Distribution of paid employment, Dec. 31, 1940, to Nov. 30, 1949, adjusted to reflect all major organizational changes which occurred during that period-Continued Distribution of paid employment, Dec. 31, 1940, to Nov. 30, 1949, adjusted to reflect all major organizational changes which occurred during that period-Continued Total.. Production and Marketing Administration: Full time.. Other than full time. Total.. Rural Electrification Administra tion: Full time. Other than full time. Total.. 14, 249 11, 253 12, 476 9, 722 8, 776 10, 193 11, 477 10,869 11, 059 11,45 13, 874 14, 715 17, 278 18, 759 17, 212 16, 969 14, 575 10, 519-10, 991 › 12, 640 Other than full time.. 36, 635 32, 484 70, 544 61, 228 57, 569 60, 979 60, 834 51,821 55,372 50 4M 31, 553 17, 387 17, 079 22, 610 17, 214/16, 029 16, 371 12 274 108, 251 108, 317 102, 097 78, 615 74, 648 83, 589 78, 048 67, 850 71,743 71, 930 1 Changes which occurred in calendar year 1949: Commodity Credit Corporation was consolidated with Production and Marketing Administration. Office of Administrator, Research and Marketing was transferred to Office of Administrator, ARA. Due to correction in reporting intermittent employees as required by Civil Service Commission Farmers Home Administration State and county committeemen are reported only when they perform service during the reporting month. In previous years, FHA State and county committeemen were reported whether or not they performed service during the reporting month. (The following information was requested on p. 142:) PERTINENT PROVISIONS OF THE RESEARCH AND MARKETING ACT WITH EXPLANATORY COMMENT I. The first purpose stated in the Research and Marketing Act, Public Law 733, Seventy-ninth Congress, approved August 14, 1946, is to amend the Bankhead-Jones Act (approved June 29, 1935) by substituting the following section for section 1, title I, of that act "SECTION 1. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress to promote the efficient production and utilization of products of the soil as essential to the health and welfare of our people and to promote a sound and prosperous agricul ture and rural life as indispensable to the maintenance of maximum employment and national prosperity. It is also the intent of Congress to assure agriculture position in research equal to that of industry which will aid in maintaining an equitable balance between agriculture and other sections of our economy. For the attainment of these objectives, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed to conduct and to stimulate research into the laws and principles underlying the basic problems of agriculture in its broadest aspects, including but not limited to: Research relating to the improvement of the quality of, and the development of new and improved methods of the production, marketing, distribution, processing, and utilization of plant and animal commodities at all stages from the original producer through to the ultimate consumer; research into the problems of human nutrition and the nutritive value of agricultural commodities, with particular reference to their content of vitamins, minerals, amino and fatty acids, and all other constituents that may be found necessary for the health of the consumer and to the gains or losses in nutritive value that may take place at any stage in their production, distribution, processing, and preparation for use by the consumer; research relating to the development of present, new, and extended uses and markets for agricultural commodities and byproducts as food or in commerce, manufacture, or trade, both at home and abroad, with particular reference to those foods and fibers for which our capacity to produce exceeds or may exceed existing economic demand; research to encourage the discovery, introduction, and breeding of new and useful agricultural crops, plants, and animals, both foreign and native, particularly for those crops and plants which may be adapted to utilization in chemical and manufacturing industries; research relating to new and more profitable uses for our resources of agricultural manpower, soils, plants, animals, and equipment than those to which they are now, or may hereafter be, devoted; research relating to the conservation, development, and use of land, forest, and water resources for agricultural purposes: research relating to the design, development, and the more efficient and satisfactory use of farm buildings farm homes, farm machinery, including the application of electricity and other forms of power; research relating to the diversification of farm enterprises, both as to the type of commodities produced, and as to the types of operations performed on the individual farm; research relating to any other laws and principles that may contribute to the establishment and maintenance of a permanent and effective agricultural industry including such investigations as have for their purpose the development and improvement of the rural home and rural life, and the maximum contribution by agriculture to the welfare of the consumer and the maintenance of maximum employment and national prosperity; and such other researches or experiments bearing on the agricultural industry or on rural homes of the United States as may in each case be deemed advisable, having due regard to the varying conditions and needs of Puerto Rico, the respective States, and Territories * * "" * II. The second purpose of the Research and Marketing Act was to extend