Ford Broadcasts, 1965-1966: 12237637

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

The Johnson-Humphrey Administration is using and abusing American farmers and ranchers as the scapegoats of inflation:

(1) by domestic fiscal policies which have sharply increased farm production costs;

(2) by market price manipulations which have decreased prices received by farmers, with the result that the present parity ratio stands at only 79, even including direct subsidies, despite Democratic promises of 100;

(3) by refusing to admit that increased consumer prices increased food costs to the housewife and the wage-earner --have not been caused by farmers, such consumer prices having risen steadily as farm prices have as steadily decreased;

(4) by recommending drastic cuts in Congressional appropriations for school milk, school lunches, land grant colleges, and other vital programs;

(5) by the Secretary of Agriculture's dumping of huge quantities of grain at unrealistic prices upon the domestic market in order to break and depress grain and livestock market prices;

(6) by the Department of Commerce action of March 7, 1966 imposing restriction on the export of cattle hides, calf and kip skins, such action resulting in lower domestic livestock products,

(7) by a large and unilateral increase in Cheddar cheese imports, without any attempt being made to secure reciprocal trade concessions from other nations to expand U. S. agricultural exports overseas;

(8) by a sharp curtailment of purchases of pork and of butter and other dairy products by the Department of Defense;

## and, I repeat -

(9) by the Secretary of Agriculture's expression of pleasure with the fact that prices of farm products have dropped.