14
—Lancaster Farming, Friday, December 24, 1971
Across the
Editor's Desk
(Continued from Page 13)
fashion relatively favorable to
the family dairy farm, please
note that I have limited these
favorable prospects to those
dairy farms large enough to be
efficient. Many present small
dairy farms that are in the
tradition of family operation will
disappear as their operators
choose better-paying less
damagmg off-farm jobs. A dairy
farm that is too small to be
profitable and that nevertheless
requires a man to be on the job
365 days of the year certainly
does not have a bright future Not
many young men are likely to
commit their lives to this kind of
undertaking, and if they were,
probably their wives would not.
It won’t be large-scale dairy
farms that cause the small dairy
farmer to quit, it will be the
greater attractiveness of off
farm employment.
It may be that family farmers
can build their own backfire
against current trends, through
farmer cooperatives Family
farms are developing their own
approach to the need for size and
the integrated structural form
As I said before, cooperatives can
retain much of the decision
making at the farm level and still
achieve the marketing ad
vantages associated with size and
an integrated operation The
dairy industry is moving in this
direction
xxx
The family farm is a durable
and resilient institution. It has
survived war, depression and
natural disaster Up to this point,
with the exception of the broiler
industry and a few other sectors,
it has survived a technological
revolution. It has strong
idelogical support , supplied
through the political system.
There is nothing inexorable
about the trend toward large
scale agriculture Legal tools are
available to check the trend:
prohibitions of one sort or
another, graduated taxes, and
limitations on the amount of
government payment foing to
any one farm
With a representative govern
ment, the people can have any
kind of agriculture they want.
And I think they will insist on
havm what they want.
Suppose for a moment that the
large-scale farming units are
more efficient than family farms.
People are asking whether, in as
affluent a country as the United
States, efficiency should be the
sole criterion for the form of
agriculture we are to have. We
now supply ourselves with food
the best diet every, anywhere
with something less than 17 per
cent of our income If we stay
with the family farm and im
prove its efficiency, the per
centage of income spent for food
will go still lower Should we
adopt a new and greatly different
system so as to drive food costs
down even faster*' Should we
sacrifice a form of agricultural
production that has served us
well, that has produced good
people as well as good crops and
livestock’
This is a fair question. The
answer to it is properly social and
political as well as economic. I
believe this to be a major farm
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policy issue of the decade ahead.
And I do not think our
agriculture need be or will
become monolithic, relying on
one managerial concept only.
We are a pluralistic country
socially, politically and
economically. The fact that the
trend has been in the direction of
large-scale units does not mean
that this trend must be extended
until it embraces all of
agriculture Nor does it mean
that large-scale farming units
should be abolished. I see no good
reason to prevent us from having
a farming system that is partly
large-scale and partly family
farms. Those who believe in
market competition should also
believe m in appropriateness of
competing institutional forms
For most American
agriculture, the family farm can
continue to be the major
organizational form
If it is permitted the
flexibility that will alow
the efficient use of modern
technology and
management
If it is provided with
good research, education
and credit
If it makes wise use of
the principles of
cooperation.
If it continues to enjoy
the good will of the public.
All these things are
possible if we decide we
want it that way
■» *
Editor’s Note: The December
16 news letter of the National
Council of Farmer Cooperatives
made the following comment on
President Nixon’s recent
proposal to retain the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, but
move some functions to other
departments:
President Nixon’s latest
proposal for reorganizing USDA
would remove much of the
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department’s political clout and
essentially leave it as a shell of its
former self.
The plan, recently unveiled by
the White House, would leave the
USDA intact with its own
secretary, but would shift several
key agencies to other depart
ments. Leaving sould be agencies
with a powerful political wallop:
meat and poultry inspection, fruit
and vegetable grading, food
stamps, Soil Conservation Ser-
vice, and the Forest Service.
Each of the three agencies
performing consumer services
has strong political backing in
urban an suburban areas. And,
the Soil Conservation Service and
Forest Service hafve a history of
strong Politcal strength in rural
America
“If the Administration’s plan is
approved, price support
programs would be about only
activity left in USDA with any
significant ploitical influence,”
said Dick O’Connell, secretary,
National Council of Farmer
Cooperatives He pointed out that
the proposed revision would pare
USDA programs down to those
that are basically regulatory or
informational in nature
“This revision,” asserted
O’Connell, “would greatly reduce
agriculture’s political clout and
make it more exclusively that
exercised by the people left in
farming.”
The White House announced
concerning the proposed
reorganization said USDA
“peripheral activities” will be
transferred “This is like calling
for the removal of the brain,
heart, lungs and kidneys as
peripheral organs while
pretending that a viable human
being remains,” O’Connell
declared.
* * *
The following commentary on
the egg industry’s economic
condition was made in the
December 6 news letter of the
Northeast Egg Marketing
Association (NEMA):
The large white egg price in
New York dropped to 30 cents a
dozen the first of the month. This
reflected a net price to producers
of 17 to 18 cents a dozen for all
eggs sold on a grade yield basis.
We’re Going to Lower our WINTER & SUMMER TIRE INVENTORY
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At the same time breaking
stock weighing 52 lbs. gross (48
lbs. net) was bringing 23-24 cents
a dozen or a net of 20-21 cents.
With breaking stock yielding the
producer 2-3 cents a dozen more
than eggs going into cartons the
inventory. This was the first
week in November well ahead of
any holiday business.
The better inventory, higher
breaking prices and anticipation
of approaching holiday business
there was real pressure on the
market to move up. It did ad
vance 8 cents in eight trading
days and remained strong
through the holiday and the
balance of the month. Un
fortunately, the 39 cents level
that was reached was still short
of what was needed to return a
profit to the average producer.
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The brown large price went off
in sympathy with New York
prices to a low of 37 cents a dozen,
still reflecting a spread of 7 cents
a dozen. This spread was
maintained through most of the
month' with an average 5.8 cents
for the month the widest spread
for any month to date.
At a time when producers in
other parts of the country were
losing heavily and facing
brankruptcy, the average of 40.9
cents for large brown eggs was a
lifesaver to brown egg producers.
It was possible to accomplish
this only because NEMA had the
cooperation of the entire" New
England egg industry. We hope
the day may come when the
whole industry can work together
as effectively and reap the same
rewards.
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