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About Herald and news. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1942-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 1958)
PAGE TWO HERALD AND NEWS. KLAMATH FALLS. OREGON SUNDAY. JANUARY 28, 1958 President Outlines Agricultural Program Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt from President Eisenhow er's report to Congress on the ag ricultural situation and his recom mendations for the future. The people of the United States are living in a world of rapid change. Developments both abroad and at home require reemphasis in some of our efforts, redirection in others. This is true of defense, of education, of industry, and of labor. It is also true of agricul ture. . The rapid changes taking place in agriculture are largely the re sult of a major breakthrough in agricultural science and technol ogy. In recent years agriculture has been experiencing a veritable revolution in productivity. A century ago, an American farm worker fed himself and three others. Today he feeds himself and 20 others. A century ago our pop ulation was 82 per cent rural. To day it is only one third rural and only 12 per cent of our population actually live on farms. . Farm production per man-hour has doubled since 1940. There has been more change in agriculture within the lifetime of men now living than in the previous two thousand years. Changes of such magnitude place great stress on our farm people and on the social, political and economic institutions which serve them. Far-reaching adjustments are being made which involve the lives and hopes of 20 million men, women and children on the farms of America. The scientific revolution in agri culture is irreversible and is con tinuing. It cannot be avoided and it need not be feared. In recogni tion of this basic fact, we must find ways of utilizing more com pletely the abundance that our farm people are now able to pro duce; we must find ways of further expanding markets for this in creased production, not only among our own citizens but among peo ple all over the world who need the food and clothing we produce in such abundance. At the same time we must help our farm peo ple to cope with the sometimes harsh consequences of their own unparalleled ability to produce, while preserving and strengthen ing free enterprise and the family! farm. Prices received by farmers on the average are running three per cent above those of a year ago. During the last two years, farm net income has stabilized following several years of decline. Farm real estate prices are at an all-time high, reflecting a basic optimism in the future earning power and security which farm ing and farm land ownership offer. Three-fourths of our farms are owned by those who operate them, the highest percentage on record. Total debt of our farm people equals only 11 per cent of total assets as compared with 19 per cent before World War II. Exports of farm products, assist ed by special government p r o- grams, reached an all-time high of 4.7 billion dollars during the year emiing last June 30. Surplus holdings of farm prod ucts in the hands of government appear to have passed their peak. Government investment in price supported commodities now stands at about seven billion dollars, one billion dollars below a year ago. Substantial progress has been made in programs of education, research, conservation and other activities of proven merit. Work in all those areas has been substan tially expanded. with Government help, farm peo ple, H the best American tradition, have gained bargaining power through their own farmer -owned and farmer-controlled cooperatives. t'KOIII.F.MS Yet key problems remain unre solved. Rising production costs continue to limit net farm income. Prices of articles farmers buy more than doubled from 1939 to 19SI. Since then they have risen three per cent. Prices received by farmers have not kept pace with their in creased prduction costs. These are hard facts every farmer, faces. Moreover, acreage controls have failed to bring agricultural produc tion into line, despite the severe restrictions they impose on the in dividual farmer's freedom to pro duce and to market his products. And unrealistic price support laws, some of which date back to the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, result, as farmers now rea lize, in loss of markets. In my special agricultural mes sage four years ago, I indicated that the secretary of agriculture would give attention to the prob lems peculiar to farm families witn low incomes. As a result, the Rural Development Program was initiat ed. It is widening opportunities for those rural people on the lower rungs of the economic ladder. HECOMMENDATIONS: Basic agricultural legislation now on the books was originally de vised as an emergency effort to cope with a depression, then changed to help fight a war, and subsequently revised again in an effort to meet the needs of peace. It has not been adequately modi fied to deal with the effects of the technological revolution in agricul ture. This must now be done. It is essential that the following major steps be taken this year to improve the status of rural peo ple in greatest need, to aid agri cultural adjustment, provide more freedom, expand markets, and. thereby, to help raise farm family income. FIRST: The Conservation Re serve Program of the Soil Bank should be strengthened, and the Acreage Reserve Program termi nated after the 1958 crop. The Con servation Reserve has shown prom ise in retiring marginal acres from crop production, in aiding the cause of conservation, and in tak ing whole farms out of production. The program is wholly voluntary and must remain so. Because of its late enactment, the Acreage Reserve Program was hampered during 1956 in achieving production adjustment. And al though the 1957 program succeeded in reducing wheat production by about 175 million bushels, cotton by 2 million bales, and corn by 220 million bushels below what it would otherwise have been, the number cf farmers participating in 1958 is likely to be low, in part because of limitations that Congress im posed on the extent of participa tion by any one farm. So in the future the production adjustment accomplished by the Acreage Re serve is likely to be small. SECOND: Authority to increase acreage allotments for cotton, wheat, rice, peanuts and tobacco should be provided. Under present legislation, acreage allotments and price supports for certain of the b.isic crops are determined by le gal formulas. Under these formu las, allotments have already been cut sharply. Allotments for certain crops are likely to be reduced even further, despite growing evidence that acreage restrictions have not brought about needed adjustments. Authority should be provided for Ihe secretary of agriculture, in ac cordance with criteria which the secretary will propose to the