748 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



VALUE OF OFFICIAL CROP REPORTS. 



1. Farmers are benefited by official crop reports both directly and indi- 

 rectly; directly by being kept informed of crop prospects and prices out- 

 side of their own immediate districts, and indirectly because the disinter- 

 ested and unprejudiced official reports tend to prevent the circulation of 

 false or misleading reports by speculators who are interested in controll- 

 ing or manipulating prices. Without the steadying influence of official 

 reports, these speculators would issue so many conflicting and mislead- 

 ing reports that it would be impossible for anyone, without great expense, 

 to form an accurate estimate of crop conditions and prospects. The 

 farmer would be left almost entirely at the mercy of the speculator. 



2. Violent fluctuations in prices are the speculator's paradise; they 

 widen the gulf between producer and consumer and the speculator takes 

 the cream. Farmers suffer most from such conditions for they are not so 

 well organized as other lines of business, nor are they in position to 

 take advantage of fluctuations in market prices. Official crop reports 

 steady prices and lessen the cost of distribution by diminishing specula- 

 tors' proflts. The farmer who reads the official estimates and forecasts as 

 they are issued, can judge for himself what the crop prospects are, as 

 well as the probable prices, so that he can decide intelligently how and 

 when to market his products. Even the farmer who does not keep posted 

 is indirectly benefited by the check which official estimates place upon 

 fluctuations emanating from false reports. Buyers must have a larger 

 margin of profit to protect themselves against wide fluctuations in price. 



3. Refusal of the farmer to give crop information to the State and Gov- 

 ernment does not prevent buyers and speculators from knowing the con- 

 dition of the crop. The latter have systems of their own for collecting 

 information and it is assumed they would like to see official crop reports 

 abolished. They have traveling agents and correspondents throughout 

 the United States who keep them posted and they are^advised of important 

 influences and tendencies in acreages and production far in advance of 

 what the farmer would be if unaided by the official crop reporting service. 



4. Feeder stock, cattle, sheep and hogs are more intelligently distrib- 

 uted by the farmers among themselves and through terminal markets, if 

 county figures on crop production are available. The importance of this 

 is shown by the fact that about 80 per cent of Iowa's soil products go to 

 market in the form of meat and dairy products. This service has been 

 frequently called upon for such information in recent years, particularly 

 when as in 1918 a portion of the State had almost a corn failure. When 

 pastures fail this service is consulted as to the nearest available pasture. 

 It is intended, so far as appropriations will permit, to furnish farmers with 

 up-to-the-minute information on live stock, as to the visible supply, prob- 

 able movements to markets, extent of breeding, etc. 



5. Railroads use official crop reports in distributing cars for transport- 

 ing farm products. Cars must be kept continuously in motion and travel 

 no unnecessary miles. Marketing is sometimes brought to a standstill by 

 car shortage. Accurate county and district crop reports reduce this 

 provoking situation to the minimum. 



