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Helped American Farmer
Agricultural Act Os 1970
Changed ASC Program
>?' By James Taunton
Executive Director
The Agricultural Act of
19>0 was a rather sharp
departure from policies of
pa|t years. It was a
m«rket-orlented bill. It
wpfe designed to help
American farmers expand
thdjr markets and increase
ttvdtr Incomes through
salps instead of govern
ment payments.
The old crop by-crop
pljintlng limits were
•Urinated. Upon setting
dsj{le his share of the
rfaTlonal land diversion
requirement, a farmer was
fre{ to plant whatever crop
he*decided would give him
tJiA- highest net return on
remaining acres.
€x£eptions to the sub
feature were the
totalled quota crops -
tpt)£cco, sugar, peanuts, -
operated under
separate and permanent
legislation.
tHt AGRICULTURE
A D CONSUMER
PROTECTION ACT OF
Wjt
Agriculture and
Consumer Protection Act
qt |973 represents an even
rpqfe significant departure
ffdm previous programs
thdn the 1970 ACT. The 1973
taw:
I -Made a dramatic
departure from the
traditional, straight parity
goqcept of the previous 40
yfedrs of programs by
creating guaranteed
"established,” or "target"
P[r4fes and deficiency
payments for wheat, feed
grains and upland cotton;
aptjjng target rates for 1974
dhd 1975 crops--with an
escalation clause tied to
dhanges In costs of
production and changes in
production efficiency in
£Hlng 1976 and 1977 target
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IVff IfflkT TIRE SERVICE [
iiliLlLini O APPLIANCE 5
U.S. HWY. 41 SOUTH
PERRY, CA. DIAL 987-3033 ■
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prices (deficiency
payments would be
triggered if the season
average price for a
commodity fell below the
specified target price.);
-Provided for disaster
payments for prevented
planting and abnormal
yields, based on acreage
allotments and production
history;
Established a "neutral
gear" for farm programs,
enabling the government
to effectively remove itself
from the production
planning of farmers.
Participation is both
voluntary and passive, so
farmers need not sign up
or report to government
offices, unless production
losses or low average
market prices trigger
disaster or deficiency
payments or farmers
choose to utilize the sup
port loan;
set a payment
limifation of $20,000 for
individual program par
ticipants, down from the
$55,000 to $165,000
limitation range of the
Agricultural Act of 1970;
And, allowed ad
ministrative deter
mination of the level of
price support loans in
order to maintain the
competitive position of
US.farmers in world
markets.
The 197.3 Act also
provided for a disaster
reserve of grains to
alleviate distress caused
by a natural disaster,
continued the acreage set
aside authority, eliminated
marketing certificates
under the wheat program,
authorized a number of
special studies and
technical support
programs, extended in
demnity programs for
pesticide related losses to
beekeepers and dairies,
extended authority for
payments on wool and
mohair, established long
term contract authority for
conservation practice cost
sharing, made certain
revisions in the dairy
support program, ex
tended the Public Law 480
program provisions
continued rural
development authority,
and provided for certain
revisions of the Food
Stamp Act of 1964.
Experience Under
Market-Oriented
Farm Programs
The shift of U.S. farm
policy to markets as the
sole source of farm income
is very real and is likely to
endure for many reasons;
(1) strong demand for
Georgia's Senior Senator
Senator Herman Tolmadge
A Leader In U.S. Senate
In addition to his present
service as United States
Senator and previously as
Governor of Georgia,
Herman Talmadge has
had a long and successful
career as attorney,
farmer, insurance
executive, Naval officer
and businessman.
Now in his 19th year as a
member of the Senate,
Herman Talmadge has
attained national
recognition as a hard
working advocate of
responsible and responsive
government, an eloquent
and persuasive orator, a
agricultural products in
the world due to increasing
population and generally
improved personal in
comes; (2) improved
standard of living goals in
centrally-planned
economies; (3) un
certainties of weather
worldwide; (4) higher
energy cost, which have
slowed down productivity
growth in many nations;
(5) floating currency
exchange rates; (6) im
provements in nations'
economies; and (7) the
wide acceptance of
market-oriented farm
programs, because of
higher farm Incomes and
lower costs to taxpayers
for those programs.
Significant develop
ments for government and
farmers under the past few
convincing spokesman for
Constitutional government
and individual liberty. He
has also earned respect as
an authority on the
nation's fiscal policies and
agricultural programs.
In the 94th Congress,
Senator Talmadge holds
positions of increasing
responsibility.
-Chairman of the
Agriculture and Forestry
Committee
- Second ranking on
Finance Committee
• Second on Veterans
Affairs Committee
- Second on Standards
and Conduct (Ethics)
Committee
- Joint Committee on
Internal Revenue Taxation
Senator Talmadge also
is a member of the In
fluential, nine-member
Democratic Policy
Committee. In May, 1973,
Senator Talmadge was
appointed to the seven
member Select Committee
on Presidential Campaign
Activities, the so-called
Watergate Committee.
