1 No. 44
American
Agriculture
Not Political
—Sec. Benson
By ERNEST J. NEELL
< American agriculture )' (fa
neither Republican or Democrat;
tdim people must not be thought
ot as a group who can be put on
the political auction block,” Soc
ietal v of Agriculture Ezra Taft
Benson told some 5,000 farmers
and farm people in an address
before the- Pennsylvan a State
Poultry Federation in the -3rd
annual Poultry Festival during
Pennsylvania Dutch Days at
Heishey Saturday
Six major 'points were
brought out by the secretary
in his appearance; 1, Pennsyl
vania Dutch are known as
“good farmers”, there is
no higher title (good-farmer)
that one farmer can bestow on
another; 2, he reviewed pro
gress in production and effi
ciency in the poultry industry
Today’s poultry industry is a
product of science, 3, poultry
men were commended for re
jecting the siretusongr of price'
supports, and basic crops under
rigid price supports tightupto
the harvests of last fall; are
now in more
ties than are the- erSpk and
iuestock that have 'hot been
price supported;
4, Aguculture is not political,
hov ever, the Secretary said he
‘ is not at all unhappy that some
people are choosing to make
agncultural problems an issue of
the campaign. If price supports
aio to be increased, extended to
othoi crops and livestock, as
again is being pioposed, farmers
will be subject to more controls;
5, our most critical farm'prob
lems are rooted in accumulated
sin pluses, 6, the agncultural ob
loctive of this administration is
a sound, prosperous, expanding
and free agriculture
Some of the Secretary’s most
pertinent points came out in
remarks added beyond the
printed speech delivered to
newsmen prior to the address.
In fact, these extensions
lengthened his address almost
15 minutes.''
The unceasing quest for im
piovement explains the inven
tiveness and experimentation
thiougn which oui farming has
changed so rapidly “People who
aie thiough changing ' are
thiough,” the Secretary assert
ed
| Since World War I, egg pro
duction per hen has consider
able mor e than doubled The
quantity of eggs produced from
a ton of feed is up about 35 per
cent egg production per hour of
, a^”! on laying flocks has trip
led ’ he told, adding, “I think
owe a debt as American peo
e to our American farmers.
Aon ° aie more efficient”
Most of the progress made in
I ’ rnin S in the past has been
ue to the fact that farmers
\ o been free to make their own
umagement decisions Certainly
.’ s essen t?al freedom will be no
< s Irn Portant in the future It is
Puipose to keep this agri
fContinued from page 16)
* (Lancaster County) Pa., Friday, Aug. 31, 1956
r,-Lanc asterJigounty farmers at the mo
ment are- in the 1958 tobacco,
harvest, now that weather has moderated,
itere is a. view bn Lloyd W. Nolt’s Ponds
Farm,"* ,: Rl Lancaster, showing the Jiar-
Pennsylvania
Livestock Show
Nov. 12-16,1957
HARRISBURG The first
Pennsj Ivama Livestock Exposi
tion will be held in the State
farm Show building and arena
lere Nov 12-16 of next year,
tate Secretary of Agriculture
William L Henning announced
today •
Plans are underway to bring a
veil known western rodeo for
the event which is expected to
attract up to 100,000 people, he
said
The five-day livestock ex
position is to be open to ex
hibitors of beef cattle, sheep
and swine from any state and
foreign'country, giving it an
international status, Dr. Hen
‘ning explained. More than 2,-
000 bead of livestock can be
accommodated in the Farm
Show Building, he added.
The gigantic 1057 livestock ex
oosition was made possible
hrough a special State appro
priation of $50,000 allocated by
he 1955 State Legislature. It
vill be planned and operated
through an executive committee
of representatives of the Penn
sylvania Livestock and Allied In
dustries Association, the State
Department of Agriculture and
‘he Pennsylvania State Univer
sity.
In signing the appropriation
measure* Governor George M.
