492 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



planning of the farm work, to eliminate idle periods as far as possi- 

 ble, and to insure the fullest possible utilization of all available forces 

 of production. 



Not the least of the problems to be solved was that created by the 

 acute shortage of concentrated feeds for live stock. This shortage 

 was especially grave in certain areas, and in many localities necessi- 

 tated the complete rearrangement of farming systems to provide a 

 larger supply of home-grown feeds, grains as well as roughage. 



Obviously one of the most direct ways of increasing production is 

 through keeping crop yields on a high level, by the skillful use of 

 fertilizers, manures, and legumes. A more thorough study of the 

 problems of maintaining crop yields than has yet been made is imper- 

 atively demanded by war-time conditions, and this is to-day one of 

 the major lines of investigation that are being followed by the Office 

 of Farm Management. 



FARM-LABOR PROBLEMS. 



The responsibility of handling the farm-labor problem in coopera- 

 tion with the various State and governmental labor agencies was as- 

 signed to this office. Farm Help Specialists were placed in the sev- 

 eral States to conduct educational campaigns and perform the func- 

 tions of a clearing house on all problems arising out of the shortage 

 of labor on farms. These farm-help workers cooperated with State 

 and Federal agencies in each area, so as to insure the maximum effi- 

 ciency in the conduct of the work and to avoid duplication of effort. 



The work, in the main, was confined to ascertaining the farm labor 

 needs of a community and reporting these needs to the various 

 agencies that might be in a position to supply labor needed. Steps 

 were also taken to develop and apply methods which would insure 

 a more careful estimate of the actual needs of farmers in each dis- 

 trict during rush seasons. Great difficulty has been experienced in 

 the past in definitely determining the labor needs of any one com- 

 munity far enough in advance to permit planning to meet the short- 

 age. Surveys were made in some of the grain-producing districts of 

 Kansas and the Dakotas, and the results indicated that a fairly ac- 

 curate estimate can be made of the labor needed for planting and 

 harvesting by having at hand data on the extent and organization of 

 the farms in any particular region. 



Perhaps the greatest achievement that may be credited to the farm 

 labor activities with which the Office of Farm Management has been 

 concerned is the establishment of cordial cooperation and sympa- 

 thetic understanding between farmers and local business men. As a 

 result of this cooperation crops have been harvested by aid of the 

 business men from cities and towns in hundreds of localities where 

 large losses would undoubtedly have occurred from sheer lack of 

 labor. About 35,000 persons were thus obtained to help harvest in 

 Kansas, 15,000 in Nebraska, 20,000 in Oregon, 10,000 in Missouri, 

 12,000 in Indiana, 25,000 in Illinois, and proportionate numbers in 

 practically all other States. The farmer has thus learned that local 

 town and city folks can assist greatly in this emergency work and has 

 come to look with favor upon their cooperation. The effect has been 

 to bring farmer and town resident into a more cordial relation. 



