EMPLOYMENT Mr. WHITTEN. How many people for 1963 did you have, part time, full time, on a man-year basis, whichever you use, and how many do you expect to have in 1964? Draw a distinction between whether you pass the new farm legislation that you advocate or not? Mr. GODFREY. Our estimate shows an expectation of a wheat program being in effect and shows a total for 1963 of 36,050 total Federal and county man-years, and without a feed grain program in 1964. 32,860. The budget amendment would reduce that by 249, showing a net of 32,611. This is all man-years, including part-time field work and everything else. Mr. WHITTEN. For the conservation reserve, you made a rather full presentation. Could we have for the record the total amount of money spent on the acreage reserve part of the soil bank during its period of existence, the amount of money that you have spent for the conservation reserve, and the total cost that is estimated for the conservation reserve. Mr. GODFREY. We have it here and will supply it for the record. I would like to make a comment on conservation reserve because of the tremendous amount of letterwriting that we have had to do this last 3 or 4 months. We have some outstanding contracts now that some of you have inquired about that we have not been able to pay because of the lack of funds. If you recall, last year we made a request for approximately $311 million. It was later adjusted to about $305 million. We came out with a final appropriation of $300 million. And the actual payments due were $308 million. We were able to reduce supplemental requirements to $4 million, so that we now have a supplemental estimate in for $4 million to finish paying off our last year's commitments. Mr. WHITTEN. For the record, this is a flat obligation, and it, of course, must be paid. Mr. GODFREY. Yes, sir; it is a flat obligation. (The information supplied follows:) Payments to farmers for acreage taken out of production under the Soil Bank Act 3 Represents mandatory extensions because tree seedlings were unavailable. Mr. WHITTEN. In connection with the information I have asked for, we shall insert the material from the justifications. (The material referred to follows:) NOTE. The following justifications are presented on a funds-available basis, and the amount for 1963 reflects the carryover from the prior year. Taking carryovers into account, the 1964 budget estimates reflect a decrease of $10,493,769 from estimated funds available in 1963. This excludes an anticipated supplemental appropriation of $4 million. Summary of decreases, 1964 (on basis of available funds) Decrease in the requirements for program payments to producers under the 1963 program_. Project statement (on basis of available funds) -$10, 493, 769 1 This amount excludes an anticipated supplemental appropriation of $4,000,000. Applied costs for 1962 exceed obligations by $7,534 and are due primarily to the excess of tree seedlings received over orders placed in the year. Includes the unexpended balance of advances to CCC. -10, 493, 769 294, 000, 000 2,382, 835 11, 253, 508 312, 000, 000 300, 000, 000 -6, 000, 000 294, 000, 000 STATUS OF PROGRAM Current activities The conservation reserve program is used to help meet the agricultural surplus problem. Its primary purpose was to divert land from crop production in excess of current needs. It also provided assistance to farmers in establishing and maintaining protective cover or other sound conservation uses on the land placed in reserve. The conservation reserve was a voluntary program, under which the participating farmer signed a contract to withdraw a specified acreage of cropland from production for a period of from 3 to 10 years. He agreed to comply with any acreage allotments on his farm and to reduce his total crop acreage by the amount of land placed in the reserve. To protect the land taken out of production, the farmer also agreed to provide adequate vegetative or other approved conservation cover. He also must control weeds and take other measures as may be necessary to prevent grazing such as building or maintaining fences. The farmer's compliance with the contract binds the Federal Government to make an annual rental payment for the land held out of production and, where necessary, to assist with the cost of establishing the conservation practices on the reserve tract. Selected examples of recent progress Now 25.7 million acres in conservation reserve.--The conservation reserve program began late in the 1956 crop year and reached a peak of participation with the 1960 crop year signup of 28.7 million acres, the last year in which a program for signing up additional acreage was authorized. Contracts covering 300,000 acres expired at the end of the 1960 program and 2.5 million acres at the end of the 1961 program. During the 1962 crop season, conservation reserve contracts on 269,644 farms were in effect, covering about 25.7 million acres in all States except Alaska, Hawaii, and Nevada. The acreage was put in the program during the period 1956 through 1960, and receives an average annual rental payment of $12.05 per acre. Of the 25.7 million acres of cropland in the conservation reserve during 1962, 74 percent (18,946,215 acres) is on farms on which all the eligible land has been placed in the program. Since all the crop-producing land has been taken out of production on these farms, the production adjustment accomplished cannot be offset by more intensive crop production on other land on the same farm. The number of contracts and the reserve acreage under contract, by States, is shown in table I. Conservation achievements.-Grass cover is the most popular of the conservation practices carried out on conservation reserve land, especially in the Great Plains States. In this area, the program is stimulating the return to grass and legumes of vast areas of dry land planted to grain under wartime needs. Contracts in effect in 1962 provide for grass and legume cover on 23.2 million acres of which about 17.2 million acres were new plantings and 6 million existing acres were maintained. On contracts in effect in 1962 a total of nearly 2.1 million acres of the conservation reserve acreage has been or is being planted to trees and shrubs. Treeplanting contracts are for the full 10-year period. When cropland goes out of production and is planted to trees, it is likely to remain out of production for a long period of time, perhaps permanently. Practices designed especially for wildlife protection have gained favorable acceptance by participating farmers and general approval of sportsmen and wildlife organizations. On contracts in effect in 1962 about 302,000 acres of the conservation reserve acreage are being devoted to wildlife cover and water impoundments for wildlife including the construction of water control structures which will flood 10,000 acres of cropland. The conservation reserve contracts still in effect in 1962 include provision for the construction of 4,755 dams, pits, and ponds to impound water for wildlife, recreation, and other purposes on 12,750 acres. In addition many of the conservation measures established on land on which contracts have expired, continued through the year, but are not shown in this report. Practice payments nearly completed.-The bulk of the conservation practices are established soon after producers enter into contracts. Additional amounts required for the initial establishment of conservation cover will be small. Requirement for the reestablishment of practices which fail due to natural disasters are also expected to be small. Rental payments continue through fiscal year 1972.-Since 1960 was the last year in which additional acreage could be entered into the program, and a number of contracts will terminate each year in accordance with the contract provisions, rental payments are scheduled on a diminishing basis as depicted on the following table. It should be noted, however, that cancellation of contracts causing refund of rental and practice payments may reduce estimated disbursements for each year. Also where conservation reserve acreages are included in designated disaster areas and harvest of the conservation reserve is permitted, a part of the annual rental payment is refunded, which has the effect of reducing the amounts to be paid annually under this program. Refunds due to disaster area designations amounted to more than $2.4 million in 1961 and approximately $1.1 million in 1962. 95910-63-pt. 348 |