THE SOUTHERN GREAT PLAINS PROGRAM

In an effort to meet the special problems of the dry, wind-swept areas of the Southern Great Plains, farmers, on a wider scale, made use in 1940 of the special localized program adapted from the regular agricultural conservation program. The program, developed through local leadership, increased the emphasis on wind-erosioncontrol practices.

Seventeen counties in Texas and Kansas used the special winderosion-control features of the program in 1940, thus demonstrating that the program can be adjusted to meet specific problems which are of major importance in localized areas. Evidence of the popularity of the wind-erosion-control program was shown by the fact that it was expanded in 1941 to include 40 counties in four StatesTexas, Kansas, New Mexico, and Colorado.

The principal difference between the wind-erosion-control program and the regular agricultural conservation program is the additional requirement that all payments must be earned by carrying out winderosion control, water development, or other agricultural conservation practices. These practices include cover cropping, strip cropping, approved summer fallow, contour farming, contour listing, border planting, and seeding of perennial grasses. The provisions call for use of one or more of these practices on virtually the entire farm. The amount of payments which can be earned in a county is determined by the estimated payments which would have been earned under the regular program.

The main benefits of the program are more effective soil-building practices, increased acreages on which soil-building practices are carried out, increased farmer participation, and large acreages of border planting and strip cropping.

INTEGRAL PHASES OF THE PROGRAM

The integral phases of the 1940 farm program included the agricultural conservation program, income protection and supply stabilizing measures, the Ever-Normal Granary and crop-insurance features, and other activities and special programs harmonizing and synchronizing with the over-all program of the Department.

THE CONSERVATION PROGRAM

Some of the most important functions of the A. A. A. were performed through the agricultural conservation program, which embodied acreage allotments for major crops, soil-building practices, and conservation payments covering a portion of the sacrifices involved or the costs incurred by farmers in their efforts to bring about a better balance between soil-depleting and soil-conserving crops.

ACREAGE ALLOTMENTS

Individual farm acreage allotments of soil-depleting crops under the 1940 Agricultural Conservation Program represented each farmer's proportionate share of national acreage goals. Acreage allotments under the program have been used to reduce the acreage planted to crops that wear out the soil. In 1940, the acreage of soil-depleting

crops was about 30 million acres less than the 5-year average acreage before the A. A. A.-from 1928 through 1932 The national goal for all soil-depleting crops in 1940 was 270 million to 285 million acres. (See p. 16 for break-down by commodities.)

The accomplishments of the Nation's farmers in their efforts to meet the established goal are described in discussions of the program by commodities and regions which appear in other chapters of this report.

SOIL BUILDING

The 1940 conservation goal called for the carrying out of soilbuilding practices to conserve and improve soil fertility and to prevent wind and water erosion. Each participating farm had a soilbuilding goal to be achieved by carrying out such practices. Part of the conservation payment that a farmer could earn was based on his achievements under this part of the program.

From the standpoint of helping the food-for-defense program, perhaps the most significant accomplishments under the 1940 agricultural and range conservation programs were the seeding of legumes and grasses on 42,448,663 acres and the reseeding of 30,978,015 acres of pasture and range land by deferred grazing and the planting of seeds.

Green-manure and cover crops were planted on 21,524,500 acres. Forestry practices, including the planting of trees, maintenance or improvement of stands, restoration by nongrazing, and woodland rehabilitation, were carried out on 524,777 acres.

The application of 13,008,519 tons of fertilizer and lime indicated outstanding progress in this phase of the program during 1940. This total included 936,093 tons of 16-percent superphosphate or equivalent, and 12,001,133 tons of ground limestone or its equivalent.

Erosion-control practices, including terracing and contour ridging, were carried out on 41,573,013 acres.

Farmers cooperating in the 1940 program constructed 74,642 dams and reservoirs, and 280,758,000 linear feet of terraces. Contour ridges amounting to 20,273,000 linear feet were built during the year.

PAYMENTS

Conservation payments, including range conservation payments, in connection with the 1940 program, amounted to $442.711.000, and parity payments on wheat, corn, cotton, and rice totaled $196,761,000, making a combined total of $639,472,000 earned by farmers for their 1940 adjustment efforts.

MARKETING QUOTAS

Marketing quotas may be used to buttress the price-supporting influence of commodity loans. Their effect is to limit the sale of the commodity during a marketing year when supplies are at excessive levels. Quotas are not in effect unless approved by two-thirds or more of the producers of the commodity who vote in a referendum. As a result of excessively large supplies of cotton and flue-cured and burley tobacco, quotas for 1940 had been voted on in the fall

of 1939 and approved by farmers. Of the cotton farmers voting, 91.2 percent were in favor of marketing quotas, and flue-cured and burley tobacco growers voted 90.0 and 83.3 percent, respectively, in favor of quotas.

During the 1940-41 fiscal year supply determinations, made in accordance with the act as amended, revealed excessive supplies of cotton, four kinds of tobacco, peanuts, and wheat, which necessitated a vote on quotas. Farmers by large majorities approved marketing control for each of these commodities.

