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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 19, 1960)
CHIT CHAT- By JOI COWLEY Mtil Tribuna Firm EditM Last week we mentioned this wheat surplus problem which poses one big problem for the nation and particularly for the politicians running for election or re-election. We have described the problem and the difficulties in solving It plus the different opinions on it. To reach any conclusion of what government action program would be best we must figure that the United States is really one big food production plant, according to Harold F. Hollands, OSC agricultural economist. Five things should be considered In the study of this problem: Powerful physical and economic forces affect all parts of this food plant directly or indirectly. Farmers all use the same resources land, labor, and capital and they compete for these resources among themselves and with non farmers. People can only eat so much food. If he eats more of one type of food he eats less of another. Government restrictions or plans to take land out of production In one type of crop have caused a shift in production and total output has increased. Any government program for selected commodities helps some farmers a great deal, helps other only slightly, and really hurts some farmers, the OSC economist noted. Some political observers claim that although farmers are now a minority group they have an important influence on voting. They claim it was mainly the farmers who brought Harry Truman in for his last presidential term. So, any study of the types of action-programs to solve the wheat surplus problem seems important with an election coming in November. These proposed programs can be classified into six gen eral types: commodity control with federal and state market ing agreements and federal and state marketing orders, product disposal, both domestic and foreign: price rigid price supports, moving average of market prices and for ward pricing; direct payments (no production control), wool; resource control (to influence production), conservation re serve, government leasing, land purchase, and land retire ment, vocational training and employment agencies and de centralization of industry; and a combination of programs, flexible price supports, sugar act, wheat stabilization act of 1959, compensatory prices. Commodity control is familiar to the members of the pear industry here and to the area's dairymen. The quota system as worked out by Southern Oregon Milk Producers could be called a marketing agreement. The Pacific coast in dustry operates under a winter pear marketing order to sell only specified qualities, sizes and volumes of pears during a particular marketing period. Other states do have marketing orders for dairymen. These orders are similar to the marketing agreements. How ever, after a majority' of eligible voters accept them they become compulsory and the government enforces these orders on all producers and market middlemen. The pear industry has used the marketing order effectively in Oregon, Washington and California for winter pears. In fact, on April 21 the winter pear handlers in the Medford' district will elect representatives to the Winter Pear Control committee In Medford. This committee administers the Winter Pear Marketing Order covering the three states. It establishes the minimum grade, size and quality standards under which winter pears are marketed from these Pacific Coast states. These marketing orders work for some commodities, particularly perishable ones which must be destroyed after they are held off the market for so long. However, the nonperishable commodities form stockpiles such as the Com modity Credit corporation now has. Federal law also speci fies marketing orders may apply to perishable or semi perishable commodities whose production and marketing areas andor marketing periods can be well defined and protected. ...... These marketing orders can be good in the short run by smoothing out price fluctuations and by adjusting quantities and qualities available to those buyers who will pay "reason able" prices. During recent years Oregon wheat farmers have been operating a product disposal program by promoting sale of wheat overseas, most recently in Japan. Through a series of promotion programs this seems to have been fairly effec tive. The Oregon wheat growers operate this program them selves. But most such programs assume the government will act as a large-volume distribution agency. If surpluses are distributed to needy people it has strong public appeal. Such a program is not only charitable, it reduces stocks without cutting production and helps the middlemen by keeping up a large volume operation. - According to Agricultural Economist Hollands, the three major methods of increasing food consumption through main taining large incomes, lower food prices and higher nu tritional levels were studied as possible methods to expand demand for farm products. However, he feels this would be ineffective as a single solution. It would mean raising the income for half the people in the United States. School lunches, food starrtps and food donations will not solve the problem If current