"This was not a position I
sought. But once given the
assignment, I endeavored
to conduct myself in an
impartial manner and in
such away as to bring
credit to Georgia and the
Nation," Senator
Talmadge said.
Prior to election to the
Senate in 1956, Talmadge
served as Governor of
Georgia for six years, from
1948-1955. His ad
ministration was marked
by positive ac
complishments of a lasting
nature, with special em
phasis on a broad program
of educational ad
vancement and social
service.
Born August 9, 1913, near
Mcßae, Georgia in Telfair
County, Senaotor
Talmadge resides on his
farm at Lovejoy, about 30
miles south of Atlanta. He
was graduated from the
University of Georgia in
1936 with an LL.B degree,
and practiced law with his
father, Governor Eugene
Talmadge. Married
Elizabeth Shingler of Ash
burn, Georgia in
December, 1941: two sons,
Herman Eugene
Talmadge Jr. and the late
Robert Shingler
Talmadge; five grand
children, Herman Eugene
Talmadge 111, Tyler Welch
Talmadge, Robert Eugene
Talmadge, Margaret
Elizabeth Talmadge and
Elizabeth Idella
Talmadge. A combat
veteran of World War 11,
Talmadge served with the
U.S. Navy in the South
Pacific.
Overwhelmingly
reelected to a fourth term
years of experience under
market-oriented farm
legislation follow.
Disaster Payments.
Disaster payments for
conditions either
preventing crop seeding or
causing abnormally low
yields--due to drought,
♦lood, or other natural
disaster, or other con
ditions beyond the
producer's control
amounted to $555.4 million
for 1974 crops. 1975
payments are expected to
drop to just over half the
1974 total. These dollar
outlays, along with
relatively small outlays for
other program payments
to farmers, compare with
past total payments to
farmers exceeding $3
billion for 1966 through
1971, nearly S 4 billion in
1972, $2.6 billion In 1973.
Today's level of farm
program payments
represents the lowest level
since the mid-1950'5.
In Conclusion
The United States will
continue to orient its farm
and trade policies toward
the free market concept.
Recent evidence of this
bipartisan movement was
the enactment of less
restrictive market
oriented rice legislation for
1976 and 1977 crops, putting
this important commodity
in the Senate in the 1974
General Election, Senator
Talmadge's present term
of office expires in
January, 1981.
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We Believe In America
And We Believe In Perry
- - - This Is A Great Time
•X;X;
• ;|x& :•
| In Our History And We’re If
SgS Sage y
Proud To Be A Part Os It. i
S$X .*
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Davis Pulpwood Co. |
|| PERRY, GA. JOE DAVIS, OWNER || V
in phase with other
"target” price program
crops. The new rice law
was patterned after the
Agriculture and Consumer
Protection Act of 1973.
The U.S. position
relative to agriculture in
the current round of trade
negotiations is that
agriculture negotiations
should be linked with
negotiations on non
agricultural trade. The
U.S. point of view is that a
market-oriented farm
economy-with freer
competition, better access,
and less interference with
market forces--is fully
compatible with the
legitimate protection of
wm
Herman Talmadge
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL THURS., JULY 1. IW4,
domestic farm interests.
The U.S. Trade Act of
1974 requires that "to the
maximum extent feasible,
the harmonization,
reduction, and the
elimination of agricultural
trade barriers and
distortions shall be un
dertaken In conjunction
with harmonization,
reduction, or elimination
of industrial trade barriers
and distortions."
As Secretary of
Agriculture Earl Butz
pointed out recently, of the
$21.6 billion in U.S. fiscal
1975 agricultural exports,
sls billion worth faced
trade restrictions. At the
same time, of the $9.6.
billion in agricultural
Imports, only $3 billion i
worth {gced U.S.
restrictions affecting
agricultural products and,-
that the United States is
willing to lay these matters
on the negotiating table. }
The U.S. is quite
dependent upon healthy
agricultural trade. And,
insofar as the American
farmer is concerned, he
must trade to stay in
business. The U.S. grower
to day knows he must
become a marketer flrst--a
trader- and a producer
second. Yet, U.S. farmers
are only now beginning to
explore the possibilities for
expanding Into direct
foreign trade. In grain, for
example, only 7 percent of
U.S. foreign sales are
handled by farmers -
through farmer
organizations.
Faced with rapidly
climbing costs of
production and a sizeable
increase In the price of
farmland in the past few
years, the U.S. farmer is
urgently seeking means to
improve marketing ef
ficiency.
Recognition of the value
of foreign trade to their
personal farm businesses,
has led to stronger
evidence of a belief on the
part of farmers each year
that they favor the open
market and that they
should not go back to the
old farm program system. -
Houston County com- '
mitteemen of the
agricultural stabilization
and conservation service,
which had it sbeginning
May 12, 1933 by act of
Congress, are Stewart >'
Bloodworth, Chairman;
Steve Langston, vice
chairman; and C.E. '
Sasser.