The referendums on peanut and wheat quotas in 1941 were the first for these commodities under the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended.

The cotton and wheat quotas applied only to the marketing of the 1941 crop, while tobacco and peanut growers voted quotas on crops for 3 years, 1941-43. Table 1 shows referendum votes on all commodities, from 1934 through June 1941.

TABLE 1.-Results of AAA referendums, 1934 through June 1941

13-year quotas.

In keeping with the terms of the Kerr-Smith Act, the referendum was conducted on an acreage basis. Acreage voting-1,667,518; acreage voting "Yes"-1,610,107; acreage voting "No"-57,411; percent of voting and land voting "Yes"-96.6.

EVER-NORMAL GRANARY

The Ever-Normal Granary-a storage principle employed by the Pharaohs of Egypt and by Joseph-assumed increasing importance in the National Defense Program during 1940-41.

The corn, wheat, and cotton from previous rich harvests stored in cribs, bins, and warehouses throughout the country represent not only valuable reserves for this Nation and the other defenders of democracy, but also a protected farm income.

Moreover, just as storage loans made possible an above-ground Ever-Normal Granary, acreage allotments, soil-building practices, and conservation payments combined to bring about reserves of fertility in the soil.

CONSERVATION MATERIALS AND SERVICES PROGRAM

One of the special programs is the conservation materials and services program, under which phosphatic fertilizers, liming materials, seeds, trees, and terracing services are purchased for distribution to farmers in the respective regions for use in carrying out approved soil-building practices, in lieu of conservation payments which farmers cooperating in the agricultural conservation program would otherwise receive.

Conservation materials and services furnished under the agricultural conservation program during 1940-41 fiscal year

As part of the A. A. A. farm program's measures to promote conservation and to improve farm income, a winter legume seed program was inaugurated in 1940 and continued for 1941 and 1942. The program is twofold in operation. First, farmers in the seed-producing areas, principally the Pacific Northwest, are encouraged to increase production of winter legume seed. The encouragement is offered through a price-supporting purchase program carried on by the Commodity Credit Corporation. Second, seed purchased by the Corporation is transferred to the A. A. A., and is then offered to farmers in Southern and East Central States as conservation materials in lieu of payments earned under the conservation program.

Thus, the program serves to provide one group of farmers with a greater and more stable supply of seed as an inducement to more widespread use of winter cover crops. With the outbreak of the European war, this factor took on added importance. During recent years, as much as 50 percent of the crimson clover and 40 percent of

the hairy vetch seed, for example, were obtained from foreign countries and this source of supply was completely cut off by the war. In addition, as defense needs for nitrates have increased, greater use of leguminous winter cover crops is serving to release large amounts. of nitrates hitherto used as fertilizer.

At the same time, the program is providing increased markets and income for farmers in the seed-producing regions.

Great progress has been made under the program. In 1935, for example, production of hairy vetch seed totaled 5,750,000 pounds, and of peas 10,350,000 pounds. In 1940, these figures had increased to 24,950,000 pounds of vetch and 53,685,000 pounds of peas. All of this seed, except the small amount needed for reseeding purposes, went to Southern and East Central farmers for cover-crop plantings.

FIBER FLAX PROGRAM

A fiber flax program, inaugurated in 1936 to encourage the production of fiber flax in this country, was continued in 1940 and 1941. Since fiber flax is the source of linen, which serves many military and naval purposes, the fiber flax program fulfilled increasingly important defense needs.

Under the 1940 program, payments to growers averaged $4.76 per ton. The 9,142 tons of flax straw produced in 1940 exceeded the average of 3.704 tons for the 10-year period 1930-39. Producers of field-cured fiber flax straw, suitable for the production of spinning fiber, were offered payments of not more than $5.50 per ton on not more than 9,090 tons of straw produced in 1941. For all straw produced above this amount, the rate of payment was to be reduced proportionately.

The principal fiber flax-producing areas in this country are the Willamette Valley in Oregon; Clark County, Wash.; and Saint Clair County, Mich.

COTTON-MATTRESS-AND-COMFORTER PROGRAM

Under the cotton-mattress-and-comforter program, the Agricultural Adjustment Administration cooperates with the Exension Service and the Surplus Marketing Administration in distributing cotton, ticking, and percale to rural families in the low-income group, for use in making cotton mattresses and comforters. During the 1940-41 fiscal year, 1,826,443 mattresses and 310,576 comforters were made and distributed.

THE AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY PROGRAM

The use of aerial photographs, which was started by the A. A. A. in 1936 as the quickest, most economical, and most satisfactory means of checking compliance under the farm program, was continued during the fiscal year 1940-41. This photography also is being used by the A. A. A. and other agencies in the Department of Agriculture for program planning, mapping, and other purposes.

From 1936 to June 30, 1941, approximately 1,565,000 square miles of territory in the United States had been flown for the A. A. A. or had been covered by contract.