. One part goes ahead, while another halts and another recedes. Everybody wishes agriculture to prosper. Any sound and workable proposal to help the farmer will have the earnest support of the Government. Their interests are not all identical. Legislation should assist as many producers in as many regions as possible. It should be the aim to assist the farmer to work out his own salvation socially and economically. ”

“ The railway strike accentuated the difficulty of the American farmer. The first distress of readjustment came to the farmer, and it will not be a readjustment fit to abide until he is relieved. The distress brought to the farmer does not affect him alone. Agricultural ill fortune is a national ill fortune. That one-fourth of our population which produces the food of the Republic and adds so largely to our export commerce must participate in the good fortunes of the Nation, else there is none worth retaining.
Agriculture is a vital activity in our national life. ”

“ But in the face of a growing emergency for our Nation's farmers, we must do more to ensure that American farmers can continue to provide, for years to come, the safest and least expensive food in the world. ”

“ It is a program that will remove the threat to the farmer of these overhanging surpluses, a program, also, that will stimulate production when a commodity is scarce and encourage consumption when nature is bountiful. Moreover, it will promote the individual freedom, responsibility, and initiative which distinguish American agriculture. And, by helping our agriculture achieve full parity in the market, it promises our farmers a higher and steadier financial return over the years than any alternative plan. ”