E32—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 9,1982
WASHINGTON, D.C. - To in
sure adequate food supplies,
preserve natural resources and
protect ' Americans from
agricultural vagaries, the nation
may have to adopt a com
prehensive food and agricultural
policy, the American Association
for the Advancement of Science
was told Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, said Milton C.
Hallberg, a Penn State
agricultural economics professor,
“such a policy will not be easy to
forge. Its components are unclear.
Interest groups have not
coalesced. And policy-makers are
yet to be informed about the issues
and their inherent conflicts—much
less ready to negotiate necessary
trade-offs.
“While the enormous
agricultural changes of the past 20
years are widely recognized, some
critical, long-term impacts are
being overlooked," Hallberg said.
“In the flush of success,
American agriculture is straining
under pressures that may lead to
unanticipated problems. All
Americans have a stake in moving
from the farm-oriented policies
begun in the New Deal to a com
prehensive agricultural policy
one that takes into account the
needs of farmers, consumers and
international trade.
Some critics, he added, claim
erroneously that the nation’s 50-
year-long agricultural support
system of direct benefits to far
mers has helped only farmers.
Federal farm policy, he said, has
left crop and livestock production
relatively free of destablihzmg or
chaotic market forces. As a result,
consumers have enjoyed a wide
variety of good food without major
or prolonged shortages. Moreover,
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Nat’l food, ;ig policy not going to be easy
ne added, Americans probably
spend less ot their income for food
than do any other people. Past
farm policies deserve some of the
credit.
Nevertheless, vast changes have
occurred. An innovative overall
food policy now may be necessary,
he maintained.
At the heart of the issue, he
explained, is the industrialization
of U.S. agriculture. This has im
pelled a farm population decline,
from 23 million in 1950 to 0 million
in 1980. The result has been a
tremendous shift from self
contained family farms to big farm
businesses, heavily interdependent
on other sectors of the economy. OCCUTS Oil reclaimed
In this environment, farmers
have been forced to relinquish
much control over not just
production, but over pricing and
marketing decisions. Due to in
creasing "coordination” by big,
economically powerful non-tann
firms, markets in some areas are
not functioning adequately.
Simultaneously, Hallberg said,
the growth of big regional or
national food processing and
retailing firms has eroded local
agricultural support systems and
ready access to markets. This has
placed at a competitive disad
vantage small scale producers for
local or even regional markets,
such as the Northeast. There have
been two results: fears that non
farm regions’ food supplies could
be jeopardized in a crisis; .and a
sharp declme in farming in many
U.S. counties
Finally, he noted, recent years
have seen a phenomenal rise in
U.S: agricultural exports: from 17
percent of total agricultural in
come in 1950 to 60 percent worth
$4O billion - in 1980. While this has
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been a boon to farmers and the
country’s foreign trade balance, it
ultimately could have undesirable
consequences.
“Often,” explained Hallberg,
"programs meant to achieve a
given aim or solve a specific
problem have unintended side
effects or long-term impacts. It’s
vital that we pinpoint potential
conflicts, to determine what trade
offs will be needed.
"For example, critical to a
domestic food policy is our export
policy. If we are to maintain our
Early formation-
strip mines
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Given
time, soil is usually developed
from rock through erosion and
weathering, but researchers at
Virginia Tech have found early
stages of soil formation in surfaces
only four years old.
W. Lee pamels and D.F. Amos,
agronomist at Tech, found soil
formation on land reclaimed from
strip mining operations in
Southwest Virginia. The resear
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year-old surfaces 20 years of age.
soils on surfaces 20 years of age.
The shallowness, rockiness, slow
permeability of surface crusts, and
compaction of soil from large,
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finely fractured • mine spoil
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productive soil when properly
placed and managed.
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credibility in world markets, we
must be able to assure dependable
supplies. However, we must
recognize that worldwide food
demand fluctuations will occur
meaning we must develop policies
to protest U.S. producers and
consumers from trade un
certainties leading to wide price
changes.”
Also, Hallberg said, U.S. food
policy must be designed to con
serve land and water for future
generations, to protect these
resources from erosion, pollution
and chemical degradation.
From an overall economic
standpoint, another potential
source of conflict relates- to
development of a transport.sector
Camp Espy F arms
You’ll see Angus, Hereford, and
Charolais in the Espy herd. •We'll
feed anything,” comments Her
man. “It depends on the price of
the feeder steers.”
The animals are kept in four
different, groups -smallest to
largest. There are over 100 in each
group.
Every steer is moved through
the lot whether its ready or not,”
> Herman explains. No matter what
the prices are, the steers go to
market. Espy’s herd is constantly
changing, as he buys and sells
every month.
.The average steer gams about
2.45 pounds a day. The herd is fed
corn silage, which is stored in
several silos. A trench on the Espy
farm holds 1,800 tons.
They are also fed baled hay, high
moisture ear corn and some
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“The potential conflicts are
many and varied,” said Hallberg.
“Farmers’ needs may be adverse
to those of consumers. Foreign
requirements may run afoul of
domestic ones.
“I think we much examine our
major goals and build a com
prehensive food policy around
those goals. While we’ve long
helped feed the world, we must
make sure we’ll always have
enough for ourselves and that
food will be produced sdfely and
relatively cheaply, and be readily
available at all times.”
(Continued trom Page E3O)
haylage. Herman mixes urea with
the corn silage, making the protein
about 11 percent. In addition, each
ton of corn silage gets 10 pounds ot
urea and 10 pounds of grouf'|
limestone to keep the calcium up hi
the corn.
The only feed Herman purchases
is soybean meal for the young
steers. They each start out with a
half a pound a day.
The beef farmer of 23 years says
the problem with raising beef
cattle is that the price of the
product depends on supply and
demand. Right now, Herman isn’t
satisfied with the price.
Although the beef outlook for the
near future isn’t as bright as he’d
like to see it, Espy has a lot of
hopes for his best crop yield ever in
1982, and perhaps another grand
champion alfalfa award.