The American Farmer • .
He Produces,
(Editor’s note: This is the second
in a series of articles on the
American farmer. The series is
furnished courtesy of DEKALB
Agßesearch, Inc.)
The farmer’s business is
producing food and fiber,
recognized as the world’s basic
industry.
In any society, the necessities
it works!
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J.D. TRACTORS IS
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WENGER'S FARM MACHINERY, INC.
SOUTH RACE STREET,
MYERSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
of life - food, clothing and shelter
- must come first. A color
television is of little comfort to a
youngster whose stomach is
gnawed by hunger. A dishwashei
means little to the housewife
whose first concern is having
ample food to serve her family.
Unlike many other products of
our economy, food is one product
we cannot do without.
As a basic industry, agriculture
holds the key to the development
of other industries. If most of the
world’s work force is required to
produce food and fiber, then
obviously fewer workers are
available to develop other in
dustries.
This is not to say that
agriculture is the basic industry
of every nation on earth. It isn’t.
The law of comparative ad
vantage enters the picture; A
nation develops those industries
it is best suited for, based on the
resources it has available for that
industry. No nation is entirely
self-sufficient. World trade helps
fill any potential void.
For world trade to exist in the
food market, some countries
must produce agricultural goods
i in excess of their domestic needs.
Few nations are doing this. But
the United States is... and it’s due
to the efficiency of the American
farmer.
During the past few decades,
the American farmer has
1 demonstrated his amazing ability
to produce. He has increased his
production more than any other
major segment of our economy.
During the past 10 years, his
production has climbed 20 per
cent, and he’s done it on six
percent fewer acres. He has done
it by taking the proper mix of
M.F.
TRACTORS
35 1100
50 1130
2-65 175
| 2-165 180
970
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COMBINES OTHER
AND TRACTORS
CORN HEADS
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■ mmmmmmmmmmmmtmmm
He Consumes
land, labor, capital, technology
and management, and coming up
with the most efficient
agricultural production the world
has known. And the end isn’t yet
In sight.
His efficiency has made
possible the of the
production from one of every four
acres harvested in this country.
He has made the United States
the leading exporter of
agricultural products, ac
counting for more than one-sixth
of the world’s agricultural ex
ports in fiscal year 1970-71.
Perhaps a statement by Robert
Stovall, vice president of
Reynolds Securities, Inc., best
sums up our amazing American
agriculture. Writing in the
February 1, 1973 issue of FOR
BES magazine, Stovall said, “It
is ironic that the much maligned
farmer and the risky, highly
cyclical industries that serve him
have now combined to produce
the one area of expertise which
the U.S. shares with no other
country in the world. Others can
produce automobiles, color
television sets, transistors and
pharmaceuticals of like quality to
ours, and frequently cheaper. In
the field of agri-business,
however, we have no real com
petitor.”
As time goes on, the American
farmer will likely play a bigger
role in the world economy. If his
full productive capacity is
unleashed, he will be an even
more important factor in the
struggle to alleviate world
hunger.
It’s time we recognize the
importance of the American
farmer’s ability to produce, and
accept what it has done and can
OLIVER TRACTORS
1750
55 1850
77 2-1950
1600 5-1855
1650 2150
do for our economy. In the- Oc
tober 8, 1972, issue of the
CHICAGO TRIBUNE, Economist
Pierre A. Rinfret is quoted as
saying, “Most people haven’t
realized yet that a principal part
of the President’s new economic
drive is utilizing in full the in
credible productive capacity of
American agriculture.”
FARMALL TRACTORS
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2-4000
5000
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The American farmer is unequalled in his
productivity. He produces enough food for
himself and 47 of his neighbors. Americans
have the best food in the world at the
world’s best prices. Other countires can
match the U.S. in the production of
automobiles, color TV sets and transistors.
However, in the field of agribusiness, we
have no competitor.
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717-866-2138
Full employment in our
economy, Rinfret continued,
“requires maximum economic
expansion until all idle capacity
is used up, and the turning on of
the full productive capacity of
agriculture.”
The farmer’s efficiency has
enabled American consumers to
enjoy an ample supply of the
most wholesome and nutritious
food products in history - at the
best prices ever. In 1972, even in
the face of rising food costs, the
consumer spent an average of
less than 16 percent of his pay
check for food, or less than half of
what he paid in 1929 and the
lowest percentage in history.
This has enabled consumers to
spend an increasing portion of
their incomes for products other
than food, thereby encouraging
the development of non
agricultural industries. The
result ... a higher level of living
for everyone.
The export of American
agricultural products is a “plus”
in our attempts to achieve a
balance of payments in foreign
trade. In 1971, total U.S. exports
were valued at $43.5 billion. That
same year, the United States
exported a record $7.7 billion of
agricultural products, ac
counting for nearly one-fifth the
value of all U.S. exports. And a
side benefit ... American
agricultural exports require
financing, storage and both
inland and ocean transportation -
- thus, maintaining more jobs for
more people.
The American farmer may be a
•armer, but he’s also a con
sumer. He puts billions ot dollars
back into the economy to
maintain his operation. In 1971,
American farmers spent $l.B
billion for petroleum, $l.l billion
for tractors, $3.5 billion for hired
labor and paid $3.1 billion in
property taxes. He also helps
support the same industries that
his non-farm neighbors do. He,
too, buys refrigerators, television
sets, automobiles, furniture and
processed foods, in simple
figures, five percent of the
population accounts for nearly 20
percent of the domestic market
for steel, petroleum, rubber, and
other major products.
The effect of all of this is that
-_hree out of 10 jobs in America
are related to agriculture. And at
the heart of this is the American
Farmer.
27