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Show reclamation is by irrigation, supplemental irriga- tion (except as noted in connection with the acre- age limitation), rehabilitation of existing irriga- tion and drainage projects, flood control, or otherwise. 7. Congress should provide the necessary funds to assure all settlers on all types of reclama- tion projects adequate technical training and as- sistance to foster successful management of the farming operations on irrigation and drainage- project lands. This should include provision for adequately staffing the Agricultural Extension Service, for more extensive utilization of the land- grant colleges, all in cooperation with the county agents, the Department of Agriculture, and the Bureau of Reclamation. 8. Congress should also provide for the sound financing of agricultural development and land settlement on all types of reclamation projects. This should include extension of Federal credit at reasonable interest rates for the farmer's in- vestment in structures, equipment, fertilizer, stock, seed, and other requirements, with repay- ments geared to the farmer's ability to pay under possible changes in circumstances beyond his control. Consideration should be given to the possibility of combining the farmer's obligations in connection with the irrigation project with those involving his investment on the farm so as to furnish settlers with a going concern and a single repayment overhead. 9. The principle, embodied in the reclamation law, that the benefits of Federal financial assist- ance through irrigation projects should go only to family-sized farms, together with other anti- speculation and antimonopoly provisions, should be maintained and enforced. It should be ex- tended to apply without discrimination to all new projects involving Federal investment in the reclaiming of land, whether by irrigation or drainage. 10. The present 160-acre limitation provision should be retained, with flexibility for adjustment downward, after hearings, to adapt it to types of farming characteristic of different areas. It should apply only to the irrigated or drained por- tion of a farm. 11. In regions where it is proposed to deliver supplemental water to areas already under irri- gation, provision should be made for the supply- ing of an equitable share of such water to exist- ing farms exceeding the acreage limitation, under utility type contracts in which the charges for the water are fixed on the basis of full cost of supplying water to such lands, including amorti- zation with interest of the full investment allo- cable to this purpose. 12. Every effort should be made to secure agreements or contracts with the State or States involved and, where appropriate, with the local interests to be benefited, under which surface and ground water benefits will be considered together, and all beneficiaries will be subject to the standard reimbursement obligations, whether securing the benefits from augmented surface or ground waters, before new Federal reclamation projects or projects providing supplemental water or drainage for existing proj- ects are undertaken. 13. The Federal Government should recog- nize its responsibility in connection with the social problems produced by the seasonal labor requirements of farm operations on reclaimed land. It should undertake surveys to determine the extent to which these problems may be ac- centuated by large-scale operations applying in- tensive production methods to reclaimed lands. These surveys should be directed at solutions in accord with the fundamental principle of recla- mation policy that Federal investment in this field should contribute to the establishment of sound standards of family life on the land. 174 |