Leader said - “This is one more
good use for the Farm Show
Tobacco Harvesting Time
Deadline on Angus
Show Window
Auction October 1
Deadline for entries to the In
ternational “Show Window” Sale
of Aberdeen-Angus cattle is Oc
tober 1, 1956, announces Frank
Richards, secretary of the Am
erican Aberdeen-Angus'-Breed
eis’ Association, St Joseph, Mis
souri. This sale, sponsored by the
national association, has been an
annual event during the Interna
tional Livestock Exposition in
Chicago. It will be held at 7 00 p
n on Monday, November 26,
1956
Arena and livestock barns and
vill bring national recognition to
Pennsylvania ”
Chairman of the committee
is Leon Falk, Jr., of Pittsburgh
and Falkland Farms, Schells
burg, Bedford County. State
Deputy Secretary of Agricul
ture L. H. Buli is secretary
and N. L. Claiborne, Pitts
burgh stockyards, treasurer.
The committee to meet each
month with chairmen of vari
ous sub-committees.
Now 14 months away, the
Pennsylvania Livestock Exposi
tion will include the 1957 Na
tional Polled Hereford Show
which alone will bring 400 head
of prize beef cattle for the
event, according to Falk.
Dr. Henning said the Nov 12-
16, 1957 dates fall immediately
after the annual National Stand
ardbred Horse Sale scheduled for
Nov 4-8, 1957 and the Pennsyl
vania National Horse Show dur
ing the week of Oct. 19-26, 1957.
If plans for the twice-a-day
rodeo materialize it will be the
same organization of champion
riders that appears at Madison
Square Garden, New York, and
the Boston Gardens, it was said.
vestin' full'swing. Prom left to right are
Roy Eppley, Mr. Myer, iFarm Manager
Monroe Fahnestock, Mr. flyer’s son, and
on the tractor, Barry Eppley.
Exhibitors of cattle at the Chi
cago sale pay an entry fee of $25
per head with the top 10 bulls
and 40 females selling as the
“Show Window” offering of the
breed Entries to the sale are al
so -entered in the Exposition
These cattle have come from the
United States and Canada
For the second year in a row, Lebanon County captured
the Queen’s honors for the state, when Mrs. Ezra Tatt
Benson wife of the U. S. secretary of agriculture, crowned
Miss Elizabeth Erb of Mount Zion. Miss Erb, also State
Honey Bee Qu'een, is shown here with Mrs. Benson, and
Miss Lorraine Eshelman, Lebanon, retiring queen. With
red*hair, and brown eyes, Miss Erb plans to study nurs
ing, and has received a $l5O scholarship toward that goal.
She is a granddaughter, of Mr. and Mrs. Seth Erb, the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ephriam Erb. She was crowned
Saturday night at the Pennsylvania Poultry-Festival dur
ing Dutch Days at Hershey. (Lancaster Farming Staff
Photo).
$2 Per Year
Soil Bank Can
Aid County by-
Higher Prices
By ERNEST J. NEILL
Editor-Lancaster Farming
Farmers even those who
cannot take acres out of produc
tion will benefit through the
Administration’s Soil Bank pro
gram through increased prices
for farm commodities, Secretary
of Agriculture Ezra Taft Ben
son told a news conference at
Hershey Saturday evening.
Mr Benson, who addressed the
Poultry Federation of Pennsyl
vania later, answered a qvfery
posed by Lancaster Farming,
since Lancaster County farms,
being of small average size, can
not economically take acres out
of production.
“We have insisted this pro
gram be voluntary. We resist
ed attempts to make the pro
gram compulsory. The farmer
will benefit in or out of the
program—at the market place.
Prices have already respond
ed,” the Secretary continued,
“and are now about 10 per cent
above a year ago, due in part
to the Soil Bank.”
lyir Benson was free and di
rect with his answers Question
ed about the problem of homo
genized tobacco leaf, where
scraps are bound with plastic,
the Secretary said the program
is under study by the USDA, but
no tax program to differentiate
the actual and the homogenized
leaf in the markets has been con
sidered.
“I’ve been through this coun
try before, and I always like it,”
Mr Benson told of Pennsylvania.
Explaining the Soil-Bank fur
ther, he told newsmen:
“The overall purpose of the
Soil Bank is to end surpluses
on basic commodities. It’s a
temporary, emergency program
(Continued on page 6)