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We are all familiar with Mr. Snodgrass. He represents people down in my district now, as I understand.

I did not mean to put you on last, but I did not have your name

down.

STATEMENT OF FRANK B. SNODGRASS, VICE PRESIDENT AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, BURLEY & DARK LEAF TOBACCO EXPORT ASSOCIATION, INC.

Mr. SNODGRASS. I was planning to testify tomorrow, but since you are running short of someone-for the record, my name is Frank B. Snodgrass. I am the vice president and managing director of the Burley & Dark Leaf Tobacco Export Association. This is a federated trade association, composed of 11 member associations interested in the production, marketing, promotion, and sale in the domestic and export markets of burley, Maryland, Dark Air-cured, Dark Firecured, and Sun-cured kinds of U.S.-produced tobacco.

Listed below are the names and addresses of the member associations I represent:

Association of Dark Leaf Tobacco Dealers & Exporters, Mayfield Ky.; Burley Auction Warehouse Association, Mount Sterling, Ky.; Burley Leaf Tobacco Dealers Association, Lexington, Ky.; Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association, Lexington, Ky.; Burley Stabilization Corp., Knoxville, Tenn.; Eastern Dark Fired Tobacco Growers Association, Springfield, Tenn.; Maryland Tobacco Cooperative, Upper Marlboro, Md.; Stemming District Tobacco Association, Henderson, Ky.; Virginia Burley Tobacco Growers Association, Abingdon, Va.; Virginia Dark Fired & Sun-Cured Tobacco Export Association, Farmville, Va.; and Western Dark Fired Tobacco Growers Association, Murray, Ky.

It was my pleasure to appear before this subcommittee on April 18, 1967, during hearings on legislation regarding the sale, lease, and transfer of Dark Fired-cured, Dark Air-cured, and Virginia Sun-cured kinds of tobacco acreage allotments and acreage-poundage quotas, which led to the enactment of Public Law 90-51.

The position of our association with respect to the legislation under consideration today has changed somewhat from that presented at the earlier hearings. At a recent meeting of my board of directors, the pending legislation was fully discussed and I was instructed to present testimony on behalf of this association, supporting the lease of tobacco acreage allotments and acreage-poundage quotas for burley and Maryland kinds of tobacco. Such leases would be for periods not to exceed 5 years, confined to within county limits and with the proviso that not more than 10 acres of allotment may be transferred to any farm and that the total acreage allotted to any farm after such transfer, shall not exceed 50 percent of the acreage of the cropland in the farm. The board of directors further instructed me to oppose the sale of tobacco acreage allotments and acreage-poundage quotas. All directors representing the aforementioned associations voted in favor of this position. The opposition to the sale of tobacco allotments and quotas has been the longstanding position of the group I represent. They are fearful that the concentration of allotments in the hands of a few growers and corporate farming interests could create widespread dissatisfaction from the bulk of our farmers and eventually lead to the

deterioration of the tobacco price support and control program, which has meant so much to the economy of the tobacco producers.

The largest organization that I represent, the Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association, which administers the price support program for burley tobacco in the States of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, and Missouri, formerly approved of the least of tobacco acreage allotments and acreage-poundage quotas within the same county on a yearly contract basis, along with the other restrictions provided by the existing law. At a recent meeting of the board of directors of that organization, they voted unanimously to oppose the sale of tobacco allotments and quotas, however, they changed their position to extend the period of lease for up to 5 years, confined within a county with a maximum of 10 acres to be transferred to a farm provided that the total acreage allotted to any farm after such transfer shall not exceed 50 percent of the acreage of cropland in the farm.

I also have the pleasure of serving as executive director of the National Cigar Leaf Tobacco Association and through the representatives of tobacco grower associations administering the price support program for tobacco in the States of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Wisconsin, I have been advised that these associations of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Ohio endorse the position I previously stated, with respect to the legislation under consideration. The two grower associations in Wisconsin, while in sympathy with that position, feel that the burdensome surplus presently in stock for their kinds of tobacco might be further aggravated should either lease or sale of allotments be permitted.

It would appear that amending the subsections of 318 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as proposed in H.R. 11883, and the related bills, would not be necessary to meet our recommendations. We would propose that section 316 of the act should be further amended to meet these requirements. In that connection, section 316(a) should be amended to delete the exception for burley tobacco acreage allotment and cigar filler types of tobacco 42, 43, and 44 allotments.

