paid by farmers for farm and home equipment and supplies, and for farm machinery.

4. The review and revision of the official crop and livestock estimates for the period 1944-50, based upon consideration of published data from the 1950 agricultural census, was completed during the year for all major crops and for livestock. The revised estimates for crop years 1950 and 1951 appeared in the December 1951 annual crop summary, and the livestock estimates for the latest years in the January 1 livestock inventory report for 1952. Revisions for the full series of years involved have recently been issued on .field crops, field seeds, meat animals, chickens and eggs, and milk. The analysis and revision of truck crop estimates, complicated by the decision to broaden the coverage of the estimates from "commercial" to "total production for sale," is as yet only about half completed. The period under review for these crops is 1939 to date.

5. The crop ana livestock estimating staff, both in Washington and in the 41 State offices, have aided extensively in the agricultural mobilization program and the activities of other defense agencies. Washington statisticians have partici pated in the operations of the commodity supply estimates committees and other departmental committee action. In the field, the statisticians have served as members of the State agricultural mobilization committees, and have rendered special data and services required in connection with various action programs in the agricultural defense effort, and in the field activities of other defense agencies. Special compilations of legal minimum prices, under the Defense Production Act, and other calculations of prices and differentials, have been regularly provided. These services have been contributed from the time of the regular staff, except where the assigned tasks have necessitated unusually heavy clerical operations or involved extra out-of-pocket costs.

Comparison of certain workload data-Agricultural estimates (including cooperative work), fiscal years 1951 and 1952 with estimates for 1953 and 1954

Statement of obligations under allotments and other funds

(Includes only those amounts which, by November 30, 1952, were actually received or programed for 1953 or 1954. Since work for other agencies is performed on a service basis, at the request of those agencies and for their benefit, it is not practicable to estimate in advance the amounts to be received in most cases.)

Mr. ANDERSEN. Mr. Wells, we are glad to have you before this subcommittee once again, and if you have a short general statement that you would like to make, we will welcome that; or you can, if you care to, go into informal discussion, whichever will suit you best. Mr. WELLS. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, due to the somewhat unusual budget situation I have not brought with me a prepared statement, but just an outline of the various points which I understand the committee would like to have brought out. At any time you want to interrupt as I proceed it will be perfectly satisfactory with me.

Mr. ANDERSEN. All right, we will proceed on that basis.

GENERAL FUNCTIONS OF THE BUREAU

Mr. WELLS. I had planned to make a very brief statement about the general functions of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, and then to discuss two sets of charts with you.

The first set of charts consists of organization charts, and I have individual charts for each member of the committee if you would like to have them.

Before turning to these charts, Mr. Chairman, let me say these few words:

The Bureau of Agricultural Economics is the chief economic research and statistical agency of the Department of Agriculture.

We also operate as a service agency supplying the Secretary's office and other agencies, congressional committees, farm organizations, industrial groups, and so forth, with statistical data and economic analyses relating to agricultural subjects.

As a staff agency the Bureau is also responsible for the coordination and general supervision of statistical matters and economic research throughout the Department.

I have here, gentlemen, an organization chart for the Bureau which indicates the main organizational blocks and the duties that are associated with each of them, as well as three small charts indicating the kind of statistical activities and economic research we carry forward under the economics investigations subappropriation and the sources of data and the kinds of releases turned out under the crop and livestock estimates subappropriation.

It may be best to turn to the general organization chart to start with, Mr. Chairman. The Bureau of Agricultural Economics, for all practical purposes, is divided into four main branches, each of which is under the direction of an Assistant Chief.

PRODUCTION ECONOMICS

The first main block on this chart under the Office of the Chief is the Assistant Chief for Production Economics. Our Assistant Chief for Production Economics is Dr. Sherman E. Johnson. This work covers our work in farm management, agricultural finance, and land economics, and much of it is carried on in cooperation with the several State experiment stations.

PRICES, INCOME AND MARKETING

The second large block is under the direction of an Assistant Chief for Prices, Income, and Marketing. This covers all our work relating to the analysis of farm prices, commodity situations, estimates of farm income and over-all farm expenses and all such work in the marketing field as we do under our regular appropriation; and I might say that this Assistant Chief, Mr. Waugh, is also in charge of a considerable amount of marketing work we do by allotment under title II, Research and Marketing Act of 1946.

