REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRIC"ULT"UBE. 27 



The disastrous financial condition of so many of the range cattle 

 producers at the present time has led to the general belief by many 

 western cattle producers that possibly some changes in their methods 

 of meat production should be made. In an endeavor to be of assist- 

 ance to the beef producers, field work in ranch costs and manage- 

 ment was begun in the spring of 1922. These ranch studies are being 

 combined with similar studies on cattle using the national forest 

 ranges. From this work the department will be in position to 

 make known the methods of handling and systems of beef produc- 

 tion which will produce the best results under present conditions. 



READJUSTING THE FARM PROGRAM. 



Hand in hand with the cost of production studies are the studies 

 of farm management and farm practice. The work in farm man- 

 agement in the past has been largely the studying of normal agri- 

 culture. This year we have turned our attention to applying the 

 results of our studies of normal agriculture to unusual conditions 

 which exist in many sections. 



For example, the northern Great Plains area has suffered severely. 

 The Department of Agriculture during the past year was called 

 into conference with the agricultural colleges in this region with a 

 view to devising some measure of relief for the farmers in the 

 Northwest. This region during the last years of the war, when the 

 price of wheat was high, suffered an unprecedented series of dry 

 seasons which greatly reduced agricultural production, and more 

 recently the price of wheat has been far below the cost of produc- 

 tion. As a consequence land values have depreciated, farmers have 

 become discouraged, and the prosperity of the region has been in 

 grave jeopardy. Recognizing the seriousness of the situation, a 

 spring wheat regional council was organized in the department about 

 a year ago. 



SPRING "U^HEAT COUNCIL. 



This council appointed two committees to cooperate with similar 

 committees representing the agricultural colleges in the spring wheat 

 States, one committee dealing with production and the other with 

 the marketing of agricultural commodities in that region. At a 

 conference held in St. Paul last January a report was prepared 

 containing recommendations of measures which it was believed 

 would help provide immediate relief to the farmers of the region. 



