Individual incentive is the key
EDITOR’S NOTE: The
Bowing acconnt on “In
irjdoal Incentive - Key to
nerica’s Greatness,”
is prepared by William H.
alker, HI, assistant
cretary for Rural :
velopment, USDA. ‘
Tw<-
yo centuries„ago, when
>n and hoys, took uparms,
ight and died for their
3as and their beliefs in the
ttles of Lexington and
mcord, ours was a‘Nation
farmers. Those
urageous farmws,. those
;n of principle, were bold
Enough to risk their lives and
Kheir fortunes by signing the
■Declaration of In-
Idependence, the document
■which too many of us take for
■granted today. They did tins
■because they believed in
■freedom, and they wanted
[this new land to be a free and
■independent nation - a nation
■built and kept strong by such
■values as individual
■responsibility and initiative.
I In those beginning days,
■Thomas Jefferson, a fanner
Khimself and one of the
■founders of our Nation,
■summed up what makes our
■system work.
I “Agriculture, manufac
turing, commerce and
[navigation - the four pillars
[of our prosperity - are most
[thriving when left most free
[to individual enterprise.”
Abraham Lincoln later
complemented those words
of Jefferson when he said,
i “You cannot build character
[ and courage by' taking away'
[a man’s initiative and in
| dependence. You cannot help
| men permanently by doing
for them what they could and
should do themselves.”
Think for a moment about
what they said.
Those words of Jefferson
and Lincoln are Just as true
today as when originally
spoken, especially as 'they
to - agriculture.
Through the years, those
who have worked the land,
and those who have lived
Why American agriculture is so successful
close to it have set an out
standing example of
leadership for the rest of our
Nation.
And no doubt when the
history of this decade is
written* - the - American
farmer will be recorded as
the economic superstar and
inflation fighterofthe 1970'5.
Nations around the globe
envy bis productivity, Ms
efficiency and his bountiful
harvests. That envy is not
without foundation. Based on
the latest five-year
American far
mers feed and clothe over
215 million Americans,
export around 60 percent of
their wheat, 55 percent of
their rice, 50 percent of their
soybeans, 40 percent of their
cotton, 20 percent of their
com, large amounts of other
products and still have on
hand vast quantities of
commodities in privately
owned storage facilities.
A farmer today produces
53 percent more crops on 6
percent fewer acres than did
his father. Also today, one
farmworker supplies food
and fiber for 56 persons,
whereas, a decade ago, he
was producing enough for 29
persons, and two decades
ago, only 16 persons.
Compare this with the
Russian farmers who must
struggle to produce enough
food for 6 persons.
Output per manhour on
farms is more than 3 times
as high as it was 20 years
ago.
Our resources of land and
people complemented by our
incentive system of' free
enterprise have made that
progress possible.
Export opportunities,
along with a policy of letting
the market system work
without government in
terfere* Save enabled our
nation tv cash m on our
ability to produce efficiently.
And today - more than ever
before - vigorous and
growing export markets are
A story from my
childhood, rewritten to fit
these times, illustrates my
point:
Once upon a tune there
was a little red hen who
found some grains of wheat
While scratching in the
barnyard. 7
“Who will help me plant
these grains in order that we
may have bread to eat?” she
asked.
“Not I,” said the goose,
“not in my job
classification.”
“Not I,” said the donkey,
“I’d lose my unemployment
compensation.”-
“Not I,” said the pig, “I’d
lose my welfare benefits.”
“Then I will plant it
myself,” said the little red
hen.
So she planted the wheat,
watered it, and pulled the
weeds. When the wheat w as
ripe, the little red hen asked,
“Who will help me harvest
the wheat?”
“Not I,” said the goose as
she swam on the pond.
“Not I,” said the donkey.
“It’s against my principles
to work.”
“Not I,” said the pigs, as
he snoozed in the mud.
“Tnen 1 will,” said the
little red hen. And she did.
When the wheat was
harvested, the little red hen
asked,, “Now who will take
this wheat to the mill to be
ground into flour?”
_ “Not I,” chorused all of
her barnyard friends.
“Then I will,” said the
little red) t hen. And she did.
When the little red hen
essential for the continued
prosperity of the American
farmer.
Growing world population
and a'desire for better diets
plus vigorous promotion and
development efforts have
provided new and growing
market opportunities for
farmers during this decade.
Since 1969, exports of grain
have increased more than
160 percent from 30.7 million
metric tons to nearly 80
million metric tons in the
current fiscal year.
In the same time period
soybean exports have in
creased from 11.3 million
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returned from the mill
carrying the bag of flour, she
asked, “Who will bake bread
from this fine flflour?”
“Not I, Not I, Not I,”
chimed in her barnyard
neighbors.