surpluses cannot be removed realistic Income increases, lower prices or improved diets. THE (SURE) WAY TO FEED TREE CROPS . . . for hightr ntf profits (51 SHELL NH, SERVICE w Put 82 Nitrogen fertilizer directly in the root tone with . unmatched precision and experience Provide low eott nitrogen fertilizer applied to the soil Increases crop yields . . , gives more high-grade, top-price fruit per tree; evens out alternate bearing Saves hauling, handling and application costs . . . reduces farm overhead L. 6. McLAREII & COMPANY, Inc. 1002 SOUTH CENTRAL Phone SP 2-6181 Wo) Farm Prices Rise OSC Reports Now; Hi! 7-Year High Corvallis Farm prices showed plenty of spring zip in Oregon last month, more than making up for losses suf fered during February, re ports Mrs. Elvera Horrell, OSC extension agricultural economist. The upturn In prices re ceived by Oregon farmers in March was enough to push the farm price index in this state to the highest point since mid- 1953, Mrs. Horrell found as she studied reports from the U.S. Department of Agricul ture. All in all, Oregon farm prices rose 2 per cent last month. Livestock prices accounted for the biggest share of this rise, ending up 3 per cent above February of this year. Prices paid for . crops also moved up a little. As a result, Oregon farm prices stand just a shade above March, 1959. Nationally, prices received by farmers moved up even more sharply than in Oregon, largely due to even greater strength in meat-animal mar- Livestock prices moved up 5 per cent, corn prices edged up 1 per cent, and the combined index of all national farm prices gained 3 per cent over a month ago. At High Level But while national farm prices now stand at the high est' level since last July, they are still nearly 2 per cent low er than a year ago, Mrs. Hor rell said. Cost of things farmers use for both farm operation and living expenses gained one third of a per cent in March, and now stand 1 per cent high er than a year ago. But with prices received by farmers up 3 per cent, and prices paid by farmers up only 1 per cent, farm product purchasing pow er improved during the month ending March 15, Mrs. Horrell pointed out. The parity ratio the gov ernment's yardstick for meas uring the relationship be tween prices received and State's Cattlemen Lagging Now On Current Calf Vaccinations Salem Cattlemen probably don't realize it. but they are letting their calf vaccinations lag. If they don't pick up the gap on March 1 a hefty 57, 800 to go to reach fiscal 1959 figures they may run smack into what they worked so hard to shed: blood testing on the farm. State and federal officials say most eastern Oregon coun tries are behind on Bang's vaccinations. This is running in reverse anticipation under the cull and dry cow testing program to maititain modified certified status. Contract calf shipments for fred lots may have reduced the number of eligible calves this year, but surveys are not conclusive at this point, says Dr. L. E. Bo den weiser, state veterinarian. He urges ranchers to make sure that no eligible calves are missed. Dry Cowi Tested Now all cull and dry cows are blood tested as they go to slaughter. This screens out re- Egg Producers Hit- Dollar Volume High Dollar volume of business by the Oregon Egg Producers rose to 12.8 million dollars in 1959, H. R. Rohe, general manager, said today in his year-end report to the associa tion's membership. This rep resented an all-time high for the 40 year old marketing and purchasing cooperative that is owned and operated by 5,000 Oregon farmers. A total of 71,000 tons of feed were used by members in 1959, 5 per cent more than in the previous year. Farm supply volume rose over 8 per cent to $425,000, the high est in the department's his tory. Although there was a sub stantial cutback in production by Oregon poultrymen in 1959, the sale of eggs under the Nulade label in 1959, in creased 15 per cent or 600, 000 dozen over the previous year. Through acquisition of the Fresh Foods company, Port land, on Jan. 1, 1959, the Ore gon Egg Producers now operates- the only U SD. A. ap proved poultry and turkey processing plant owned by lo cal interests in the entire state. Rohe reported that the introduction of Nulade brand prices paid by farmers stood at 80 on March 15. This was up 2 points over the previous month, but still 2 points be low a year earlier. Also, how much a person can eat does not depend on how much he earns. A poor man has the same capacity as the rich man. Food promotion through advertising will not make either one eat any more although they may eat more of one food than they do of another. New uses of food pro ducts have often developed into new food items. Any in dustrial uses of commodities have resulted in product prices so low that the farmer cannot make any profit. Trouble with exporting surpluses to foreign countries is that the governments of those countries do not always react favorably. Such programs may cause- lower prices for competing commodities in the foreign country to which the wheat or other commodity is sent. Or the country may become dependent on the large scale import of a commodity and have it cut off when It cannot pay in full. Sucn a pro gram may