Emphasis Placed On Nation’s
Farm Surplus Questioned
THE READER MAY well recall how the
allegedly huge size of our farm sur
pluses has been constantly publicised. Day
after day for years these surpluses were
held forth as the villain in the agricultural
woodpile
Well, anyway just how big are those
surpluses’
Dr. W. M Meyers, President of the
American Society of Agronomy in an ad
dress before its annual meeting at Purdue
University said- “Our farm production ex
ceeds consumption by only 3 or 4 per cent.
This is indeed a narrow margin and we
must always, if we can, retain a small
margin over our heads."
The direct conflict between this lead
ing agronomist in Ins appraisal of farm sur
pluses. and that of high officials of the
U S D A and some leaders of farm organi
zations is at once apparent
He spoke as a Scientist with high re
gal’d for facts when he emphasized the size
of the surpluses in relation to consumption.
Too often those in chief policy making
positions in government and farm organi
zations allow their economic and political
philosophies to dictate their appraisal of
economic facts.
This has been true to an unusual de
gree during the past few years We have
only to recall the recurring news items
furnished by such"leaders emphasizing the
huge size of these surpluses giving in de
tail the billions of dollars of the taxpayers
money used to finance their storage The
blame for sui pluses—which were regarded
as evil—was invariably placed on the farm
piograms, especially price supports.
Leading Agronomists ai e on record at
tributing the steady growth,in farm output
of the last 15 vears to the farm “technologi
cal revolution ” Price supports at best were
PENNSYLVANIA’S SWINE INDUSTRY
can cope with cm rent changes in agri
cultuie provided hog laisers produce qual
ity meat-tvp'e hogs, it^prove their efficiency
and enlarge their operations
This reassurance was given by mdus
tiv spokesmen at a recent statewide swine
meeting conducted by livestock extension
I ' THIS WEEK
I j: —lit Washington
| Jrv' With Clmton Davidson
\SA Ji the new f arm law
5 Davidson
Kami piogiam admimsliators o.ds. barley rye and giain sor
m Washington this week aie try- ghums shall be supported at
mg to sohe the tann law piurle puces ‘fan in lelation to the
which the 85th Congicss tossed feed value of corn”
into then lap lust neioie lea. mg Congress left it up to the Secie
luwn tar. to make the decision as to
The new law calls, toi change- the support sate that would be
in piogiams aflcctmg coin col fair” Support oflicials estimate
lon nee oats, baric. rvc and tnat will be about ’ 880 abu fo>
giain soighums It sets up a whole ( ats SI 25 a bu for bailee, $1 70
nev set ol iulcs and regulations « bu foi rve and $2 50 a cwt for
lot groweis ol those commod'- giain sorghums
Two Cotton Piogiams
VgntuiUne Dcpaitmeiu offi- _, , „
c als ha.c not so la. been abl’ 1 ht ' ‘ ,w ca ,s f
t< make an estimate ol how much c °“ on a lot ™" ’ starting in
the new p.ogram will cost or how 3w9 lbdl s dboul 3 °" , undel tbls
much it ma\ add to ahead, laige ( ’ ,O ' VCIS W)1 (r choosc bc '‘
sm pluses lima, be weeks befo. e tvten ' cn , ?£° lenl pro '
n oliicial jiUeipietalion ol the g"™* m 1909 and 1960
law is a.ailable Piogiam A sa.s that if they
11 i- at best a mak( sftift pio r'- nl withui their allotment the
ji’am involving mam inmpro t'uvci nment will buv then cotton
niW' Conm essmen we have talk dl &o't o( parity a national aver
:fi with do not ague on iust vvh.u ‘‘ge °* about 36 cents a pound
tin progiam is intended lo do
'1 in \ volid I.n n because lhe\
1< ll it was llu best that Was pio
po'-cd
( oi n Vllotmeuls Out
I Im n< w pi o'4i am abandons
lolls allii mam coats to tor
ol (lit dui,i»i planted in coin
heu will hi no com allotments
at tin;, in 1959 I he stippoil iaO
’Hu net pio”idm continues the
i ational allotment at 1 6 million
'ies and peimils the Sen elan
l,un lo s(( supports aimvheie between
Jlk law sacs however that no 75', ,ukl 90', of panic m 1959
d ports shall he less than 65'- .ml 1960 then drops supports to
panic Thai will be some when 7 II'. of panic in 1.961 and to
ai SI 15 a bushel m 1959 I' by, ofpaiif in 1962 and Iheie
o\ ick s that othci ftcel juains— a'ler
) Ik sit b. the Societal \ of Agn
ultuic will apple to all tom
★ *
I’iogram ‘B peimits them to
ocei plant then allotment bv up
to 40' < and set price supports at
hj'< of panic about 31p a pound
in 1959 and 1960 onh Altei 1960
a'l yiocveis would ha\e to plant
within their allotments to !>et sup
oorls at 70'< ol panic in 1961 and
65'. theieaftci
only one of many, factors causing surpluses
—certainly not the chief cause.