“Then I will,” said, the
little red hen. And she did.
Soon the delicous smell
filled the barnyard.
Off the pond came the
goose.
Out of the barn came the
donkey.
Out of the mud came the
Pig-
“Who will eat this bread?”
asked the little red hen.
“I •'’ill,” -rod the goose.
“I will,” cried the donkey.
“I will,” cried the pig, in
exhilaration.
But the little red hen said,
“All by myself I planted the
wheat and. tended it, har
vested the grain, had it
ground into flour, and baked
the bread. And all by myself
I am going to eat it.”
“Excess profits,” cried the
goose, the donkey and the
Pig-
Then a government agent
appeared and demanded the
bread.
“But I earned it,” ex
claimed the lit' °d hen.
“Exactly,” said the agent,
“But in our society, the
productive workers must
provide for the idle.”
So the loaf of bread was
divided and all lived happily
ever after
But they all wondered why
the little red hen never again
baked a loaf of bread.
metric tons to 19.4 million
metric tons.
Cotton exports have in
creased and continued
improvement is expected
due to the strong demand for
natural fibers.
The 1975-76 market year
should see a record 103
million metric tons of
American bulk farm com
modities moving in the world
export trade compared with
50 million metric tons at the
end of the last decade.
Since fiscal 1969, the value
of those exports has gone
from $5.7 billion to $22.1
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Jan. 1.1977—55
billion this fiscal year, an
increase of 300 percent/
These farm export in
creases are important to
farmers. They are important
to all Americans.
Our agricultural exports
have played a major part in
contributing to a favorable
balance of payments for the
U.S., in helping keep the
dollar strong and in helping
us pay for important imports
of oil and scores of consumer
products. And further, they
have played a vital role in
contributing to peace in the
world by opening up lines of
communication, borders and
trade with once alienated
nations.
Thriving export markets
for farm products have been
an important factor in
permitting the government
to end decades of production
controls that had been im
posed on the farmer.
The American farmer has
been freed from 35 years of
government farm programs
which impaired his immense
potential for food production
and subjected him to
periodic criticism from his
city cousins for being paid by
the gobernment not to
produce Today, the farmer
produces for the market
place, not the government.
Taxpayers no longer have
to pay $4 billion annually in
subsidies to keep farmers
from growing crops. Storage
of government-owned grains
no longer costs taxpayers $1
million or more a day.
The change in agricultural
programs and the dramatic
increase in farm exports
have provided substantial
opportunity for increased
production, as farmers have
responded to the new market
incentives.
All has not been rosy,
however.
There has been much
clamor about farm exports
causing the dramatic in
creases in food prices. And
food prices have increased in
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recent years - but not
because of farm exports.
More than 80 percent of the
rise in food prices over the
last two years took place
after commodities had been
sold by the farmer.
The real culprit in the
history of increasing food
costs is rampant inflation.
Higher prices in the
supermarket come from
higher labor and tran
sportation costs; from more
' expensive fuel; from in
creased building and
maintenance costs, and from
higher taxes.
These costs not only have
jacked up the price of
groceries, they also have cut
deeply into the profits of
fanners. Farmers’ costs of
producing raw food com
modities have shot up
astoundingly in the past
three years.
Farmers, as well as
others, must have an op
-1 portunity to make an
adequate income if they are
going to continue producing
efficiently. They must be
free to make decisions based
on price signals from the
market place. They mist not
be hampered by government
interference.
No nation which carries
out a policy of disincentives
to farmers, a so-called
“cheap food” policy, will
ever have the efficient,
productive agricultural
industry that it needs. We
must never forget this.
Only farmers produce
food, and they can produce it
only if they are free to make
a profit - if there is incentive
to produce.
The American farmer
knows why the little red hen
quit baking bread.
There seems to be an at
titude in this country that the
profit system is all wrong.
An attitude that penalizes
the productive and rewards
the idle.
American farmers know
the meaning of work, of
efficiency - and productivity.
American farmers know
that the incentive system -
one free of government in
terference - is what it takes
for agriculture to meet its
challenges in the years
ahead.
Our system of free en
terprise, of individual in
centive, is the secret of our
nation's success.
If our nation is to remain
strong, we must all commit
ourselves to seeing that this
sytem has an opportunity to
thrive in the future.
In closing, I’d like to share
a story with you that I heard
several years age.
Once there was a young
nation struggling in the
community of nations to find
her place in the sun. For this
young country of brave
people discovered that
freedom is a God-given
right. So impressed were
they with this belief that they
lit a candle to symoblize
their freedom.
But in their wisdom they
knew that the flame could
not burn alone,so they lit a
second candle to symbolize
man’s right to govern
himself. A third candle was
lighted to signify that the
rights of the individual were
more important than the
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