also compete seriously with commodities being shipped from other countries. The difficulty with donations of surplus commodities Is not enough volume can be donated to cut down on the surplus. Actually, the big issue in the surplus control program seems to revolve around the word price.' This covers pro grams which attempt to set prices, but do not directly regu late quantities produced or market. Examples of a price program are rigid price supports and forward pricing. A plan to support prices at the level of last year's average (or 90 per cent of it) with no production control would fall into this classification, also. This class of program should be examined from actual experience and by applying certain elementary principles of economics. First, lower prices often increase production, according to experiences in some areas and some farms. Over the long haul farmers, like other businessmen must sell for high enough prices to cover their total cost of production or go out of business. How long farmers will hang on depends on several factors, the OSC experiment station economist notes. An important consideration, is what farmers think government programs will be in the future. However, if prices drop low enough and remain long enough production will naturally decrease. The price which is established becomes the Important one in affecting production if there is a stable, long time government program with no direct production control. When price and quantity are charted and supply and demand curves set up, where the supply and demand curves intersect is called the point of equilibrium. In other words, water seeks its natural level, so do prices, according to the economists. Politically, and economically, the greater the difference between the government-set price and the equilibrium price, the more trouble there Is. The big dif ficulty is that nobody can construct these two curves and determine accurately what the equilibrium price is. As many critics of the present farm price control system argue, including the secretary of agriculture, the price would fluctuate around the natural level of the equilibrium price if there is no government control. However "free market" prices are too low for Congress. And so long as government- set prices are above the equilibrium price, surpluses will accumulate until prices are reduced, or production is re duced, andor an adequate surplus removal program is established, according to the OSC economist. Moving average of market prices Is another type of price program which would support prices at the last three year average. Under this program it merely takes prices a little longer to seek their natural level. This Is a similar program to forward pricing. This plan involves annual de termination of the equilibrium price. Then the support price is announced so farmers can plan their operations. This way prices are evened out during the marketing year and from year to year. Object of this program is to give advance price informs- tion and stability to agriculture. Supposedly, government would not do much commodity storing, perhaps only on t small yearly, small scale basis. This would not solve the wheat or agricultural program for those who think prices are too low. It also poses the question of whether government-held stocks actually would be sold at less than cost, probably in declining market, in order to avoid large accumulations by the Commodity Credit corporation. poultry won immediate con sumer acceptance. During the first year of operating its own processing facilities, the co-op handled about 3Vi million dollars worth of fryers, fowl and turkeys for its members. Patronage refunds are cur rently being distributed to members at the rate of 6 per cent on all formula feed pur chases and 4 per cent on all farm supply purchases. Poul try department patrons are receiving refunds for the spe cial retains of ' cent per pound from poultry delivered during the year. Refunds are being distribut ed in the form of capital cer tificates in multiples of $20.00 with odd balances paid in cash. Members have the op tion of turning their certifi cates in for cash at the full face value or retaining their certificates, which bear 6 per cent annually, until they are recalled. More than $316,000 in cash was distributed to 1954 cer tificate holders. Before Christ mas, OEP members received over $150,000 in interest pay ments at the rate of 5 per cent on all outstanding certificate issues. As of the first of this year, all outstanding associa tion capital certificates will bear interest at the rate of 6 per cent paid annually in cash. The 1959 refund distri bution combined with the ear lier payments, means that the Oregon owned cooperative is currently distributing over one million dollars to its mem bers, a welcome boost to lo cal farm income Rohe stated that In 1959 OEP continued to make sub stantial investments in plants and equipment as part of its long range program to offer the fully Integrated services required by Oregon farmers. Major Slap Forward A major step forward In egg handling procedures was made during 1959 with the installation of in-plant egg cleaning equipment in Port land, Eugene, Medford and Salem. Adoption