At no time in recent years—if ever—
have the consumers of food and fiber been
taken on such a fanciful propaganda ride
as that which has been powered by these
distorted interpretations of the size and
significance of our farm surpluses.
Largely because of this 3 or 4 per cent
surplus the Consumer today can buy more . Business •* » » sin to be rich?
staple foods with an hour s income than at uwu 111 DBeiawa
any time during the past 4 or 5 decades ll0 ™ e S 'SfST
II is the farmer—who takes It in the lesson tor September 14. 1958 that some readers 0 f ,t have the
pocketbook and in the chin when he pro- impiession that God condemns rich
duces above consumption This largely be- \^/’ HERE can we 611(1 God? in people just because they are rich
cause we have used the results of millions , , chu «:h, yes; m the great out- This is not tiue A moie careful
. r . „„ „r, of-doors, yes. In prayer in the quiet reading shows that whenever a
of dollars and many years of research rn room, or under the mighty far-ofl wealthy pei son IS denounced in the
teaching him how to produce 2 blades of stars. God is everywhere. name of God, is isn’t because of his
grass, 2 ears of corn and 2 bushels of pota- But is God in business ?We don’t wealth, by Itself. There are too
toes wbye one grew before, but left him mean. God doing business 7He many highly-praised persons of
with little help in marketing his greatlv aiways 1S > of course. Ws mean, is wealth in the Bible to allow us to
inrrpnspd urndiipp God m the busi- believe that wealth is a sin, period
i c eub u p uuuce- ness life of our The point is not-How much do you
Cooperative marketing has helped time? Is he on have 9 or. What is the amount, in
greatly in some fields, but m fields where the stock ex- dollars, which is the limit a good
the surpluses are greatest, they are inade- chan & e - 13 he m Christian can have 1 ’ The point is
qua^e attendance at How did you get what you hate?
1 r' . . , board meetings of Jesus’ brother James calls down
In appraising the meaning and value great corpora- doom on certain rich farmeis, not
Of OUr 3 to 4 per cent farm surplus let tions, is,he m the because they had money but be-
US take account of the millions of hungry little country cause their wealth was gained by
people in other lands who have been fed stores, is he in their hired men Mak
hpraiisp of it horse trades or Foreman mg money by making men poor is
, ~ , , on used-car lots? “The Economy” stealing, and sin
Consumers will regret the day when is a phrase used so often nowadays
our food surpluses turn into deficiencies, that even teen-agers must know m ,s ,hls s P ,rit possible?
When that occurs food prices rise sharply, general what it means. "The Econ- Saint Peter gives us what is
We hope to see the day when the farmer ° my ” 13 today’s jargon for all the better than a rule- he tells us the
too can rejoice in a surplus such as we now dustnai ou £ r,ght kwd of spint that a Christian
J 1 austnal and agricultural wheels ought to have Our gifts, he writes
a mu *. , „ t, , ~ going, the word includes those four are to be employed “for one
That day Will come when we have the Pdlars of all business anywhere another,” service is to be rendered
courage to plan such use of our farm sur- 3111 time: production, marketing, in such as to glorify God We all
pluses, and the dedicated will to see to it and dnance Is God in feel that this IS the right spirit for
that these surpluses shall not destroy the onomy o menca. “church woik” But is it practic
market for the entire crop. Sim P ,e H » n «»y Jl " “ !‘ S same sp T*
The Farmer’s Exchange Now lfc be that not a reader ,f n '" h V n h OU ■ econ ° ra,c llf t e 7ls
me rarmeis LXCnange of this column IS a “business man ” „ possible, in business transactions,
For all that, every reader is en- t 0 S6IVe one another for the S lor y
gaged in busmes/somo way or of God - This « a v!tal question If
other part of the time “Money isn’t b f V ® tC Say No ’ 11 ,s nat prac '
at Penn State University Attending were everything, but money’s into every- tlcable - then we ate saying that we
breeders feeders and packers thin s ”w we i,ve, breathe and eat ® an be c f hnstian oJlly in , ° ur le T l j ;ure
Howard 'W’hite, Allentown packer, said Z\lTwtfotZy. “ aron^S
the homemaker IS demanding quality — less mg, selling, owning, renting earn- the CIOCk ’ throu g hout the week,
fatty — pork He warned that unless they mg, spending (yes and wastm- then we shall have to thmk ou t
shift to the meat-type hog they Will lose which is economics gone mad), all ™ we can carry this
fqvnr with ronqumprs Packers hp qaid of which we lump together imder spirit devotion to God and man
Lavoi Wltn consumei S packers, ne sam, the head of “The Lonomy” ormst mto the dollars-and-cents world.
