Payments Problem: Agriculture
Helps To Restore A Balance
American agriculture has been
helping to right the balance of
payments. Last year, at a time
when commercial exports of oth
er commodities lagged behind
(he value of imports, and the out
flow of dollars accelerated, agri
cultural trade brought nearly $1
billion into the United States.
Money on the Move
Farm trade is not the only ac
tivity affecting the payments
balance.
The balance of payments is an
accounting of all money entering
or leaving the country for any
reason: money paid for imports,
foreign spending by U.S. firms,
tourists, or the government and
investment abroad: money re
ceived for our exports, or for
Joan repayments from tourists
visiting America, or from foreign
investment here. There are thus
many reasons why dollars
change hands internationally out
side off the customary commod
ity trading channels.
When dollar income exceeds
•utflow, the balance is deemed
favorable. When the reverse is
true, as in recent years, the bal
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Waiter Binkley & Son
Brown & Rea, Inc.
Elverson Supply Co.
Henry E. Garber
R. D. 1, Elizabethtown, Pa.
L. T. Geib Estate
I. B. Gray bill & Son
Refton Strasburg
E. Musser Heisey & Son
R. D. #2, Mt. Joy, Pa.
ance is in the favor of foreign
holders who can demand gold or
build up future claims on our
goods.
* The balance-of-payments defi
cit, which had been diminishing
gradually for several years,
.lumped again last year to the
highest level since 1960. This
turnaround caused widespread
concern because it came at a
time when other currencies were
being devalued.
The deficit last year more than
doubled from the 1966 level and
amounted to $3.6 billion. But
without the net contribution of
agricultural trade, including dol
lar returns on Government pro
gram (noncommercial) exports,
the deficit would have mounted
to $4.6 billion.
Where did the billion-dollar ag
ricultural contribution come
from? To answer that, it’s neces
sary to distinguish agricultural
trade from nonagricultural, and
commercial exports from those
financed by the Government.
Commercial Trade
Last year, the value of all ex
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Lititz
Atglen
Elverson
Manheim
ports sold commercially was
$26,999 million. This was a slim
$l9 million more than what we
paid for imported goods. So our
net commercial trade added $l9
million to the plus side of the
payments account. But exports
of commodities other than farm
goods ran behind what we paid
ior similar type imports. All of
the net dollar income from our
tri.de thus came from agricul
ture.
In 1960, the commercial agri
cultural trade balance was a def
icit. In that year, there was a
total of $435 million on the minus
side. By 1963 exports and im
ports were about equal. The bal
ance then became favorable and
peaked at $984 million in 1966.
In 1967, it was favorable by $660
million.
On the nonagncultural side,
imported goods have become in
creasingly attractive to Ameri
cans. In 1960 we paid nearly $ll
billion for nonagncultural im
ports, but by last year, our im
port bill hit $22.5 billion.
Up to 1965, other countries
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Equinader . . . Super Horse . . . Classic . . . and Com
plete Pellets. Ask us about them.
Heistond Bros.
Elizabethtown
A. L. Herr & Bro.
Quavryville
David B. Hurst
Bowuiansville
Martin's Feed Mill, Inc.
E. D. 3, Ephrata, Pa.
Mountville Feed Service
Mountville
Musser Farms, Inc.
Columbia
S BBT hr the fOAl?
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sive research and field testing RED ROSE FOAL FEED
was formulated specifically to meet the critical growth
and requirements of foals and weanlings. Red Rose
Foal Feed encourages early, rapid growth of bone and
muscle, and stimulates early maturity. It contains high
est quality protein, calcium, phosphorus, and vitamins
D and E.
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HORSE FEEDS
Chos. E. Souder & Sons
H. M. Stauffer & Sons,
were buying substantially more
of our non-agricultural goods
than we were buying of theirs.
Between 1960 and 1964, for ex
ample. the balance of nonagri
cultural trade was favorable,
earning $2 billion or better each
year. By 1965, however, the mar
gin slipped to $1 billion. And for
the past 2 years the balance be
tween exports and imports was
negative. The deficit in 1967 to
taled $641 million.
Thus, the $660 million favor
able balance of commercial ag
ricultural trade last year was
just large enough to offset losses
from other trade and leave a
surplus of $l9 million.
Public Law 480 Programs Pay
Money earned last year from
Public Law 480 dollar credit
sales and sales for foreign cur
rencies also contributed favor
ably to the balance of payments
They affected the balance two
ways:
—Countries who bought our
food on credit in earlier years
agreed to pay us in annual dol
lar installments. Last year these
countries paid $59 million prin
cipal and interest on earlier
credit sales.
—Exports paid for in local cur
lencies don’t help our balance of
payments, since we cannot con-
Musser's Mill
The Buck
Terre Hill
Ammon E. Shelly
Lititz
L. M. Snavely
Lititz
E. P. Spotts, Inc.
Honey Brook
Inc.
Witmer
Lancaster Farming, Saturday. May 18,1968
vert the currencies into dollars.
However, each year our Govern
ment can draw on this reseive
when it needs to spend money
abroad, avoiding an outlay of
dollars. In 1907, Government
agencies abroad spent $222 mil
lion worth of local currencies,
reducing the dollar drain by that
amount.
In addition to these souices
our Government's Export Import
Bank, which also extends credit
10 finance farm product exports,
received $47 million interest and
principal repayments on agricul
tural commodity loans.
All these items amounted to a
total contribution of $328 million
in money earned or saved as a
result of noncommercial com
modity exports.
Added to the $660 million fa
vorable commercial agricultural
trade balance, farming’s net
contribution to the plus side of
the payments balance totaled
S9BB million in 1967.
Poultry Committee
Meets June 18-19 '
In Washington
The 22-member Poultry Advis
ory Committee named recently
to counsel with the Packers and
Stockyards Administration (’P&
SA) will hold its first meeting
June 18-19 in Washington, the U.
S Department of Agriculture
said today
Donald A. Campbell, P&SA
Administrator, said meetings
Mill begin at 9 15 a m in Room
218 A. USDA Administration
Building
‘We are anticipating a pio
dteme session in discussing the
complicated pioblcms of the
poultiy industry with these in
dustry leadeis,’ Campbell said.
Committee members lepresent
ing every segment of the indus
try will provide valuable scope
and experience to our discus
sions ”
USDA officials said the com
mittee is needed to help meet
the extensive marketing struc
ture changes which have taken
place in the poultry industry
duung recent years
Policyholder Questions Answered by
the Health Insurance Institute 277
Park Ave., N, Y„ N. Y., 10017
Q. I just had my eyes checked
by a doctor and luckily I don’t
need glasses. The doctor said'
however that it is possible that in
a few years I may have to start
wearing them. Is there any kind
of health insurance that I can
buy which will help me pay for
eye examination and glasses
when I need them? ,
A. Probably not, There are
some group insurance programs
which provide some benefits to*,'
ward vision care, but this type of’
coverage as such is not general. 1
Insurance companies have been
experimenting with vision care
coverage. Until sufficient experi
ence in this area of insurance is
gathered by insurers, it isn’t like
ly that it will be generally availa
ble.
Q. Do you have any informa
tion on how many people have to
enter a hospital in a year’s time?
A. In 1966, the figure was
about 27 million patients. That
means that during the year an
average of 73,694 persons en
tered the nation’s non-federal,
short-termgeneral hospitals
daily. The 27-million figure
represents an increase of about
500,000 admissions over 1965.
•FjouitULy
FINANCIAL
PROTECTION
27 MIIIION
PATIENTS
7
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