CONTENTS H.R. 6339, a bill to amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, to authorize the transfer of tobacco acreage allotments and H.R. 9215, a bill to amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, to authorize the transfer of tobacco acreage allotments and H.R. 10671, a bill to amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, to authorize the transfer of Flue-cured tobacco acreage allot- ments and acreage-poundage quotas. - H. R. 11883, a bill to amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, to authorize the transfer of Flue-cured tobacco acreage allot- ments and acreage-poundage quotas.- H. R. 11990, a bill to amend the marketing quota provisions of the Agricul- Campbell, Phil, commissioner of agriculture, State of Georgia__. Davis, Roy B., managing director, Bright Belt Warehouse Association, Hagan, Hon. G. Elliott, a Representative in Congress from the State Henderson, Hon. David, a Representative in Congress from the State Ison, Louis, president, Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation... Kornegay, Hon. Horace R., a Representative in Congress from the Lanier, William L., president, Georgia Farm Bureau Federation.. Lennon, Hon. Alton, a Representative in Congress from the State of Linkhaw, W. D., Lumberton, N.C. Marshall, W. F., Danbury, N.C.. McAllister, Robert, Reidsville, N.C.. Pritchett, Bache, Reidsville, N.C. Reeves, Charles R., president, North Carolina Association of Farmer Royster, Fred S., managing director, Bright Belt Warehouse Associa- Sloan, David, farmer and president, South Carolina Farm Bureau Snodgrass, Frank B., vice president and managing director, Burley & Stokes, S. J., Jr., president, Burley Farmers Advisory Council... Stuckey, Hon. W. S. (Bill), Jr., a Representative in Congress from the Watts, Hon. John C., a Representative in Congress from the State of Whorton, Bryan, Merritt, N.C. Correspondence submitted to the subcommittee: Allen, W. A., Farmville, N.C., telegram of August 17, 1967__ Caldwell, Mrs. Harry B., master, North Carolina State Grange, letter Dechant, Tony T., president, Farmers Union, letter of August 16, Delano, Robert B., president, Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, Freeman, Hon. Orville L., Secretary of Agriculture, letter of April 17, Holliday, Joseph W., Galivants Ferry, S.C., letter of August 15, 1967. Horner, W. E., Sr., publisher, Sanford Daily Herald, letter of August 9, 1967, to Hon. Horace Kornegay. Lynn, John C., legislative director, American Farm Bureau Federation, Miles, Robert L., extension agronomist, Cooperative Extension Service, College of Agriculture, University of Georgia, letter of August 4, 1967, to Homer S. Durden, Jr.. Schnittker, John A., Acting Secretary of Agriculture, letter of August 6 TRANSFER OF TOBACCO ACREAGE ALLOTMENTS AND ACREAGE-POUNDAGE QUOTAS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1967 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:25 a.m., in room 1302, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Watkins M. Abbitt, presiding. Present: Representatives Abbitt, McMillan, Stubblefield, Jones of North Carolina, and Wampler. Also present: Martha Hannah, staff. Mr. ABBITT. The committee will come to order. I want to express our regret and apologies for being late but the full committee had a very important matter before it and the chairman more or less suggested it might be well if we delayed starting our hearing briefly and be on hand, which we did. We had a vote on an important question. But, I appreciate all of you people here today. We want everyone to be heard and, as I said, we set aside tomorrow for those we do not hear today. The hearing today is on H.R. 6339 by Mr. Abbitt, H.R. 6382 by Mr. O'Neal, H.R. 6508 by Mr. Kornegay, H.R. 6929 by Mr. Hagan, all of which are identical, a similar bill by Mr. Stuckey, H.R. 9215, H.R. 10671 by Mr. Jones of North Carolina, and a similar bill by Mr. Lennon, H.R. 10963, H.R. 11883, by Mr. Ábbitt, and H.R. 11990 by Mr. Stubblefield. (H.R. 6339, the departmental report thereon, H.R. 9215, H.R. 10671, H.R. 11883, the departmental report thereon, and H.R. 11990, follow :) [H.R. 6339, 90th Cong., first sess.] A BILL To amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, to authorize the transfer of tobacco acreage allotments and acreage-poundage quotas Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 316 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, is amended to read as follows: "(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary, if he determines that it will not impair the effective operation of the tobacco marketing quota or price-support program, (1) may permit the owner and operator of any farm for which tobacco acreage allotment or acreage-poundage quota is established under this Act to sell or lease all or any part or the right to all or any part of such allotment or quota to any other owner or operator of a farm for transfer to such farm; and (2) may permit the owner of a farm to transfer all or any part of such allotment or quota to any other farm owned or controlled by him. "(b) Transfers under this