... <l—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 14, 1959
Editorial - - -
Some information currently making
the rounds of farm magazines and news
paper editorial pages refers to farmers'
steadily deterioratng posit.cn in the na
tion's "expand.ng economy."
In a recent issue of the m'd-western
"Capper's Farmer I ’, these points were
"presented to inform fanners of the truth
about themselves. They night do for
Lancaster County farmers to study.
In 1957 some 60 cents of every Am
erican consumpt on food-dollar went to*
."middle-men", buyers, handlers, proces
sors and retailers of food. Less than 40
cents of the dollar went jo the farmers,
who during the past 18 years, boosted
producuve eff.ciency as much as in the
preceding 120 years.
In 1946, the typical "market basket" of
food cost $767, with the farmer getting
$397, or 51 per cent By 1957, that same
basket cost $l,OlO, but the larmer was
strll*g©tf.ng only $4OO, only $3 of the
$243 increase, while his percentage
share was only 39 5 per cent, an actual
decrease of 11.5 per cent.
But the real blow comes when you
cons.der that ths 11.5 per cent is actual
ly one-fifth of the farmer’s share. The m
' crease of "middle-men's" take comes
* tom these sources: Labor, $296, up $l3O
—or 43 per cent, Transportation, $73, up
$33 —or 45 per cent: other costs, $l7B, up
$69 —or 38 per cent, and increased fed
eral income taxs were unaccountably
credited with adding $4, although they
are collected on "net."
At the same time farmers have been
rev.led for "living off the government."
The truth is that in the past 50 years, less
-05 per cent —that's one-half of one per
cent —of federal subsidies went to farm
ers. The other 99.05 per cent went to a'r
bnes, the petrolum industry, housing,
shipp,ng, schools, veterans, industry in
general, business m general, railroads,
-sh.p lines, etc., etc.
Not only that, but half-truths hurled
crt the American people concerning the
annual "farm budget" of the federal gov
ernment overlook such things as inspec
tion programs for pure-foods, the crop
and livestock reports and estimates that
are used more by businessmen than far
mers, the federal school-lunch programs,
disaster food-iel ef, normal food relief,
foreign food relief and even fore.gn agri
cultural techncicm serve© admimstered
by USDA.
In short, even in the .05 per cent sub
sidy share, farmers have been charged
•with, non-farm programs and, accused with
be.ng "un-Amencan" for receiving feder
al subsidies. Maybe the accusations are
true. Maybe the U. S. farmer is ''un-Am
erican." Looking at the record and con
sidering the populat on figures, farmers
should have"received at least 32 times as
much m subsidies, in order to be 100 per
son
A bill introduced recently
by Sen Herman E. Talmadge
of Georgia would guarantee
every fanner an income up
to $25,000 a year in direct
payments out of the Federal
Treasury.
This Utopian pie in the sky
proposal has been placed be
fore the Senate Committee on
Agriculture for study and
hearings along with some 200
other farm measures design
ed to “cure” the low-income
complaint of farmers.
The colorful former Geo
rgia govenror, in presenting
his bill, told the Senate farm
ers cannot be the only group
placed m the position of hav
ing to “root, hog .or die” whi
le others have collective bar
gaining and protective tariffs.
Critics of the bill compare
it to the ill-fated Erannan
Plan offered 10 year* ago by
the then Secretary of Agri
culture Charles F. Brannan,
but emphatically rejected by
THIS WEEK
—ln Washington
With' Clinton Davidson
PIE IN THE SKY
Congress and most farm gro
ups at that time- It has, how
ever, been brought up again
in every Congress since 1949.
Five-Point Program
Sen Talmadge said his
plan would “restore Ameri
can agriculture to a free-en
terprise basis, bolstered by a
system of compensatory pay
ments limited to domestically
consumed basic commodities.
The five points of the plan
are:
1 B’jni.nate all acreage
controls and govern
ment loans.
2 Assign each farmer a
domestic production
quota based on units,
(bushels, bales, pounds,
etc.) of production.
3. Guarantee and pay to
each farmer an income
bonus of the difference
between the price he re
ceives for his quota and
100% of parity.
