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Issued Every Month for 63,000 Thinking Farmers 



Volume 5 



OCTOBER, 1927 



Number 10 



Government Crop 



Forecasts Upheld 



Dr. Taylor Tells I. A. A. Radio Audience 



How Government Forecasts May 



Help Farmer 



By HENRY C. TAYLOR 



Institute for Research in Land Economics, 

 and Public Utilities, Northwestern University, 

 Chicago. 



GOVERNMENT crop reports give 

 essential information to the farm- 

 er. The farmer sees from day to day 

 the activities on his own farm and in 

 the immediate neighborhood. He sees 

 something of what is going on at the 

 local market from time to time when 

 he goes to deliver his produce. Once 

 a year when he visits a county or state 

 fair or the International Livestock Ex- 

 position he may get a still broader 

 view of what is going on in the world 

 of agrriculture. Beyond this, by the 

 very nature of his calling, his eye does 

 not reach; he must see through the 

 eyes of others or work in the dark. 



Price Important 



In the old«n days when the farmer 

 produced primarily for his own home, 

 crop reports were of little importance 

 to him. But in these modern days of 

 commercial agriculture when the 

 farmer produces primarily for the 

 market and buys upon the market a 

 large portion of the food, clothing and 

 other supplies essential to his well-be- 

 ing, the price for which he can sell his 

 products becomes a dominant factor 

 in determining his prosperity. The 

 supply of farm products may be abun- 

 dant but if the price is too low the 

 farmer may be in distress. 



Needs Information 



The local environment which falls 

 under the eye' of the farmer does not 

 produce the facts on which the farm- 

 er can judge the trend of farm pro- 

 duction and prices. Without informa- 

 tion from the outside the farmer must 

 proceed in ignorance of the compet- 

 ing forces which determine his pros- 

 perity. In manufacturing and trans- 

 portation, the management is in the 

 hands of the few, in agriculture the 

 management is in the hands of the 

 many. Good management in industry 

 and transportation requires that the 



DEFENDS GOVERNMENT 

 FORECASTS 



Dr. Henry C. Taylor 



£>r. Taylor organized the Division of Agricultural 

 Economics at Washington in 1921 and was its first 

 head under Secretary of Agriculture Henry C. 

 Wallace. The radio talk presented herewith was 

 delivered on the I. A. A. radio program, Friday 

 Oct. 7, station WJJD, Chicago. 



few in authority have a comprehensive 

 knowledge of the whole economic set- 

 ting of their activity. They are able 

 to employ agents and experts to keep 

 them fully informed. In agriculture 

 millions of farmers are of necessity in 

 authority and each of them can not 

 employ agents to secure information. 



It was to fulfill the purpose of pro- 

 viding information which would give 

 these millions of farm managers a 

 mental vision of the economic life of 

 which they are a part that the United 

 States Department of Agriculture has 

 attempted to serve as "the eye of the 

 farmer" in this and other lands. 



The Department's major function is 

 that of gathering facts, focusing them 

 acurately and giving them to farmers 

 and others interested in agricultural 

 production and marketing. 



(Continued on page 3) 



Tax Committees Score I 



[ -■ i,l' Victory In Hearing 



Illinois Tax Commission Upholds I. A. A. 

 . [ System of Checking Valuations on 

 ! Farm and City Property 



THE Illinois Tax Commission gave 

 complete recognition to the I. A. 

 A. and Farm Bureau system of check- 

 ing farm and city 

 property valuations 

 for assessment pur- 

 poses in a hearing 

 held in Chicago on 

 Thursday, Oct. 6. 



The hearing in- 

 volved the counties 

 of Champaign and 

 Stephenson where 

 the Boards of Review 

 had neglected to 

 take action in equal- o<m»id Kirkpatrick 

 izing farm and city 

 valuations when wide discrepancies 

 had been revealed. Both Farm Bu- 

 reaus and Boards of Review were 

 represented, the Stephenson county 

 board also by its state's attorney. 



When the latter objected to the 

 Farm Bureau's method of checking 

 valuations, Mr. Francis of the Tax 

 Commission asked if he knew a bet- 

 ter system of obtaining the necessary 

 data. State's Attorney Jaynes con- 

 fessed that he did not, whereupon the 

 Commission advised that the use of 

 representative sales of both farm and 

 city property was the only way as- 

 sessed valuations could be checked. 



Then the Stephenson county board 

 tried to establish the fact that there 

 was insufficient time to equalize valua- 

 tions in the county. But here again 

 it was revealed that the Farm Bureau 

 made the presentation of its case in 

 ample time for necessary adjustment. 



The Tax Commission then recom- 

 mended that the Farm Bureau repre- 

 sentatives and t the Board of Review 

 get together within the next week and 

 plan to equalize with the stipulation 

 that there be «ither a 30 per cent in- 

 crease in valuations for tax purposes 

 in the city of Freeport or a reduction of 

 24 per cent oh farm lands. It waB 

 implieti that if the necessary adjust- 

 Dpent was not made, the Commission 

 (Continued on page 2, col. 3) 



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