Agricultural production goals for 1946 call for somewhat greater acreage than actually was planted in 1945.  Agriculture is prepared to demonstrate that it can make a peacetime contribution as great as its contribution toward the winning of the war.

In spite of supplying our armed forces and our allies during the war with a fifth to a fourth of our total food output, farmers were still able to provide our civilians with 8 percent more food per capita than the average for the five years preceding the war.  Since the surrender of Japan, civilian food consumption has risen still further.  By the end of 1945 the amount of the increase in food consumption was estimated to be as high as 15 percent over the prewar average.  The record shows that the people of this country want and need more food and that they will buy more food if only they have the jobs and the purchasing power.  The first essential therefore in providing fully for the welfare of agriculture is to maintain full employment and a high level of purchasing power throughout the Nation.

For the period immediately ahead we shall still have the problem of supplying enough food.  If we are to do our part in aiding the war-stricken and starving countries some of the food desires of our own people will not be completely satisfied, at least until these nations have had an opportunity to harvest another crop.  During the next few months the need for food in the world will be more serious than at any time during the war.  And, despite the large shipments we have already made, and despite what we shall send, there remain great needs abroad.

Beyond the relief feeding period, there will still be substantial foreign outlets for our farm commodities.  The chief dependence of the farmer, however, as always, must be upon the buying power of our own people.

The first obligation of the Government to agriculture for the reconversion period is to make good on its price-support commitments.  This we intend to do, with realistic consideration for the sound patterns of production that will contribute most to the long-time welfare of agriculture and the whole Nation.  The period during which prices are supported will provide an opportunity for farmers individually to strengthen their position in changing over from a wartime to a peacetime basis of production.  It will provide an opportunity for the Congress to review the needs of agriculture and make changes in national legislation where experience has shown changes to be needed.  In this connection, the Congress will wish to consider legislation to take the place of the 1937 Sugar Act which expires at the end of this year.  During this period we must do a thorough job of basic planning to the end that agriculture shall be able to contribute its full share toward a healthy national economy.

Our long-range agricultural policies should have two main objectives:  First, to assure the people on the farms a fair share of the national income; and, second, to encourage an agricultural production pattern that is best fitted to the Nation’s needs.  To accomplish this second objective we shall have to take into consideration changes that have taken place and will continue to take place in the production of farm commodities—­changes that affect costs and efficiency and volume.