the Bankhead-Jones Act by adding three new sections: (1) Section 9 authorizes the appropriation of funds for grants-in-aid to the State agricultural experiment stations, beginning at $2,500,000 for the first year. It authorizes additional increments each subsequent year for a total of 5 years, the amount authorized for the fifth year being $20,000,000. Such sums, in addition to this amount, as may be deemed necessary by the Congress are authorized thereafter. This section directs that 72 percent of the sums appropriated should be paid to Puerto Rico, the States, and Territories in accordance with a formula set forth in the act and on a matching fund basis. The remainder of the funds authorized under section 9, except for the 3 percent allowed for administrative expenses of the Office of Experiment Stations of the Department, is made available to the States for regional research in which two or more experiment stations are cooperating to solve problems that concern the agriculture of more than one State. The projects for which these regional funds are allocated under this authority, as specified in the act, are selected and recommended for approval of the Secretary by a committee of nine persons elected by and representing the directors of the State agricultural experiment stations. "The State agricultural experiment stations are authorized to plan and conduct any research provided for under this title (title I) in cooperation with each other and such other appropriate agencies and individuals as may contribute to the solution of these problems * "Not less than 20 percent of the funds authorized to be appropriated under section 9 shall be used by State agricultural experiment stations for conducting marketing research projects * * *"" (2) Section 10 (a): "SEC. 10 (a). In order to carry out further research on utilization and associated problems in connection with the development and application of present, new, and extended uses of agricultural commodities and products thereof authorized by section 1 of this title, and to disseminate information relative thereto * * This section authorizes appropriations in sums beginning at $3,000,000 for the first fiscal year, and totaling $15,000,000 for the fifth year, with this amount and such additional funds as the Congress may deem necessary being authorized for the following years. "The Secretary of Agriculture, in accordance with such regulations as be deems necessary, and when in his judgment the work to be performed will be carried out more effectively, more rapidly, or at less cost than if performed by the Department of Agriculture, may enter into contracts with such puble or private organizations or individuals as he may find qualified to carry on wors under this section * * *"" "Research authorized under this subsection shall be conducted so far as practicable at laboratories of the Department of Agriculture. Projects conducted under contract with public and private agencies shall be supplemental to and coordinated with research at these laboratores." (3) Section 10 (b): "Section 10 (b). In order to carry out further the purposes of section 1. other than research on utilization of agricultural commodities and the products thereof, and in addition to all other appropriations authorized by this title, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated for cooperative research with the State agricultural experiment stations and such other appropriate agencies as may be mutually agreeable to the Department of Agriculture and the experiment stations concerned the following sums * * * " This section authorizes appropriations in sums beginning at $1,500,000 for the first fiscal year and totaling $6,000,000 for the fourth fiscal year, with this amount and such additional funds as the Congress may deem necessary being authorized thereafter. Funds under this section are used by agencies of the Department of Agriculture for work in cooperation with State agricultural experiment stations. III. Title II of the Research and Marketing Act is cited as the "Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946." Section 202 is quoted as follows: "The Congress hereby declares that a sound, efficient, and privately operated system for distributing and marketing agricultural products is essential to a prosperous agriculture and is indispensable to the maintenance of full employment and to the welfare, prosperity, and health of the Nation. It is further declared to be the policy of Congress to promote through research, study, experimentation, and through cooperation among Federal and State agencies, farm organizations, and private industry a scientific approach to the problems of marketing, transportation, and distribution of agricultural products similar to the scientific methods which have been utilized so successfully during the past eighty-four years in connection with the production of agricultural products that such products capable of being produced in abundance may be marketed in an orderly manner and efficiently distributed. In order to attain these objectives, it is the intent of Congress to provide for (1) continuous research to improve the marketing, handling, storage, processing, transportation, and distribution of agricultural products; (2) cooperation among Federal and State agencies, producers, industry organizations, and others in the development and effectuation of research and marketing programs to improve the distribution processes (3) an