4 Require each farmer to
cent Amercctn'l
a e «
Copper's goes on to stress that U.S L
farmers need to cut production by eight
per cer\t to bring it m line with demand.
Yet, by the latest USDA figures, our over
production is costing many t.mes its val
ue, due to sharp price reduct ons for all
product on.
They ask also, "If farmers 'farmed
todgy as they did in'l94o, the consumers
food bill would be at least $l3 bllion a
year higher than it currently is. Which 's
better, to have a surplus cos'ing the con
sumer $3 billion to $4 billion a year .n
taxes, or to save him $lB bilLon a year on
food?"
"Farmers realize we live m an era
characterized by the m nimurd wage and
generally stab lized industrial pr.ces.
Farmers want to protect themselves
against the increas.ng costs of product on
and distnbut on They want to mobilize
their strength to bargain on a more equal
bass w.th highly organized industry and
labor," Capper's concludes.
Recently a farmer in Lancaster Coun
ty remarked; 1 "With prices of things we
buy what they are and manufacturers
rot s.ng them every chance they get, the
farmers have got to do something. Labor
is being given everyth ng they ask for
and there seems no stopp.ng them. Far
mers have got to start asking for a far
shake too."
We’ll buy that. With one excep'ion.
"Labor" hasn't been given anyth ng. La
bor is m the present "top dog" position,
because of one thmg. Labor organized
and "got lough."
. We certainly don't subscribe to some
of the methods and practices used m La
bor's struggle to pre-eminence, nor can
we find sympathy for employers who
used the same "unethcal" methods to
battle them. As the saying goes, "Mud
is mud, no matter whose boots it is on."
But we do subscribe to the theory
that orgart.zation is the only way Ameri
can fanners can-retain the least sem
blance of their present society in years
to come. Not the box-social type of or
gan zation, nor weed-control groups, or
even political-study gjpups. For the fad
remains, farmers soon will represent less
than two per cent of the nation's elector
ate and it is doubtful if that small voting
power will carry much weight.
Big business is well-known for cold
blooded, bu 3 ness-hke methods. When
you are required to show a profit for ab
sentee-owners, the stockholders, it is re
quired. There is noth.ng illegal or im
moral about this. It is the "free enter
pdise" system.
‘ For fam ly farmers fo survive and
fhe family farm to remam a basic pattern
of American agriculture, control of ther
own business is imperatve.
How much would such a
program cost? Sen Talmadge
estimated that the cost would
range from $1.5 billion to
$2 5 billion a year. Other es
timates, however, have ran
ged up to $lO billion or more
a year.
Cheap Food
Simihar farm plans over
rTum to pase :)
Lancaster County’s Own Farm
Weekly
F. O Box 1524
Lancaster, Penna.
Offices:
53 North Duke St.
Lancaster, Penna.
Phone - Lancaster
Express 4-3047
Dan McGrew, Editor;
Robert G. Campbell. Advertising
Director & Business Mhftager
Established November 4. 1955
Published every -Saturday by
Lancaster Farming. Lancaster, pa
Entered as 2nd class matter at
Lancaster, Pa under Act of Mar
3, 1879 additional entry at Mount
Joy, Pa.
Subscription Rates: }2 per year,
three years 35. Single copv Price
submit a bill of sale
with his application for
direct payments.
5. Impose a maximum of
$25,000 as the amount
of government payments
any one farmer could
receive in one year.
Lancaster Farming
i Newspape
tlnn, Natlonn
Mon.
Bible Material: Mark 12 2S-34
Devotional Beading: 1 John 3 1-11,
God and Neighbor
Lesson for February >l5, 1959
SUPPOSE the world had grown
so wicked that yon. could not
find any one who could be guai
anteed to keep more than one of
-the-Ten Commandments 9 And sup
pose you wanted to be married?
Which commandment would you
feel yoUr future wife or husband
simply must k'
regardless ?
• .answ
- that question, y
-have answe
another quest
What, for you,
the most ungo;
tant commam
ment m the
of God? It-is “a -AS**'
very old question. P l, Foreman
Teachers of the Law used to de
bate it at length. Jesus himself was
once asked the question directly:
“Which commandment is the first
of all?"
