(7 U. S. C., sec. 411b:) Estimates of apple production shall be confined to the commercial crop (June 30, 1939, c. 253, title I, 53 Stat. 968; and all subsequent annual appropriation acts).

(5 U. S. C., sec. 556b:) "The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed to collect and/or compile and publish annually, and at such other times, and in such form and on such date or dates as he shall prescribe, statistics and essential information relating to spirits of turpentine and rosin produced, held, and used in the domestic and foreign commerce of the United States" (August 15, 1935, c. 548, 49 Stat. 653).

(7 U. S. C., sec. 951:) "The Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized and directed to collect and publish statistics of raw peanuts, shelled, unshelled, and crushed, and peanut oil, in the United States, received, processed, shipped, and owned by or in the possession of warehousemen, brokers, cleaners, shellers, dealers, growers' cooperative associations, crushers, salters, manufacturers of peanut products, and owners other than the original producers of peanuts***" (June 24, 1936, c. 745, 1, 49 Stat. 1898; May 12, 1938, c. 199, 1, 52 Stat. 348). In addition to legislation requiring the Department to perform specific services, as shown above, increased funds have been provided from time to time for statistics on additional commodities. Regulations of the Department have been promulgated to implement the legislation as provided by law.

Furthermore, there is considerable mandatory legislation safeguarding the integrity of the agricultural estimates and providing penalties for any unauthorized release of information prior to the dates set forth in the law and regulations.

ECONOMISTS

Mr. ANDERSEN. Now, one additional question. There are 86 so-called economists or positions which carry the title "economist" in your particular Bureau.

Mr. WELLS. Correct.

Mr. ANDERSEN. Now, I wish you would put in the record at this point a statement breaking them down into categories, and describing just what these various groups do, how much they receive, and any information you think will be of value to the Congress concerning this.

Mr. WELLS. I will be very glad to do that.

About half of those are actually farm-management specialists doing farm management research or statistical work; some of them, agricultural finance specialists, estimating farm mortgage debt and things of that kind—I will give you a breakdown by divisions with a short description of what they do in each division.

Mr. ANDERSEN. I have a great respect for economists, such as yourself and Mr. Newell and Dr. Johnson.

Mr. WELLS. It is almost inevitable the Bureau of Agricultural Economics would have quite a few economists and I am willing to defend them, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. ANDERSEN. I admit that. Here is where you will find them if you do find them, but we are asking the same question of all the bureaus that come before us.

(The material requested follows:)

ECONOMISTS

Since the Bureau of Agricultural Economics is the chief economic and statistical research agency of the Department, its rolls necessarily include a considerable number of economists who do specific work in the research and statistical fields. In this connection attention is called to the opening paragraph of the Civil Service Commission class specifications which reads as follows:

"This series includes all classes of positions the duties of which are to advise on, administer, supervise, or perform research or other professional work in agricultural economics, including the investigation, study, analysis, and interpretation of the economic factors and conditions, foreign and domestic, affecting the production, marketing, distribution, price, utilization, and consumption of

agricultural products and commodities and the economic factors and conditions affecting agriculture in such fields as land classification and utilization, farm management, finance, marketing, international trade, transportation, and foreign and domestic agriculture generally."

Under this definition or set of specifications, a considerable number of employees of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics are necessarily classified as agricultural economists even though in fact they are specialists in such fields as farm management, agricultural finance, marketing, transportation, etc., which requires some background or training in economics and statistics. That is, none of the BAE people under this classification are employed as general economists or advisers. Rather, the BAE employees in the agricultural-economist classifications are all engaged in specific lines of research or service work for which the Congress has appropriated funds after review of the budget requests by the appropriate congressional subcommittees. Also, more recently, the projects or work on which these employees are engaged have been reviewed by the various commodity and other advisory committees (established under title III, Research and Marketing Act of 1946).

There are in the Bureau of Agricultural Economics 86 economists, grade 9 and above. These 86 include 8 in the Division of Agricultural Finance (3 in GS-13, 2 in GS-12, 2 in GS-11, and 1 in GS-9).

There are 47 in the Division of Farm Management (5 in GS-13, 23 in GS-12, 2 in GS-11, and 7 in GS-9).

There are 17 in the Division of Land Economics (5 in GS-13, 2 in GS-12, 6 in GS-11, and 4 in GS-9).

In the Division of Marketing and Price Research there are 14 (1 in GS-14, 4 in GS-13, 3 in GS-12, 5 in GS-11, and 1 in GS-9).