integrated administration of all laws enacted by Congress to aid the dis tribution of agricultural products through research, market aids and services, and regulatory activities, to the end that marketing methods and facilities may be improved, that distribution costs may be reduced and the price spread between the producer and consumer may be narrowed, that dietary and nutritions: standards may be improved, that new and wider markets for American agricatural products may be developed, both in the United States and in other countries, with a view to making it possible for the full production of American farms to be disposed of usefully, economically, profitably, and in an orderly manner Section 203 of this title authorizes and directs the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct research, service, and educational work in the marketing field and lists 14 seperate subsections under which such work is to be conducted. The Secretary is authorized to allocate fund's to State agencies under the following authority: "For cooperative projects in marketing service and in mɛrketing research to effectuate the purposes of title II of this Act: Provided. That no such allotment and no payment of any such allotment shall be made for any fiscal year to any State agency in excess of the amount which such State agency makes available out of its own funds for such research." Authority for contracting under title II exists in the same manner as that quoted above under section 10 (a). IV. Title III authorizes and directs the Secretary to establish a national advisory committee "To aid in implementing the research and service work authorized under titles I and II of this Act, and to assist in obtaining the fullest cooperation from Federal and State agencies, producers, farm organizations, and private industry, in the development of and in effectuating such research and service programs, and in order to secure greatest benefit from the expenditure of funds, * * * The chairman of the committee shall be the Secretary of Agriculture or such other official of the Department of Agriculture as he shall designate. The committee shall consist of eleven members, six of whom shall be representatives of producers or their organizations * * * "The Secretary of Agriculture may, in addition to the national adviser committee, establish appropriate committees, including representatives of producers, industry, government and science, to assist in effectuating specific research and service programs.' (Further discussion of work under specific sections of the act may be found at the appropriate place in the hearings concerning that section.) (The following information was requested on p. 629:) SOIL RESEARCH IN THE UNITED STATES A REPORT PREPARED AT THE REQUEST OF THE HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURAL APPROPRIATIONS AND SUBMITTED BY THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION A changing agriculture INTRODUCTION American agriculture has made drastic adjustments and greatly increased efficiency during the past 20 years. Much of this has been based on the application of the findings of agricultural research and improved technology. The really great increases in efficiency of sustained production-high production and conservation—have resulted from combinations of many practices fitted to the soils of the individual farm. Only with erosion control and good soil management can the benefits of new varieties, machines, and disease control be fully realized. Potentialities of soils Most soils, if simply cleared and plowed, have a narrow range of possible uses. Through technical management, using measures for soil erosion and run-off control, lime, fertilizer, introduced forage plants, and the like, the range of potentialities is enormously widened. This process is happening all over the country, but perhaps more especially in the Southern and Middle Atlantic States. While the physical limitations of soils may be recognized and mapped, the real productive potentialities of millions of family farms cannot be gaged by either present land use or past history. Research at a few places now points to the great unrealized potentialities for expanding the choices of crops, for increasing the yields, and for lengthening the effective growing season. Cotton and corn in the South, for example, use only a part of the growing season. With adequate fertilization and proper varieties of small grains, grasses, and legumes, crops can be growing during all the year. Millions of the fields in the South that lie fallow and brown and open to destructive erosion from November to April could be green and productive with the soil under a protective cover. Systems to accomplish this have been partially worked out for some of the soils. They can and need to be perfected much further. The opportunities for further improvement in the efficiency of family farms, to protect and make full use of the potentialities of soil and climate, are very great indeed. Special mention has been made of the South, because there the problems of soil deterioration through erosion, impairment of tilth, or loss of fertility, and resulting low farm income are acute. These can be solved. Similar examples could be cited from almost every part of the country. The Soil Conservation Operations, the Extension Service, and the agricultural conservation programs should have the guidance and support of a strong soilresearch program. 60623-50-pt. 6- -34 |