Corporate body

United States. National Advisory Commission on Food and Fiber

President Lyndon B. Johnson established the National Advisory Commission on Food and Fiber on November 4, 1965 on which Sherwood O. Berg served as chairperson. President Johnson instructed the Commission to make an appraisal of agricultural and foreign trade policies; to conduct a study of the effects of agricultural policies on the performance of the economy and foreign relations; and to prepare a report, which would serve as a guide for future decisions and policies The work of the Commission was initially divided into six major areas: 1. Production and consumption trends and potentials in the world, 2. Policies for commercial agriculture, 3. Policies for the non-commercial sector of agriculture, 4. Policies for forestry and natural resources development, 5. Agricultural trade and foreign economic policies; and 6. The role of agriculture in world economic development. Five commissioners with staff and consultants were assigned to each area. / The full-time staff was small and included professional economists on leave from universities, from the federal government and from business. They were augmented by a group of consultants and experts from both the public and private sector. The Commissions research and study took many forms. Surveys were conducted; existing information was analyzed; position papers were prepared. The Commission was briefed by leading authorities and experts, and public hearings were held throughout the country. / The full Commission met 13 times over a period of 18 months for two or three days each time. At these meetings, the Commissioners heard testimony from leading authorities and experts and engaged in group discussions. The staff and consultants who later proposed recommendations prepared analyses and materials focusing on specific issues. / The Commission was made up of 31 members who represented agriculture, economics and labor throughout the United States. The chairperson was Sherwood O. Berg, who was Dean of the Institute of Agriculture at the University of Minnesota at the time. The remaining members were Harry B. Caldwell, Willard W. Cochrane, C.W. Cook, George C. Cortright, Woodrow W. Diehl, Edmund H. Fallon, Carl C. Farrington, Frank Fernbach, Roscoe G. Haynie, Fred V. Heinkel, Roy Hendrickson, William A. Hewitt, George K. Hislop, J.G. Horsfall, Herbert J. Hughes, D. Gale Johnson, Herman S. Kohlmeyer, Robert Magowan, L.L. Males, Edward F. Mauldin, Paul Miller, W.B. Murphy, Ernest J. Nesius, Leon Schachter, Janice M. Smith, Lauren Soth, Jesse Tapp, Jay Taylor, Herman Wells, and John Wheeler.