of in-plant cleaning, which is available to all co-op members at no charge, relieves egg produ cers of one of the most on erous and time consuming chores on the poultry farm, and assures a superior product for the consumer. Rohe point ed out that OEP is the first and only egg marketing or ganization in Oregon to offer this service to farmers. Automated egg handling equipment, ordered in 1959, is scheduled for delivery dur ing the last half of 1960. This equipment will enable the as sociation to clean, size, grade, candle and package eggs auto matically. Rohe stated this will be the first completely automatic egg handling opera tion on the Pacific coast. A number of important steps were also taken to ex pand and improve feed manu facturing facilities. The Eu gene mill, built in 1945, was completely modernized dur ing the year. An electronic mixing system automatically controls the entire milling operation, increasing the out put of the Eugene mill and eliminating the possibility of human error in preparing for mula feeds. In October, OEP purchased the Imperial Feed and Grain company, Hillsboro. Acquisi tion of the Imperial facilities provided much needed stor age capacity and will enable OEP to expand its local grain purchasing program, which each year adds many thous ands of dollars to the income of Oregon grain growers. The enlarged operation at Hills boro will also provide for more efficient service to mem bers located in northwestern Oregon. Rohe pointed out that total assets of OEP increased over 1 13 million dollars during 1959 for a year end total of over $5,300,000. actors and only affected herds are blood tested. But the new program also depends upon stepped up calf vaccination to Include at least 80 percent of replacement heifers. Some areas have finished vaccination for this year; that's v.'hat makes the pro gram leaders apprehensive. The new program for beef animals already has one west ern winner Benton county, Washington. The federal and state veterinarians at Salem are advised the Washington state county achieved rccerti fication under the cull-and-dry program on March 15. Vaccintion in dairy counties where the milk ring test came in earlier than the shirt cut program for beef areas is on the increase. This is in line with the state plan to hold the modified status and stretch it into eventual eradication. A modified-certified status reactors is in not more than 1 per cent of the cattle or 5 per cent of the herds in any count y is good for three years. In beef cattle, the cull and dry cow tests must cover 5 per cent of the eligible cows annually,' or 15 per cent over the three-year period. Beef counties which had less than half the total of their fiscal 1959 vaccinations on March 1 were: Baker, Crook, Deschutes, Gilliam, Harney, Jackson, Jefferson, Klamath and Malheur. Wasco and Sherman coun ties have a plus mark. Vacci nations in those counties are a combined 232 calves ahead of their last year totals. Nearer the 1959 level, but still short from 60 to 5700 calf vaccinations, are Grant, Lake, Morrow, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa and Wheeler counties. Tn another angle of the bru cellosis program, officials re port that Wasco and Wheeler counties have now joined oth ers without quarantined herds. Alfalfa Seed Tested Differently CVrvallis-A new use for an old machine may bring high er ireturns to Oregon alfalfa seed, growers in years ahead, predUcts Harold Finnell, Ore gon State college extension certification specialist. Although Oregon already is recognized as an outstanding seed yiroducing area, research ers aU OSC are continuing to seek inew methods of improv ing tbie state's seed crops. Edvrard Hardin, seed tech nologist at the OSC seed lab oratory, has developed a way to usa a dodder mill (seed separator) to check one pound sampUts of alfalfa seed for cleanliness.' In the past, a carload of al falfa seed could be certified on the basis of a 50 gram sam ple. OStC extension certifica tion specialists questioned the accuracy of this small a sam ple even though it met re quirements set by the Associa tion of Official Seed Analysts. The owe pound sample that can be tested in the dodder mill is about nine times larger than the 50 gram sample. All alfalfa seed certified this year by the OSC labora tory is "being checked with the dodder mill test. This means buyers of Oregon al falfa seed can be sure they're getting tine best seed avail able, Fintiell emphasized. The dodder mill Hardin uses for testing is a small laboratory model built by USDA agricultural engineers and the CtSC agricultural ex periment station seed process- Groin Btirges Hit High In Monthly Records Salem - .March barge move ment of g-ain Into Portland hit an afl-time monthly record, with 2.2 million bushels of wheat and barley unloaded at Portland terminals. T. Ralph Harry, grain di vision chief for the state de partment of agriculture, says export grain loadings topped February s. 7 million vs. 5.7 million bushels. The March export approximated 21 cargoes, about 65 percent of which carriud wheat. Grain movement was down at Astoria, Pendleton and Some Shifts Seen In Spring Crops Planted in State Corvallis - Oregon farmers plan to