The work of these agricultural economists is covered in brief statements as follows:

DIVISION OF AGRICULTURAL FINANCE

Agricultural economists in this Division devote the major portion of their time to developing and maintaining basic statistical series showing changes in farm assets, debts, taxes, and insurance. These statistics show the farmers' current financial position, and are also required in the annual computation of net farm income. Two series-farm-mortgage interest per acre and farm real-estate tax per acre are required by statute for inclusion in the computation of parity prices. Annual estimates are made, by States, of farm-mortgage debt outstanding, by principal lender groups, based on data supplied by the principal lending agencies, reports of mortgages recorded and released and other data. Every 5 years, a survey is undertaken in cooperation with the Bureau of the Census to establish benchmarks for the farm-mortgage debt and interest series. Annual estimates also are made of the non-real-estate debts and interest charges.

Data are assembled and analyzed that reflect changes in the financial condition of farmers. These statistics are summarized in an annual "balance sheet." They include estimates of the amount of currency, bank deposits, and United States savings bonds owned by farmers; along with other assets; also a complete summary of liabilities and proprietors' equities.

Statistical series are compiled on the operations of farmers' mutual fire, windstorm, and crop-hail insurance companies, including number of companies, insurance in force, losses and operating expenses per $100 of insurance, and accumulated safety funds, by States and by years. Annual estimates of farm fire losses also are compiled. As time permits, special studies are made of risk and insurance problems in farming.

Annual estimates are compiled of taxes paid by farmers. These series show total farm real-estate and personal-property taxes, taxes paid by farmers on motor vehicles, and the Federal income-tax payments of farmers.

These various types of asset, debt, insurance, and tax statistics are widely used by Government agencies, lending institutions, insurance and tax officials, farm organizations, extension workers and others concerned with the agricultural situation. As time permits, cooperative work is undertaken with State experiment stations in making studies of particular State or regional problems. For example, there is renewed interest in farm tax problems, because of rapid increases both in real-estate and general-property taxes.

DIVISION OF FARM MANAGEMENT AND COSTS

The agricultural economists working in this field are farm-management specialists who devote their time and efforts to development of statistical information and to research on economic problems facing farmers in different areas. The manage

ment problems of farmers are becoming more and more complex as farming becomes more commercialized and as cash costs of farming increase. Greater purchases of machinery, fertilizer, petroleum products, insecticides, etc., are an integral part of modern farming.

Most of this work is carried out in cooperation with the land-grant colleges. Mutually agreed upon research projects on important farm-management problems are conducted, with the land-grant colleges and BAE each contributing personnel and funds to the work. These research results have local application, but the projects are so located and selected that they also are applicable to broader interstate and regional problems, and can from time to time be summarized to contribute to analyses and solution of important national problems.

Over half (26) of the agricultural economists in this group are stationed at the land-grant colleges for direct cooperation on farm-management research. The work is designed to develop practical suggestions on improving the organization and operation of farms in the different farming areas of the country. Statistical data are collected from farmers and analyses are made on a wide variety of economic problems, such as the economic feasibility of cotton, rice, and sugar-beet mechanization; cost-reduction opportunities in dairy farming through improved feeding, forage production, housing, labor use, etc.; costs and returns for various conservation practices and conservation systems of farming; prospective incomes from alternative farming systems where adjustments are needed; costs and returns from farming systems that emphasize more pasture and forage crops (grassland farming); and prospective returns from various sizes and types of farms in recently developed or proposed irrigated areas. Results from these cooperative studies with the land-grant colleges go directly to farmers through the respective agricultural extension services. They are also combined with other materials to answer questions of national importance.

Another part of the staff develops statistical data which trace the changes in costs and returns from farming on more than 20 different types of farms in the major farming areas of the country, such as cotton, wheat, dairy, tobacco, cattle, sheep, and Corn Belt farms. This work also is carried on in cooperation with the land-grant colleges. These statistical series show what has happened on these groups of farms each year since 1930 with respect to production, crop acres, and livestock numbers; investments, gross income, costs, and net returns. The estimates are brought up to date each year.

Other staff members develop estimates of the number of hours of farm labor used annually, by States, by major commodities, and per acre and per animal under different situations. Other statistical data are developed on farm machinery, and on rate of adoption of various farm practices and machines, such as corn picking, hay baling, combining, weed control, etc. These and similar data provide measures of current changes in farm production on a State, regional, and national basis, that are widely used by administrators of Government programs, agricultural industry groups, farm organizations, and agricultural extension workers.

