12—Lancaster Farming, Friday, Aug. 31, 1956 American Agriculture Not Political, Benson Advises Poultry Federation (Continued from page 11) Anyone and we btiil have ‘ome who would in ike prices the cential theme of farm policy is dong a gxeat disservice to farm families. Today the so called crops -- the ones that have had he supposed benefits of ugnl p ice suppoils right up to the harvest of last fall theoc crops are now *ll more seiiou' difficulties than aie the ciops and livestock that have not been price sup ported. How can cotton, 01 tobacco, or wheat farmers, who have been sharply restricted in thur acreage, produce an adequate living for their families Actual ly some of them have almost been forced out of farming by the controls that have followed upon their price supports. This is a tiagic cirouslance. I welcome this oppor* unity to discuss with you some of these problems It is imperative that they shall be more fully under stood, not only by faim people but by all Americans. This is my first puoLc address since the national poiiacal con ventions. During the next two and a half months much atten tion will be focused on politi cal discussions and that agri culture will get its share of poli tical attention is abundantly clear. I have a feeling that a good SEE. • •Our Large Stock of|Gas Heaters ■ To have a room heated in a Hi few seconds by a small heater JL certainly is wonderful good | WARD BOTTLE GAS ! ■ Town Store, 25 S. State St., Ephrata * ® Alto Store and Plant on Route 222. Open Friday Evening* ■ !■■■■»■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ ULTRA-LIFE INTERNAL CULLING MEANS GREATER PROFIT ★ Laying Mash ★ Hi-Energy ★ Growing Mash ★ Breeder Mash ★ Turkey Grower ★ Beef-Gro Supp. ★ Dairy Balancer Custom Mixing WEST WILLOW FARMERS ASSOCIATION WEST WILLOW Ph. Lane. 4-5019 Wolgemuth. Bros., Inc POULTRY & LIVESTOCK Florin, Pennsylvania Phones : Mount Joy 3-9551 & 3-8311 deal of politics has been buzz ing around my head for the past three and a half years. But you know by now that I am not a politician at least many people have told you so many times. However that may be, from now until November and I say this in all seiiousness I will be neither more poltical nor less political, in what I say and do, than I have been m the past Farm people my people have problems —, serious ones These problems have been brought on m laige part by politics They will not be solved by more political maneuvering They will be solved only by facing facts by sound think ing, and sound action. The farm problem has not changed because this is a poli tical year I was reared on a farm _I have operated my own farm and have worked with and for farm people practically all my life I have stated my mows on what must be done to wor;c our way out of the present dif ficulties of agriculture These views have not changed because of a coming election. And I shall Continue to state-'these views as clearly as I can, and to as many people as I can, between now' and election and after election as necessary. American agriculture is neith- So, for comfort, use bottle gas ■ to get rid of the chill The more ■ gas you use, the lower the rate. • FOk er Republican nor Democrat. Farm people cannot, and must not, be thought *of as a gioup who may put on the political auction block. Their' picblcms cannot be solved that way At the same time, I am glad this is a presidential election year and I am not at'all unhappy that some people are choosing to make agricul tural problems an issue in the campaign. But of all the dis cussion—and even controversy will come better under standing of farm problems than we have had for a long time; I am confident of the good judgment of farm people — because they know, perhaps better than most, that “as ye sow so shall ye reap.” At the very heart of the agri cultural issue is whether our farms are to continue to be operated by free men Or, on the other hand, to offset some veiy real and obvious problems that farmers now face, will govern ment go in the opposite direc tion and subsidize agncultuie in such a manner that it also takes conti ol’ If price supports are to be increased, and are to be ex tended to more crops and to livestock, as again is being pro posed in the political debate about agriculture, then faimers will be subjected to more con trols. Such a result would oe in escapable Producers would have to be told how many sows they can keep and how many pigs the sows may farrow how many hens they can keep, and how many eggs the hens may lay. Control is the inevitable, the unavoidable twin of the sub sidy. Subsidized prices mean ing prices consistently and sub stantially higher than the mar ket would pay always lead to surpluses This is because aru ficially high, guaranteed prices are a green light to producers, and encourage production. At the same time they are a red light to consumers and discour age consumption. If more or even the same amount is produced, but less can be sold, then what is called sm pluses begm to accumulate. Then out put has to be restricted in an effort to restore balance between supply and demand. Restncted production means that the right to produce has to be rationed among farmers. And this re quires use of the government’s HAWKINS MECHANICAL LITTER FLOOR SLUTTED FLOORING Customers Reporting: 4,000 laying hens per 6,000 square feet of floor space as compared to 2,000 laying hens on regular liter. 80% egg production against 75% production on regular litter. 90% hatchability against 75% hatchability on regular litter. 99-7/10% c!i=»an eggs against 75 to 80% clean eggs on regular lifter. ELIMINATING . . medication costs to fight and control intestinal parasites, no fibrous lifter to boy, no wet spots, no dust—just plain simple sanitation in action. NO dropping pits, NO roosts, NO sub-flooring necessary. DOUBLE the number of birds on the same floor space. Means 50% less capital investment Fits any type house . . Easy to install. COME IN AND. SEE US TODAY OR WRITE FOR FREE CIRCULAR WINDLE’S HATCHERY Phone LYric 3-6143 COCHRANVILLE, PA. police power, to restraiii ‘farm ers, in our free country. This is a sequence of cause and effect that is bitter as gall to me. As a permanent con dition in our agriculture it is no more necessary than it is desirable. Our most critical farm prob lems both national and for most farmers are those root ed in our surpluses. There are other problems, as there 'al ways have beei>. But we could live with, and surmount the others if we could get out from under the distortions and dis ruptions caused by the sur pluses. I- would hke briefly to review five questions “with you. 1. How did we get these sur pluses? 2. Whose surpluses are they’ 3. What are they doing to farmers’ 4 Why haven’t we gotten rid of them’ 5. What can be done about them’ 1. How did we get the sur pluses? We have the surpluses pri marily because we carried war time incentive price supports too long into postwar yeais During World War II price sup ports were raised from the pre war range of 52 to 75 per cent of parity and placed at 90 per cent m order to stimulate all out production to meet war needs Farmers responded magnificently War places insatiable demands on agncultuie It requires every pound, and bushel, and bale that can be produced. But alter | HERR THE PUMP MAN | H 211 N. Ann St. Lancaster, Pa. Ph. 3-3694 | H |j FOR ALL POULTRY HOUSES * INDUSTRIAL sdme postwar rehabilitation, tb e same quantities and kind 0 { produce can not be sold at iho same prices in peacetime m,u kets. And yet the wartime i n . centive levels of price -suppoit s on the six,, so-called basic com modities the same rigid 9ij per cents were extended >n ar after year following the wj. The final extension was in July 1952, for two years in oti,ci words, through the marketing* year for the harvests of 1934 Thus for a decade after the wa r right up to the harvests of last year the price suppoit levels on the basic commodities were still calling on farmei-, t 0 produce just as they did m wartime. And yet we did not have the wartime markets Surpluses began to accumulate in 1948 and 1949. Korea re versed the trend, briefly. Then the pile up became even mine rapid At first only a few items voi e involved particularly wheat (Continued on page 13) T MAR-GRO Vitamin Supple ment Tour cattle and bogs need DUTCH BELL for Dairy BETTER BEEF for steei s and TRIPLE RICH for Hogs We also have the famous DAN PATCH HORSh POWDER Manufactured by Mar-Gio Mfg. Co.‘ R 2 LANC. AARON S. MARTIN DISTRIBUTOR R 1 EAST EARL PUMPS FOR EVERY FARM HOME AND NEED
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