P26—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 1,1984
The U.S. Congress is facing a
major agricultural challenge - a
new farm bill. The law requires
that one be written in 1965. Too bad
it’s so close to a national election
because a lot of rhetoric between
now and November will just be
wasted. No politician is going to
get real serious about a new farm
bill until at least early 1985.
In the mean time all kinds of
farm organizations and others who
say they speak for farmers are
trying to catch Congress’s ear.
Some farm organizations have
been taking opinion surveys and
listening real good to what farmers
say so they can reflect their point
of view on Capitol Hill. Everyone is
hoping that 1985 will be the year of
meaningful farm legislation. But
don't count on it.
Congress has been struggling
with farm bills for decades and
hasn’t gotten it right yet. We’ve
gone from the very heavy handed
mandatory controls of the 1930’s to
the almost free market of the
1970’s and still farm laws keep
changing. That’s one thing that is
for sure - the next farm bill will be
different than the old one. Maybe
not in significant ways but at least
in considerable detail.
The farm problem can be
summarized very briefly. It’s
either too much production, not
enough market or a combination of
both. The surveys shows that
fanners don’t blame themselves
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Jerry Webb
for overproduction. Instead, they
blame the government and who
ever else for lack of market. They
blame the grain embargo of the
Carter administration for messing
up a significant overseas market.
ITiey blame the health nuts and
other watchdog types for surpluses
in tobacco, dairy products, and
some other commodities. For the
most part their solutions to the
current farm problem rest with the
marketing function. Not many are
interested in cutting production.
That’s a strange phenomenon.
When you compare agriculture to
any other industry you quickly
realize that most others would cut
production. They would tough out
an over supply until the market
was cleared up a bit and then they
would adjust production downward
to meet anticipated demands. But
agriculture just doesn’t work that
way. In times of economic stress
farmers tend to produce more
attempting to gain income through
lower costs per unit and larger
volume. And that affect is usually
to make the matter worse for
everyone.
Of course, the government has
tried to help farmers solve this
dilemma from time to time with all
sorts of elaborate control plans.
Most of them ill fated, expensive
and unworkable. As soon as the
government comes up with a plan
that will cut production a farmer
figures out how to use it to his
the farmer the more government
money he takes in. A program that
helps the small farmer financially
and cuts production some usually
results in a bonanza for the big
operator. That’s just a fact of life.
The larger more efficient
producer with more investment
. and more productivity is going to
get more out of any sort of
government control program than
the small less efficient operator.
The recent PIK program was a
classic example of this. It was in
fact good for almost all farmers.
Even the smallest who par
ticipated reaped some benefit. But
some truly large farmers were
paid millions in government
money. To it’s credit the PIK
program did what it set out to do. It
cut production. The problem was it
just cost too much to do that. And
of course, that’s the dilemma that
Congress must face when it tries to
write that kind of legislation. If
there isn’t some incentive farmers
won’t participate. A heavy handed
farm bill that sets quotes without
some incentive would never get
through Congress. A scaled down
PIK program with less incentive
and lower costs clearly won’t get
the necessary participation.
So legislators and their advisors
are left to struggle with a hopeless
situation - a farm bill that will
bolster farm incomes without
raising food costs. One that will
provide a bountiful food supply
without risk of over production. A
bill that suits farmers and the
government as well. Obviously this
can’t be done. So there will be
trade offs, compromises, and
pressures of special interest
groups and the reality of the
overall economy and when the
final law is written you can bet that
most farmers won’t like it any
better than they like the current
one. Because in reality the farm
bill is really a consumer bill. It’s
aimed at assuring a bountiful food
supply with some cost to the
taxpayer but not too great a cost.
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That’s what’s happened in some
European countries. The farm
program is too expensive. Far
mers get too much protection at
consumer expense. I don’t expect
that to happen in this country. High
tariffs on imported farm com
modities aren’t consistent with
U.S. economic policy and large
exporting subsidies are too ex
pensive for most Americans’ taste.
So what will the 1985 farm bill
say? At this point, no one seems to
know except that it won’t be
r “”o!ution?rv it’s probably going
— Farmers and
others in the agricultural and
related industries in New York
State are invited to a field day
scheduled for Sept. 11 at Cornell
University’s Aurora Research
Farm. Attendance is free.
Sponsored by the New York
State College of Agriculture and
Life Sciences at Cornell and
Cornell Cooperative Extension, the
program focuses on new research
developments and production
techniques involving a variety of
farm crops.
Topics to be discussed during the
tour include effects of acid rain
and weather on crop management,
new techniques for boosting wheat
yields, field trials involving
numerous com hybrids, tillage
practices, summer seeding of
alfalfa, crop rotation comparisons,
cover crops as a source of
nitrogen, effects of stalk rot and
corn borer on com production, and
progress made in Cornell’s com
breeding program.
Operated since 1949 by Cornell’s
York, PA
717-753-684
Cornell plans field day
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to deal with over production in
some subtle ways. It will probably
tie soil and water conservation
practices more closely to program
participation and it probably won’t
cost the taxpayer any more than he
or she is already paying. Those are
fairly safe assumptions. Beyond
that, it’s wide open at this point.
There is still a lot of talking to do
and a national election to conduct
and then will come the serious
business of debating and writing
the 1985 farm bill.
department of agronomy, the 450-
acre research farm is located
between Poplar Ridge (Route 34
B) and Aurora (Route 90) on the
eastern shore of Cayuga Lake, 25
miles north of Ithaca.
Participants will ride hay
wagons to visit numerous research
and demonstration sites of the
research farm. Along the tom
route Cornell specialists will
describe their research activities
and answer questions. Speakers
will be from the departments of
agronomy, plant pathology, and
plant breeding. Each wagon tom
will last about three hours.
The day-long event will get
under way at 9 a.m. when the first
wagon on the tour is scheduled for
departure. The last wagon will
leave the starting point at 1 p.m.
Lunch may be bought at the farm.
The outdoor event is expected to
attract a large turnout.
For more information about the
“Aurora Farm Field Day” on Sept.
11, contact Bill Pardee at (607 ) 256-
2180 or Stu Klausner at (607 ) 256-
2177.
DISTRICT MANAGER
Larry Weaver
Lititz, PA
717-626-7909
Authorized Dealers