My 6od,My neighbor, Myself
Jesus did not answer the ques
tion by quoting’ a single one of the
“Ten Commandments.” He quoted
two verses from parts of the Old
Testament which to ua are less
familiar-. First from Deuteronomy
6:4.5; and second from Leviticus
19:18. (The reader might well look
these up and mark them in his
Bible; for if Jesus could be said
ever to have boiled down the whole
Old Testament into two sentences,
these are the two.) One command
unites the two: LOVE Jesus did
not, of course, mean to say any
thing so absurd as that a simple
command can produce love The
sergeant can say, One, two, three,
March! The music teacher can say.
One, two, three. Play! The lion
tamer can say, One, two,'three,
Jump! But not even God says, One,
two, three, Love! Human beings
are not made that way, and no one
knows it better than the God who
made us
What Jesus did mean is that
this is what God requires of us,*
nothing less. We cannot fulfill his
other commands till we have made
Now Is
TO PROTECT LEGUMES—New s
of legumes such as alfalfa, red cloi
trefold that failed to get the desired I
six inches of growth last fall may fi
extreme cold winter without snow
injurious; sub-zero temperatures "
snow and with strong winds may in]i
crowns of,the plant. Winter applicati
strawy, well-shredded manure (no
lumps) will add some cover and pro!
Max Smith TO BEWARE OF INTERNAL
SITES IN CATTLE—Excellent care, feeding, and
nent will make poor returns if animals are infected
.tomach worms or other internal parasites. This't
may exist on far more farms than are realized. Tleav
i ation for a number v of years accelerates the degree
.ection. Manure samples submitted to a local veteii
/ill determine the need for treatment. j
TO FEED QUALITY HAY TO CALVES - Scien
ceding practices have not altered the fact that g f j
alves deservfe the best hay in the barn, in most ca‘|
alves do better on quality hay and less grain Ibl
jorer hay "and more grain. Feed amounts ho developj
epth and, capacity.
TO EXPAND FARM BUSINESS—With fewer farff
mong a growing world population and mounting prod
osts 'tfieHrend toward larger units continues. The '
farm isn’t d< e' or passing out of the picture but it
nitely is becoming larger. The expansion of all major
prises to utilize' more fully present overhead costs set
■e good management. More animals per barn, more
'er tractor, and more output per man reflect a more
ole outlook.
an honest effort at thiJ
Jesus’ selection of i
commandments show*, J
take of taking either 0(
arately. There are the
not understand what j
means, and so try to r 5
it by loving people.
possible to love peopi,
Godts children, and 4
time ignore their heaven
Also there are those
much impressed by the
of God and the httlcne
the holiness of God and
follies of man, that th,
loving human beings aiy
their affection on God at
need Saint John’s remit
can a man love God, wi,
not seen, if he does not i (
beings, whom he has
there are the numerous j
love only themselves, p,
by contrast the people v,
we, should never loi e j
(This overlooks the point,
neighbor AS thyself If j,
self is sinful, so is love
bor!) The true ideal is r
of these with the other,
but'all these three—love
to say, concern for the
the welfare) of God, om
ourselves.
How This Works
From the humbeiles,
turns of this cfentral Va
let us select one which J
riate to Temperance Sun
is a problem: Wfiat shi
Christian’s attitude to'
liquors? Suppose a mad
answer that question on
of love to himself alone’
question will be simpd
going to do ME any haiJ
answer is No (if —!) the]
proceed to dnnk like a
suppose he tiies to sohe
lem on the basis of 1m
alone; then he may ask, 1
coholic content of my M
or low, going to hurt GO
he thinks, of course not]
he is mistaken) ; so he ai
proceed to dnnk like a
suppose' he opens his d
enough to take in his nJ
his children, his family, oa
have weaker will-powei a
self, those who look to a
example, those who will u
hy the clearness or fuzznJ
mind as he makes deed
then he will look at hi>
habits in.quite a different'
man lives on an island a|
Christian love keeps thaj
ways bnghi in the mind
(Based 01 times Cbpv
the D.vasiO) t* Chris tiir*.
National Council of tht 0
Christ i ! the t’ S. A Ilf
Comxniixnl} Servict)
The Time ...
BY MAX SMITH