plant about the same acreage to spring crops this year, but they'll be shifting their crops around a little, re ported Mrs. Elvera Horrell, OSC extension agricultural economist. Studying a survey carried out by the USDA Crop Re porting Board, Mrs. Horrell found that Oregon farmers plan to plant 3 per cent more corn, 7 per cent more sugar beets, and harvest 5 per cent more hay this spring than last. The state's farmers also plan to plant 15 per cent more spring wheat. And with no change reported in winter wheat planted last fall, this means an increase of about 2 per cent in total wheat acre- ge in Oregon this year, Mrs. Horrell said. Compared to last spring. Oregon farmers indicated that they will reduce the total acreage planted to potatoes by per cent, and cut back bar ley and oat acreages nearly 10 per cent. Acreage Same Nationally, farmers also ex pect to hold the line on total acreage planted this spring by lmost balancing increased acreages of some crops with fewer acres planted to other crops. For instance, the na tion's farmers say they will whittle barley, oat and spring wheat acreage by around 5 per cent, and increase soy bean plantings by 6 per cent. Total potato acreage is planned to be up about 2 per cent. The nation's farmers also Indicated they are planning to plant about the same acre ages In corn, hay, sorghums, and flaxseed as last spring. ' These planting .intentions were revealed as the Crop Re porting Board interviewed some 80,000 farmers over the nation, Mrs. Horrell ex plained. But things could change, she emphasized. After learning what others plan to do, each farmer may change his mind. And price changes. available labor supplies, avail- able loan money, and the weather could also change the picture, she pointed out, Tutidiy, April If, 10 Report Summarizes I Weed Control Work MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford, Or. 7 i y Ray Hubbell, Jackson coun ty weed control supervisor, met with the county weed control committee last night to survey results of the past year, lay out future plans and prepare a budget for submit ting to the county budget com mittee. In Hubbcll's annual report covering the budget year oi uly 1958 through June, 1959 he noted that the weed con trol crews spent 934 hours controlling blackberries and brush on roadsides. Taking the second highest amount of time was ragweed control with 403 hours spent. The department also spray ed about 124 acres or its equivalent for control of white top, the equivalent of 118 acres for control of puncture vine, 35 acres of White cockle, 242 acres oi poison hemlock, yellow star thistle, six acres of Russian knppweed; 16 acres of Canada thistle, one acre of leafy spurge, H'i acres of Marla- han mustard, 95 Va acres of ragweed, two acres of the secondary n o xi o u s weeds, Johnson grass and nine acres of Bermuda grass. The crews sprayed 1,200 miles of roadside area for the county, 136 acres of state highway right of way, and 57 acres of ragweed control for the state department of agri culture. Plots Summarised Summarizing demonstration plot experience in 1958, Hub bell noted that Amino Tria- zole when applied to new re growth of poison oak showed poor results, according to 1959 checks made. That ap plied to poison oak that had not been previously cut or prayed, however, resulted in pproximately 99 per cent kill. Checks in 1958 showed lit tle it any control from appli cation of simazine and diuron applied to shoulders and ditches during the fall of 1957. Howeve rsome results were found in the spring of 1959. More test work is need ed, however, Checks in 1959 also showed both Amino Triazole and dal- apon used on cattails in the spring and summer of 1958 resulted in good control. A mixture of 10 pounds dalapon, 2 pounds of 2,4-D, and 8 ounces of spreader sticker per 100 gallons of wa ter was applied to regrowth of grasses in roadside ditches. eral applications would be-1 needed, Hubbell pointed out." This application did give good . control, he added. Simazine at 10 pounds and-, Amino Triazole at 4 pounds' was applied to shoulder grasses and weeds in Decem ber, 1958. A spring survey showed good control of an-.' ual grass and weeds. Work' done in other areas indicate Simazine rate may be lowered nd 2,4-D added for better broad leafed weed control. " Cattail control from appli cation of Dalapon looked good. America's increased popu lation is expected to require- per cent more milk by. 1975. Merrill shipping centers, ac cording to the department records. Cars inspected Merrill dropped from 195 February to 72; at Pendleton track inspections were off 64 earn? at Astoria, rprelnts were I Because the ditches were full I 1 ' I ... 0 a w 'uii . taiiiKux , f mf ...a of water most of the year sey- wimmiiu, m. rr off 33,000 bushels. SOUR MASH KENTUCKYBOURBON i eo.. inuvi s- l KENTUCKY U - STRAIGHT l BOURBON otucnub WHISKEY MB of WH'l'KH lkft'rilljtQI $80 This summarizes some of the main proposals in attempt ing to solve the wheat surplus problem. Direct payments (no production control), resource control (to influence pro duction), combination and additional aspects of the problem will be ditcuwed later. 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