will pay a premium for the meatier animals “economic hfe” 3 not Can lt: be done ° Each reader 13
8 ■ of something big, something a con- challenged to mako the experiment.
gressman might plan for. Let us (Based on outlines copyrighted by
2 T „ • think Of economics on Mam Street n*e Division of Christian Education.
S Lancaster Jr arming at the sunprmnrlrot __ . ’ National Council of the Churches oi
ts ac cne supermarket, on the bus, Christ in the USA. Released by
maybe our few dollars at the bank Comnrnnity Press Service.)
Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weekly forget about the hundred :
Alfied C Alspach Publisher, Dun dollar bills and thmk about small
★ ★ ★
McGrow, Editor, Robert G Campbell,
Advertising Director, Robert J
Wiggins, Circulation Director
Established November 4, 1955
Published every Friday by OCTORARO
NEWSPAPERS, Quarry ville. Pa IfcT » m> fTI*
Phone SXerlmg; 6-2112 or Lancaster, £ IHI6
Entered as Second-Class matter at
the Post Office, QuarryviUe, Pa, uawler
Act of March 3, 1879
Subscription Rates- $2 per year,
three years $5, Single copy Price 5
cents.
A Big Role
During a 70-year life
time, an aveiage American
consumes 6,000 loaves of
bread, three oxen, four
calves, four sheep, 300
chickens- 12,000 pounds of
vegetables, 9,000 pounds
of potatoes, 14,000 pounds
of fiuit. 6,000 quarts ot
milk, 5,000 eggs, 8,000
pounds of sugar, 2 000
pounds of cheese, all of
which came from Ameri
ca’s 4,782 393 farms And
then some people have the
nerve to say the farmer
isn’t an impoitant segment
ol our population
Express 4-3047
“Volts and Jolts”,
REA Paper
4—Lancaster Farming, Friday, September 12, 1958
or "Thou shalt not steal unless thou
Bibl* Material: Exodus 20 13, Leviticus canst get by with it”' Taking any
6 4, 25 35-38, Deuteronomy 25 13-16, kind of advantage of any other per-
’ 5 •l-'s Peter’ 4/7-n son <° r corporation, foi that mat-
Devotional Keathiiff: Mlcah 6 9-15 ter * So that tll€y are tlie P oorer for
_ what you did, is stealing
★★★ ★ ★
By MAX SMITH
County Agricultinal Agent
Max Smith
obtained
TO BE CAREFUL OF SILO OAS Dining silo Idling time it is
lecommenciecl that opcratois be cautious about entering a partly
Idled sdo without running the blower lor seveial minutes Over
night fermentation 0 i the newly chopped crop sometimes provides a
chance for the gas to id] the sdo and the silo chute Coin that has
been heavily fei tilled with nitiogen in a veiv diy yeai is more likely
to be dangerous Care should always be evtcised during the idling
operation c ’
10 MAKE QUALITY SILAGE The Kind ol silage lhal is taken
trom the sdo next wmtei laigelv depends upon the kind ot forage
ci op that went into the sdo this sun.mei oi fall Also the presence
of adequate moistuie is necessaiv l o r pioper packing and ferment a
tion If the oop is dry, oi has been hosted and diy then it may be
nccessai \ to add water at the blowei dining the tiding operation
10 PRACTICE SAFETY The tall months usuallv find some of
our noie dangcious machines in operation that is if th"
operators aic not piacticmg all safely measures The silage choppers
and the corn pickers wairant all safely piecautions m order to pre
vent miury Usually we don’t lake time to be perfectly safe.
TO TREAT SEED GRAIN Plant licated seeds
foi winter giams lor improved stands, bigger
yields, and better quality Growers using their
own crop for seed should use one of the recom
mended treatments, the use of chemicals or hot
water will give good results An Extension Leaf
let is available on the sublet
TO KILL POTATO VINES Both research and
experience has shown that chemical vine killers
give more eflicient killing of vines that mechani
cal beatig Most el lective chemicals aie sodium
aiscnite and the di-nitro compounds The chemi
cal should be applied with the icgulai sprayer
about 10 days to two weeks pnoi to harvest Bet
lei npcning and skin-set of the potatoes will be
change
Are we honest about all the*e
things ? Does our religion affect the
way we price what we have to sell
(if only a few eggs or halos of
hay) ? Do we make honest state
ments about what wo buy and sell ’
The command of God is: “Thou
shall not steal ” Nothing said about
“Thou shalt not steal a whole lot, ’