

■>. 



ORGANIZED farmers with the 

 aid of a sympathetic admin- 

 istration made possible the 

 program that put fourteen agricul- 

 tural commodities at or near parity 

 price. The same force that raised 

 prices must keep them there. The 

 Agricultural Adjustment Act pro- 

 vides the authority for making the 

 program effective. Through the 

 processing tax it creates the nec- 

 essary incentive for farmers to ad- 

 just production to demand. This 

 procedure is absolutely essential to 

 regulate price. 



Adjustment of production to de- 

 mand also makes it possible for the 

 tariff to become effective on agri- 

 cultural commodities. Surpluses of 

 agricultural crops nullify the effect 

 of the tariff. Farmers almost 

 without exception receive the 

 highest prices for their tariff-pro- 

 tected products when there is a 

 slight importation of these prod- 

 ucts. Farmers lose the most money 

 when they are producing for ex- 

 port at a price below the cost of 

 production. 



Only a little more than two 

 years ago American agriculture 



was at tne lowest ebb in purchas- 

 ing power since the turn of the 

 century, and before. The chart on 

 this page shows that in January 

 the farm price of 14 basic com- 

 modities was slightly above 50 per 

 cent of the 1909-1914 pre-war pe- , 

 riod. With the passage of the Ad- 

 justment Act in the spring of 1933 

 and America's departure from the 

 gold standard of $20.67 per ounce, 

 farm prices gradually began their 

 upward climb. 



Benefit payments began to make 

 their appearance first to the wheat 

 and cotton farmers, helping to 

 swell farm income and ease the 

 burden of interest, debt, and taxes. 

 Federal farm refinancing at lowei* 

 rates of interest, made possible by 

 the Farm Bureau's long fight for 

 an adequate credit system, 

 brought relief to thousands. But 

 mounting farm prices overshad- 

 owed everything else in bringing 

 relief from the terrible conditions 

 of 1932 (with its bumper crops) 

 and early 1933. 



To those who claim the drouth 

 of 1934 was responsible for all the 

 improvement in prices, I suggest a 



glance at the chart. Note how far 

 farm price recovery had gone long 

 before 1934 crops were planted. 

 This was due to the crop adjust- 

 ment and gold revaluation pro- 

 grams, both vigorously supported 

 by the Farm Bureau. 



As farm prices rose, factory 

 payrolls increased. Farm(>rs were 

 back in the market as buyers. 

 Salaries and wages were rai.sed. 

 Improved city purchasing power 

 (Continued on page 17) 



JtNE, 1935 