Con gress, to increase allotments up to 50 per cent above the levels de termined by existing formulas. The law already specifies that the secretary may provide price support at levels above those de termined by formula, and this au thority has been used. The law should also provide authority to in crease acreage allotments when the statistical formula yields re sults clearly contrary to the gen eral interest. But any acreage in creases must be related to price adjustments which will permit the growth of markets necessary to ab sorb the increased production. Such liberalization of acreage al lotments as is possible would per mit greater efficiency and higher incomes for small farmers who now are sharply restricted in the size of their operations. T.iIRD: Acreage allotments for corn should be eliminated. The corn program baa not worked. Huge surpluses have accumulated. As surpluses rise, present legisla- -IF-' i DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER tion provides that allotments must shrink. As allotments shrink, parti' cipation in the corn program dwin dles. A year ago, 62 per cent of the corn farmers who voted in the referendum favored the elimination of corn acreage allotments. In 1957, only about 14 per cent of the corn production imthe commercial corn area was eligible for the full price support Thus, as allotments shrink, participation spirals down ward, and price-depressing sur pluses spiral upward. FOURTH: The escalator clauses in the basic law should be abol ished. Provisions now in the law require that price supports be raised as soon as the surplue l; reduced. This means that as one surplus is moved, incentives are automatically provided to build an other. Until this basic law is changed, farm people can expect to be kept continually under the shadow of price-depressing sur pluses. The Sou Bank and surplus dis posal programs have already cut deeply enough into our surplus to throw these escalator clauses into action to build more surpluses. Eli mination of these escalator clauses is necessary if surplus disposal program and the Soil Bank are to achieve their purpose. FIFTH: The overall range with in which price supports may be provided should be substantially widened. Presently, price supports must be provided by rigid formula for cotton, wheat, corn, nee, pea nuts, tobacco and dairy products between 75 and 90 per cent of par ity. This range is too narrow to permit the growth of markets needed to absorb the production which, despite acreage controls, our farms appear certain to pro duce. Price supports for the above named commodities should be de termined administratively between 60 per cent and 90 per cent of parity, using the eight guidelines now provided by law for practical ly all other commodities. This needed change in price-support pol icy would open the door to market expansion, increased acreage allot ments and greater freedom to pro duce. For commodities like the feed grains, with respect to which the secretary of agriculture has had wide discretion in the past, price support has been offered at levels as high as could be justified under the criteria specified by law. This will be the secretary's practice under the recommended legislation. SIXTH: Price supports for cot ton should be based on the aver age quaUty of the crop. For cotton the law specifies that supports must be based on a grade that is far below the average quality. The law should be corrected to put cotton price supports on the same basis as for all other crops. SEVENTH: The membership of the Commodity Credit Corporation Advisory Board should be enlarged and the board's responsibilities in creased. The recommended changes in determining acreage al lotments and price support levels will make additional administra tive discretion a necessity. To as sist the secretary of agriculture in exercising this discretion, the bi partisan Commodity Credit Cor poration Advisory Board should be increased in number from five to seven. Members should be appoint ed by the President as at present, but with confirmation by the Sen ate. The board should advise the secretary regarding the establish ing of price supports, determining of acreage allotments and related subjects. EIGHTH: The Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act should be expended. This law is one of the major authorities for mov ing surplus commodities. The law should be extended for one year with an additional $1.5 billion au thorized for sales for foreign cur rencies.. But it must not, however, be allowed to become a device to postpone needed production and price adjustments. The extension should be limited to one year to give Congress the opportunity for annual review. NINTH: Research efforts aimed at increasing industrial uses of farm products should be expand ed. Our farms and forests are a major source of our raw materials. To a greater degree than at pres ent, these raw materials can be used in industry, thereby broaden ing markets for our abundant farm products. New uses and new mar kets can be developed for our surplus crops. To bring this about, increased utilization research is needed and is proposed in the Budget Message. This will be mov ing in the direction recommended by the President's Commission on Increased Industrial Use of Agri cultural Products. In addition to the nine steps out lined here, the Congress should, as recommended in the Budget Mes sage, (1) extend the National Wool Act, (2) continue the special school milk program, (3) broaden the sources of funds for the Rural Elec trification Administration, (4) re quire state participation in pro grams to relieve the effects of drought or other natural disaster, I and (5) Improve conservation ac complishment by restricting cost sharing to those practices which achieve longer lasting conservation benefits. These several recommendations constitute a Farm, Food and Fiber program which will assist our farmers to adjust to today's rap idly changing economy. It is a progress program that can make a substantial contribution to the well-being of America's farm families. THE COVER The cover picture for this week's Herald and News Magazine Section of Klam ath Basin Living was taken by staff photographer Don Kettler at Oregon Technical Institute. Jan Stevens, left, of Med ford, and Larry Cox, right, of Rose burg, are shown In en of Hie bio chemistry laboratories con ducting on experiment. A 4x5 Crown Graphic cam era was used set at f 32 and 400th of a second using extension flash. Ford Trucks Last Longer en the FARM See your Farm Truck Headquarters BALSIGER MOTOR CO. Main Vt hp. Ph. TU 4-3121 AiNfT B JUUliI WI HA VI THIM ALL IN STOCK Le Screws rets Screws right Screws Blue Screws Cadmium Plated Screws Nickle Plated Screws Oval Heeds Flat Heads Round Heads Machine Screws Flat Machine Screws Round All Lengths ' and Sizes r -.. S ft jt a 4IS SVeiNO STINT mwNON . Mir KIAMATM f Alls, OIIOON
