656

AGRICULTURAL RELIEF
dairy business very largely—North Carolina and even in my State of
South Carolina.

Mr. Sexaugr. That is the report we get from various condensers
in our conversations with them.

Mr. FuLumER. And I might say that that is brought about by the
condition of the farmers in their other lines of activity.

Mr. SExXAUER. Yes, sir.

Mr. Hore. What is your market; is it a local market or do you go
outside of your own territory to quite an extent?

Mr. SExavER. We market our fluid milk locally to the extent that
needs fluid milk; and beyond that we market cream in the local
and other cream markets, and the remainder we sell to manu-
facturers or among ourselves in the form of condensed milk, milk
powder, cheese, butter, etc.

Mr. Hore. One thing I wanted to get at was whether this Middle-
West growth in the dairy industry would really enter into competition
with you people if it should develop to quite an extent?

Mr. SexAaugRr. It absolutely would. If they produced butter and
the prices of butter became unprofitable, that milk would find its way
into condensed milk, bring down the price of condensed milk, and then
the condenser, not wishing to condense his milk turns to the cream
market and endeavors to dispose of his products there. This, in turn,
forces the producer of cream to turn to the fluid-milk market, which
in turn creates a surplus in the fluid-milk market, thus depressing the
whole price level downward.

There is this interrelation between the price of butter and the price
of other milk commodities, and it is immaterial, so far as we can see,
where the product is produced, so long as it is produced in this coun-
try and brings about a condition where we are facing less tariff due
to the fact that we have become an export nation of dairy products.

Mr. ANDRESEN. I might say to the gentleman form Kansas that
that the production of Minnesota butter has doubled since 1920, and
to-day we are producing a hundred million pounds more butter per
year than any other State in the Union.

Mr. CLARKE. Are not the cooperatives primarily responsible for
developing the quantity of production and elevating the standard of
quality?

Mr. ANDRESEN. Greatly. One of our principal markets for butter
is down here.

Mr. KiNcHELOE. Is not the biggest dairy State Wisconsin?

Mr. AnprESEN. Not in butter.

Mr. SExAUER. I might say right there that the most serious
condition with which we are faced in cream is the cream from Wis-
consin, Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and similar points; that 1s
the most serious condition which we face in cream.

Mr. CrargEe. Allow me to say to the gentleman that I represent
the greatest dairy district in the United States and probably in the
world, in the production of fluid milk, and yet to-day the Land
O’Lakes butter is being sold in my district.

Mr. SeExauEiR. I might say also that they ship carloads and car-
loads of cream into Congressman Clarke’s territory for the manu-
facture of cream cheese, which also comes in competition with our
dairy products. So we have a very distinct interest in what happens
to agriculture in other sections of the country.