DIVISION OF LAND ECONOMICS

Economists in the Division of Land Economics develop statistical information and series on changes in land values, land rents, tenure, and land and water use. This information is of widespread interest to Federal and State agencies, lending institutions, agricultural organizations, and farmers. The estimates on land rents are essential in computing net farm incomes and income parity.

They also conduct studies of land utilization, land value, and tenure problems. Current analyses are made of the nature, causes, and effects of changes that are occurring, in farm ownership and tenancy, farmland values, kind and volume of land sales, types of buyers and sellers, and how the Nation's land and water resources are now used for crop production, grazing, forestry, and irrigated farming. As time permits more detailed studies are undertaken to determine how prospective farmers may acquire farms to operate, how to improve leasing practices to meet technological changes in farming, costs and potentials of developing new farmlands, and possible returns from alternative uses of lands for crop production, grazing or forestry, and suitable types of organizations adapted to developing land and water resources.

Most of the research studies are conducted in cooperation with land-grant colleges, and over half of the professional workers have field headquarters.

MARKETING AND PRICE STUDIES

This work covers studies of prices and demand and also research on problems of marketing and transporting agricultural products. The studies undertaken

include analyses of marketing costs and margins, the organization and operation of the marketing system from the standpoint of price making and efficiency of distribution, and possibilities for expanding market outlets, increasing returns to growers, and providing consumers with the choice they prefer. Carrying out this program involves cooperation with other Government agencies and particularly with agricultural economics departments of State agricultural experiment stations. The professional staff of the Division also supervises a number of research projects being carried out under contract by private business organizations and the State experiment stations. In addition, the BAE responds to special requests for economic data and analyses relating to prices and marketing which are received from time to time from individuals, farm organizations, marketing firms, and the Congress. All of this work, both research and service, involves analyses of value and price, costs and returns, and the effects of economic influences on individuals and business firms. It also requires constant effort to improve the techniques used in analyses. Consequently, the work of the Division can be carried out only by trained economists.

Marketing information and outlook work. The equivalent of approximately four full-time economists is utilized in appraising the agricultural marketing situation. Also a full-time economist is responsible for analyzing the general economic situation and its impact upon agriculture in general and for particular segments or commodities, including calculation of marketing charges and price spreads between farmers and consumers and the farmer's share of the consumer's dollar, estimating total costs of marketing farm products, labor costs, and overall productivity in marketing. The results of this work are published regularly in The Marketing and Transportation Situation. In addition, considerable material is supplied in response to special requests from farmers, producers' organizations, marketing agencies, consumers, Members of Congress, and Federal and State agencies. Consultation is also furnished to other staff members of the Bureau, the Department, and other agencies with respect to the application of research methods to marketing problems.

Marl et development and utilization. The equivalent of three full-time economists is used in this area of research, which involves close working relationships with the agricultural economics departments of State colleges, representatives of producers, and the regional laboratories of the Department. The purpose here is to assist in appraising markets for new products or extended outlets for established products, to determine the economic feasibility of undertaking programs designed to avoid or offset unfavorable effects on farmers of the declining consumption and utilization of certain farm products, to determine the actual or potential rate of market expansion for new products, and needed adjustments in production and marketing facilities, etc. To accomplish these objectives it is necessary to conduct studies of costs of processing and handling, to estimate the prices at which agricultural commodities in new or extended uses can be placed on the market in relation to prices at which competing products are offered for sale, to measure increases in consumption which can be economically effected through the production of new or extended uses, and the effect of sales promotion efforts on demand and preference for new or established products, etc. A part of this work is undertaken under contract.

Regional marketing research.-Economists of this Division maintain cooperative working relationships with more than 20 regional marketing research projects and with 2 area research councils. Regional projects are the primary responsibilities of the States and are directed by technical committees which are made up chiefly of agricultural economists from those State experiment stations which have a joint interest in marketing problems which are common to two or more States. When requested, this Division cooperates in carrying out those studies with respect to which it is in a position to be of assistance. This cooperation includes consultation in planning and organizing work and frequently involves the payment of a part of the salary and other expenses of a coordinator for the project. In some instances personnel of this Division carry out a particular phase of a regional study here in Washington when the nature of the problem makes this desirable and when requested by the technical committee. The equivalent of approximately six full-time economists is utilized in this work. Mr. ANDERSEN. I think we have had a very worthwhile discussion with your Bureau, Mr. Wells. Thank you.

Mr. WELLS. Mr. Chairman, we thank you for a very courteous hearing and I want you and the other members of the committee to know that we appreciate the opportunity of coming up each year.