section shall be subject to the following conditions: (1) no allotment or quota shall be transferred to a farm in another State; (2) no transfer of an allotment or quota from a farm subject to a mortgage or other lien shall be permitted unless the transfer is agreed to by the lienholders; (3) no sale of a farm allotment or quota shall be permitted if any sale of allotment or quota to the same farm has been made within the three immediately preceding crop years; and (4) no transfer of allotment or quota shall be effective until a record thereof is filed with the county committee of the county to which such transfer is 1 made and such committee determines that the transfer complies with the provisions of this section. "(c) The transfer of an allotment or quota shall have the effect of transferring also the acreage history and marketing quota attributable to such allotment or quota and if the transfer is made prior to the determination of the allotment or quota for any year the transfer shall include the right of the owner or operator to have an allotment or quota determined for the farm for such year: Provided, That in the case of a transfer by lease the amount of the allotment or quota shall be considered for purposes of determining allotments or quotas after the expiration of the lease to have been planted on the farm from which such allotment is transferred. "(d) The land in the farm from which the entire tobacco allotment or quota has been transferred shall not be eligible for a new farm tobacco allotment or quota during the five years following the year in which such transfer is made. "(e) The transfer of a portion of the farm allotment or quota which was established under minimum farm allotment or quota provisions for tobacco or which operates to bring the farm within the minimum farm allotment or quota provisions for tobacco shall cause the minimum farm allotment or quota to be reduced to an amount equal to the allotment or quota remaining on the farm after such transfer. "(f) If the normal yield established by the county committee for the farm to which the allotment is transferred does not exceed the normal yield established by the county committee for the farm form which the allotment is transferred by more than 10 per centum, the transfer shall be approved acre for acre. If the normal yield for the farm to which the allotment is transferred exceeds the normal yield for the farm from which the allotment is transferred by more than 10 per centum, the county committee shall make a downward adjustment in the amount of the acreage allotment transferred by multiplying the normal yield established for the farm from which the allotment is transferred by the acreage being transferred and dividing the result by the normal yield established for the farm to which the allotment is transferred. "(g) Any lease may be made for such term of years not to exceed five as the parties thereto agree, and on such other terms and conditions except as otherwise provided in this section as the parties thereto agree. "(h) The lease of any part of a tobacco acreage allotment or acreage-poundage quota determined for a farm shall not affect the allotment or quota for the farm from which such allotment or quota is transferred or the farm to which it is transferred, except with respect to the crop year or years specified in the lease. The amount of the acreage allotment and acreage-poundage quota which is leased from a farm shall be considered for purposes of determining future allotments and quotas to have been planted to tobacco on the farm from which such allotment or quota is leased and the production pursuant to the lease shall not be taken into account in establishing allotments or quotas for subsequent years for the farm to which such allotment is leased. The lessor shall be considered to have been engaged in the production of tobacco for purposes of eligibility to vote in the referendum. "(i) The Secretary shall prescribe regulations for the administration of this section which may include reasonable limitation on the size of the resulting allotments or quotas on farms to which transfers are made and such other terms and conditions as he deems necessary. "(j) If the sale or transfer occurs during a period in which the farm is covered by a conservation reserve contract, cropland conversion agreement, or other similar land utilization agreement the rates of payment provided for in the contract or agreement of the farm from which the transfer is made shall be subject to an appropriate adjustment but no adjustment shall be made in the contract or agreement of the farm to which the transfer is made." DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Hon. W. R. POAGE, Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in reply to your requests of March 7 and 9, 1967, for reports on H. R. 5702,' a bill "To remove the five-acre limitation on the amount of tobacco allotment acreage which may be leased"; H.R. 6339, a bill "To amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, to authorize the transfer of tobacco acreage allotments and acreage-poundage quotas"; and H.R. 