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.
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