Section 316 (b) should be amended to provide for terms of leases up to 5 years and section 316(e) should be further amended to read:

Under the provisions of this section not more than ten acres of allotment may be leased and transferred to any farm; Provided, the total acreage allotted to any farm after such transfer shall not exceed 50 per centum of the acreage of cropland in the farm.

We urge the enactment of legislation to provide for the inclusion of burley (type 31), Maryland (type 32), cigar-filler and cigar-binder (types 42, 43, 44, 51, and 52) kinds of tobacco under the provisions outlined above. We commend this subcommittee and the Congress for enacting Public Law 90-51, which provided for the lease, sale, and transfer of allotments for the dark kinds of tobacco and we feel that for the time being the enactment of legislation for the aforementioned other kinds of tobacco will meet their present requirements. We do not feel that it would be in the long-term best interest of the tobacco program to enact legislation at this time that would permit the sale of tobacco acreage allotments for any additional kinds of tobacco. In fact, I am of the opinion that no tobacco legislation should go to the floor, unless a rule could be obtained to pass it on the Consent Calendar without debate. This is occasioned by the increasing strength

of the growing number of enemies of tobacco within the Congress, who are always alert for an opportunity to offer a crippling amendment that might result in the termination of our tobacco programs. We leave this matter to the good judgment of this highly qualified and able subcommittee.

Mr. Chairman, I have been informed that you will also consider today the bill H.R. 11990. This legislation was introduced at the request of the U.S. Department of Agriculture by my good friend and fellow Kentuckian, the able Representative from the First District of Kentucky, Congressman Frank A. Stubblefield. I am well aware of the need for this legislation and have discussed it with the people at the working level in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as those at the grass roots level which I represent. I, therefore, urge the enactment of H.R. 11990, which would eliminate many of the costly administrative details requiring compilation of numerous records and reports, under existing law. I have been assured that enactment of this legislation would not produce any change in the end result of determining tobacco farm allotments regardless of the system used.

On behalf of the associations which I have the honor to represent, I wish to express our appreciation to the chairman and the members of the Tobacco Subcommittee for the opportunity of appearing before you and expressing our views.

Thank you.

Mr. ABBITT. Mr. Snodgrass, I congratulate you for a fine and forthright statement regarding the problems that now confront the tobacco industry. We appreciate very much your coming here.

Any questions?

Mr. WAMPLER. It is always nice to have you here, Mr. Snodgrass. Mr. STUBBLEFIELD. I would like to say it is nice to have you here. Mr. ABBITT. I assume, from your statement, that your group that you represent opposes any additional legislation to permit the sale of any kind of tobacco allotments?

Mr. SNODGRASS. That is correct, sir, but we do approve of the longterm lease within counties.

Mr. ABBITT. Fine. Thank you so much.
Anybody else?

We will adjourn the committee until tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock.

(Whereupon, at 12:20 p.m., the hearing was adjourned, to reconvene at 10 a.m., Thursday, August 17, 1967.)

TRANSFER OF TOBACCO ACREAGE ALLOTMENTS AND

ACREAGE-POUNDAGE QUOTAS

THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 1967

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON TOBACCO OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, Washington, D.C.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to recess, at 10:05 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. I will ask the committee to come to order.

We are going to resume the hearings on tobacco legislation. We are most fortunate to have our friend, Congressman Henderson of North Carolina who is vitally interested in the tobacco program and has been most helpful to this subcommittee, and I appreciate his appearance today. We will be pleased to hear from you at this time.

STATEMENT OF HON. DAVID HENDERSON, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

Mr. HENDERSON. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, members of the Tobacco Subcommittee. I appreciate the opportunity to be here this morning. And let me take just a moment to commend you and the members of the subcommittee for the very diligent work and the very splendid results this subcommittee has achieved in the past years for the tobacco farmers. I am especially appreciative, Mr. Chairman, of your schedule of my appearance in view of the fact that the Post Office and Civil Service Committee of which I am a member is writing a postal rate bill at this time and I certainly need to be there. For that reason, and others, my testimony will be very brief.

Mr. Chairman, I approve the sale or lease of tobacco allotments and acreage-poundage quotas but only within certain limitations. It obviously will be beneficial to many owners of small allotments or quotas to permit them to sell such allotments or quotas separate and apart from the lands to which they are assigned. It will also be of considerable value to residential, commercial, and industrial developers desiring to purchase and develop rural lands for these purposes if they can do so without having to pay for allotments or quotas which they do not want and cannot use.

However, I feel that it is important to note that the real estate tax structure in virtually every county in eastern North Carolina is based almost entirely on tobacco allotments within the county. I

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