6496, See hearings before the Subcommittee on Tobacco of the Committee on Agriculture entitled “Lease, Sale, and Transfer of Certain Tobacco Acreage Allotments", Feb. 15 and Apr. 18, 1967 (Serial F). a bill "To amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, to authorize the transfer of tobacco acreage allotments and acreage-poundage quotas." This Department recommends that H.R. 6339, a bill "To amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, to authorize the transfer of tobacco acreage allotments and acreage-poundage quotas," be passed. The Department does not oppose the passage of H.R. 5702 or H. R. 6496, but feels that the passage of H. R. 6339 is more desirable. Present legislation provides for the lease and transfer of acreage allotments for some kinds of tobacco, within the same county, on an annual basis and within certain limitations. This legislation provides that not more than five acres of tobacco allotment can be leased and transferred to any farm, and the total acreage allotted to any farm after such transfer shall not exceed 50 percent of the acreage of cropland in the farm. H. R. 5702 would remove this five-acre limitation. H.R. 6339 amends the present authority for the lease and transfer of acreage allotments for some kinds of tobacco on an annual basis to authorize the Secretary to permit the owner and operator of any farm for which an acreage allotment or acreage-poundage quota for any kind of tobacco is established to sell or lease all or any part of such allotment or quota to any other owner or operator of a farm for transfer to such farm. H.R. 6339 provides that any lease may be made for such term of years, not to exceed five, as the parties thereto agree. This bill authorizes transfers between counties, but provides that no allotment or quota shall be transferred to a farm in another State. H.R. 6496 is similar to H. R. 6339, except that the authority for the sale or lease of allotments or quotas is limited to certain kinds of tobacco, namely; fire-cured, dark air-cured and Virginia sun-cured tobaccos. Section 2 of H.R. 6496 repeals Section 315 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, which provides for a single combined acreage allotment for any farm for which both a fire-cured and Virginia sun-cured tobacco allotment was established. Section 315 has served the purpose for which it was enacted in 1958. Further, H.R. 6339 or H.R. 6496 would permit the farm owner to lease or sell the allotment or quota for either kind of tobacco if he should elect to do so. In view of these facts, this Department recommends that Section 2 of H. R. 6496 be added to H. R. 6339. In our letter of June 22, 1961, reporting on H. R. 1022, enacted as Public Law 87-200, we stated that "This Department favors the transferability of allotments and quotas for tobacco and other commodities under conditions which will protect and enhance the protection of family farmers." We stated further that "Transferability of allotments will reduce the production costs and improve the incomes of small producers who desire to continue to produce by permitting them to acquire additional allotments without the heavy costs involved in buying additional land. It will make it easier for those who do not wish to continue the production of the affected commodity to transfer their resources into some other enterprises." The Department has, on a number of occasions, recommended legislation to authorize the transfer by lease or sale of acreage allotments, base acreages and quotas for all commodities. This authority has been provided only for cotton and for producer allotments for rice. Although we still favor authority to lease and sell all commodity allotments, base acreages and quotas, we have no objection to such authority being considered on a commodity-by-commodity basis. Enactment of H.R. 6339 would not require additional funds and would vastly improve program operations at all levels of administration and for tobacco farmers. The Bureau of the Budget advises that there is no objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the Administration's program. Sincerely yours, ORVILLE L. FREEMAN, Secretary. [H.R. 9215, 90th Cong., first sess.] A BILL To amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, to authorize the transfer of tobacco acreage allotments and acreage-poundage quotas Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 316 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, is amended to read as follows: "(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary, if he determines that it will not impair the effective operation of the tobacco marketing quota or price support program, (1) shall permit the owner and operator of any farm for which a tobacco acreage allotment or acreage-poundage quota is established under this Act to sell or lease all or any part or the right to all or any part of such allotment or quota to any other owner or operator of a farm for transfer to such farm; and (2) shall permit the owner of a farm to transfer all or any part of such allotment or quota to any other farm owned or controlled by him. |