Dick Lugar: “I will just simply say, in my judgment, the great fear of those who have been in supply controls throughout this time of…”

“I will just simply say, in my judgment, the great fear of those who have been in supply controls throughout this time of the New Deal onward has been a fear of planting too much. It is a strange argument today to argue that somehow farmers would plant too little or nothing at all. They simply will not utilize rich resources. But given even the hard case, Mr. President, there may be some instances in which there should not be a crop planted if the land is highly erodible, if conservation dictates that it simply should not occur. That maybe becomes an option that is both rational and good in terms of the public good. In other words, there is no particular virtue in proceeding with planting a program crop when it is not economical to do so and when it might be destructive in terms of the environment. In almost every other instance, a crop is going to be planted.”