Amend the title to read:

A bill to amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, and sections 7 to 17 of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, as amended, to encourage the growing of war crops by protecting the allotments of producers of cotton, wheat, and peanuts.

STATEMENT

With respect to cotton, subtitle B of title III of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 at present provides that not more than 2 percent of the State acreage allotment may be apportioned to farms in the State which were not used for cotton production during any of the 3 calendar years immediately preceding the year for which the allotment is made. The Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act contains no specific provisions with respect to the establishment of cotton-acreage allotments. However, it has been found desirable under previous programs to fix these allotments on the same general basis as they are fixed under the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938. With respect to wheat, both subtitle B of title III of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 and the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act at present provide that not more than 3 percent of the county allotment may be apportioned to farms on which wheat has not been planted during any of the 3 marketing years immediately preceding the marketing year in which the allotment is made.

During the past 2 years many producers of cotton and wheat, in response to an appeal by the War Food Administration, have used their entire acreages previously planted to cotton or wheat for the production of other war crops, the need for which was more critical. Most of these producers desire to continue this cooperation in the war-food program during the current and subsequent years. However, unless they return to the production of cotton or wheat prior to the reestablishment of acreage allotments in the future, it is obvious that under existing laws they could only obtain a farm-acreage allotment for cotton or wheat out of the comparatively small reserve set up for farms which have not produced wheat or cotton for 3 years. Moreover, even though they should return to the production of cotton or wheat prior to the reestablishment of acreage allotments, after being out of production for 3 years, their position would be prejudiced because the prior cotton or wheat production history of the farm would be lost for allotment purposes.

Under the terms of the bill, in establishing farm acreage allotments, the Secretary would have the authority to provide, through the medium of regulations, that with respect to any farm which had a cotton- or wheat-farm acreage allotment in 1942, in any crop year during the present emergency, beginning with the crop year 1945, such farm would be regarded as a farm on which cotton or wheat, as the case may be, was planted even though no cotton or wheat was in fact planted thereon, if the Secretary determined that because of the production of war crops on such farm the cotton- or wheat-production history of the farm for such year was not representative of the normal history of the farm. Thus, the bill will preserve the prior cotton or wheat history of such farms and their status as old farms in the agricultural-adjustment and soil-conservation and domestic-allotment

programs.

The bill as passed by the Senate was amended to provide that any farm owner or operator who, because of serving in the armed forces of the United States, was unable to plant cotton or wheat on his farm would have the same protection as the owner or operator who cooperated in the war-food program by growing war crops. After careful consideration, the committee was of the opinion that, since acreage allotments for peanuts are established only for farms which have grown peanuts in any of 3 immediately preceding years, the same protection should be accorded to the producer of peanuts who served in the armed forces of the United States and amended the bill accordingly. In view of the fact that peanuts are a vital war crop, the committee was of the opinion that producers of peanuts should not be encouraged to change to other crops by having their peanut allotments protected if they did change. Since that past acreage of peanuts is one of the elements in determining the size of peanut allotments, the bill, as amended, would authorize the Secretary to adjust upward the past acreage of peanuts grown on a farm, where the owner or operator was serving in the armed forces of the United States, to the extent that the acreage used for growing peanuts on such farm in a given year is below the normal history of the farm. No amendments to existing law are necessary to take care of a similar situation with respect to cotton and wheat.

With respect to tobacco, corn, and rice, the provisions of the present law are more liberal. Thus, a tobacco farm does not lose its old status. in the program if tobacco is produced thereon at any time during the preceding 5 years; corn need not be grown in any particular year in order for a farm to retain its old status; and a rice producer does not lose his status as an old grower until he has been out of production for 5 years. Tobacco acreage allotments are also frozen through the marketing year 1946-47. The committee was therefore of the opinon that no amendments to existing law are necessary at the present time to protect allotments for these crops for producers who grow war crops or who are serving in the armed forces of the United States.

FEBRUARY 5, 1945.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed

Mr. SLAUGHTER, from the Committee on Rules, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. Res. 120]

The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration House Resolution 120, report the same to the House with the recommendation that the resolution do pass.