FARM POPULATION

The third Assistant Chief is the Assistant Chief for Farm Population. This covers the work such as we do on farm population, on farm labor, and the way in which farm people live.

If you will let me say so, Mr. Chairman, this organization chart is in line with the recommendations of what we generally refer to as the Eisenhower committee, which was a group brought in several years ago by the Secretary of Agriculture, Mr. Clinton Anderson, under the chairmanship of Milton Eisenhower, at the time president of Kansas State College. The Bureau of Agricultural Economics was at that time completely reorganized. At one time the Bureau had functioned as the chief planning agency of the Department of Agriculture. I am glad to say the Eisenhower committee recommended that that function be transferred back to the Secretary's immediate office, when this setup was adopted.

We have had two fairly small divisions under this setup operating under the Assistant Chief for Farm Population-the Division of Farm Population and the Division of Special Surveys which, in the last several years, has mostly been doing surveys and analyses relating to consumers' preferences for farm commodities or the products thereof.

The Assistant Chief for Farm Population has recently accepted a point 4 job with reemployment rights to this particular position only running to March 1.

I will recommend that this job be abolished, and I will discuss with my appropriate superiors the question of whether there is some way of reorganizing the duties of this position; because, in my opinion, we can eliminate the Assistant Chief, but I do not propose to eliminate the functions of the office. Currently I am myself serving as Acting Assistant Chief for Farm Population.

CROP AND LIVESTOCK ESTIMATES

The fourth block is the Assistant Chief for Agricultural Estimates. The Assistant Chief for Agricultural Estimates is also Chairman of the Crop Reporting Board, who is Mr. S. R. Newell who is here with us. As you people know the Assistant Chief for Agricultural Estimates has under his direction the crop and livestock estimates work, which is carried on in the field by 41 field offices. We ordinarily refer to these as "State statisticians' offices" because in almost every State we have an office. The exceptions are the New England States, which are all served through the Boston Office; Maryland and Delaware, which are served through the Maryland Office; and Utah and Nevada, which are handled through the Utah Office.

SOURCES FROM WHICH CROP AND LIVESTOCK ESTIMATES START

Now, as to the small charts, one of these is entitled, "Agricultural Estimates of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics-From Sources to Users."

On the left-hand side of this chart are a series of blocks showing the sources from which our crop and livestock estimates start.

In other words, we obtain information in one way or another during the year from 600,000 farmers; from about 83,000 local merchants; from 8,500 cotton ginners; from 14,000 mills, elevators, and warehouses; from 10,000 hatcheries; from county tax assessors in 32 States; from 28,000 dairy manufacturers and milk plants; from 22,000 meat packers and slaughterers. We have during the last several years probably been making in the neighborhood of 100,000 personal interviews through these State statistician offices. We also obtain information from 13,000 seed dealers and shippers as well as making constant checks of anything the Census Bureau or other Government or private statistical agencies may turn out.

The sources of our statistics are the farmers and the people who handle farm products in the field themselves. Those are collected, first of all, through our 41 State field offices, and a dairy statistics office in Chicago. In other words, this is essentially a decentralized operation.

Each State office prepares its estimates as to crops, or whatever we may be dealing with, and those are then sent to Washington, where they are collated, reviewed, and prepared in the form of national estimates for release by the Crop Reporting Board, which is made up of some of our Washington statisticians and certain members of our State staff who are called to Washington from time to time.

This material is released in the form of some 500 separate reports at the national level, and each State office has a series of subsidiary reports. It is a very complicated operation. It is one through which a great deal of material flows, and one which we think supplies basic statistical information as to American agriculture.

ECONOMIC INVESTIGATIONS

Now, the next two small charts are an effort to indicate what we do under the economic investigations subappropriation.

One of them, you will notice, is entitled, "BAE Research WorkEconomic Investigations," and we have there tried to lay out the main lines of work that we do in the economic research or service field.

The other chart is entitled, "BAE Statistical Series-Economic Investigations." I do not think that it is generally realized that under the economic investigations subitem we turn out also a great many of the standard statistical series which are used by Members of Congress, by farm organizations, and by others throughout the country. What we do in the economic investigations is take a lot of prime or basic statistics as to prices, yields, livestock numbers, and so forth, and combine them into estimates of farm income, total farm expenses, and indexes of farm output, and so forth. We try to keep track of what is happening in the transportation and marketing costs field.