366 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



in dairying in your state. I am not sure but I miglit safely say in tlie most 

 respects tlie state of Iowa is a state wliicli possesses perliaps the greatest 

 possibilities so far a dairying and agriculture are concerned of any state 

 in the Union. That is, because of what you possess in your soil to begin 

 with and the supply of water. In fact, you are not quite so far north 

 as we are in Minnesota and not far enough south to get the disadvantages 

 of extreme heat and drouth. 



With these possibilities in Iowa, I am just going to make an appeal to 

 this industry to join with the other states in doing something which I 

 am going to outline tonight in connection with this industry. As your 

 Toastmaster said, I just came back from Washington where I was called 

 by Mr. Hoover for a conference in connection with the dairy industry. 



He is greatly concerned about the supply of dairy products not only 

 for this country but demands upon him and his associates from the allied 

 countries. He told us many figures which stirred me, which he had 

 gathered through the department of agriculture, regarding the past and 

 present conditions of this industry in this country, its products, what 

 it had on hand and I was dumfounded to find how close we are to a ration 

 of dairy products. Now I don't want to be an alarmist, I don't think we 

 are ever going to reach that point but I was dumfounded to find how 

 close we are, in fact, to it, as you are well aware they commandeered 

 60% of the butter in storage on the 27th day of August last. Mr. Hoover 

 said they expected to get approximately 60,000,000 pounds of butter. In 

 reality they are going to get about 25,000,000 pounds. This request on 

 that branch of the industry was made necessary because the request had 

 come from the boys on the other side that they must have so much butter 

 to use. Although the figures available show 100,000,000 pounds of butter 

 in storage according to the last figures gotten out by the Department of 

 marketing, we have consumed between the time those figures were 

 compiled and the time the commandeer was made the amount which 

 shows how these products have been consumed and how much they are in 

 demand and I refer to this only to explain the statement made some time 

 ago that I was dumfounded how near the point of a ration we were. 



These conditions we discussed there at great length, what could be 

 done and what should be done to conser\^ this industry and to protect 

 ourselves and our allies against this decrease. • I said a moment ago 

 that there was -a radical danger of this shortage. I meant by that that 

 if the shortage becomes so acute either because of an under production 

 or an over demand for exportation that the price might go so high that 

 it would be dangerous to this industry. Now since all of us look at this 

 in a big way, let us strip from our eyes, strip from our minds, discard all 

 thought of littleness in connection with it. This is no time for narrow 

 minded men but for broad visioned, thoughtful men. 



To set a maximum price for these products of this industry to the 

 consumer is an idea prompted by narrow minded men. Why men, let us 

 understand what is being done before we criticize, let us understand what 

 is necessary before we act and then act with a broad vi&ion necessary to 

 make this industry what it ought to he. Mr. Hoover said that we must 

 do something to conserve and help this industry, to protect ourselves and 

 illies against danger. What can we do? After a period of lengthy con- 



