ALL IN A HUDDLE-GRUNDY COUNTY FARM BUREAU OFFICE 

 Let* +o right — Anna Peterson, secretary ot the Grundy County Agricultural Soil ' Conserva- 

 fo" Association: Chester A. Hunt, Morris: and J. Francis Buck, president o< the Association. 



!,.nr. ownor it'itiuiki'd facftiously: 

 We're all £»oin? to pa\ the tax for 

 tills program anyway. We niisht as 

 uell take advantage of it." 



Over in Chaiinahon township. Farm 

 Bureau member Charley McCloud 

 farms 203 acres. He has seen the own- 

 er of his farm once in 13 years. "I'll go 

 along with the .soil conservation pro- 

 gram if the owner will. " He asked ihe 

 writer to look up the agent in Joliet 

 who takes care of renting the farm. 

 McCloud would be interested in get- 

 ting clover seed to sow in the small 

 grain, also limestone. But with the 

 owner in Florida the prospects are not 

 s) good. He had 114 acres in soil-de- 

 pleting crops last year — 32 acres in 

 timothy. He can qualify for Class 1 

 and Class 2 payments easily with a 

 little cooperation from his landlord. 

 His payments will approximate $202 

 figured at SlO per acre for shifting 15 

 per cent of soil-depleting crops. 



"No one has been around vet." said 

 Jiiiin Fosen of .Aux Sable township. 

 Grund.v (.oimly. Soil conservation is 

 Tin slow fi>r J<ihn, lie wants to fix 

 fiirm prices: either lei the uovernmen' 

 di il or farmers themselves through 

 'iieir own organization. Foson came 

 from Norway 34 years ago. He has 

 eight children, three grandchildren, 

 and rents the quarter section fn>m an 

 agent in Joliet. "I have been here 12 

 .vears." he said, "farming on shares. 

 The landlord doesn't bu.v clover seed, 

 although he has grown sweet clover. 

 He can qualify for payments without 



difficuh.v b\ seoding down ihe oats \r. 

 clover, and re<.iucing his corn or .soy- 

 bean acreage or clipping ))art of the 

 oats." 



■"Around bt're farmers have in- 

 creased their corn acreage about 2" 

 per cent." said D. J. Bols. a neighbor 

 to Fosen. "I went to our local meeting 

 in Au.x Sable. Most of us will take out 

 oats bv clipping or pasture. My land- 

 lord doesn't care much about the soil 

 conservation program — says he doesn't 

 want to bother with it. But I want t<j 

 go along. I would not have to shift 

 much. I could pasture part of my oats 





JOHN PHILLIPS 

 It nnay take a lot of corn this tali to pay for 

 his new tractor. 



or clip it. And I don't intend to put 

 on any more cows either." 



Bols said he has belonged to the 

 Farm Bureau since 1912. "I've been out 

 on membership drives too." he said. 

 "The Farm Bureau is the best organ- 

 ization I know of today. I don't have 

 it in for the fellow who doesn't l>elonB. 

 but I hate to have a fellow knock, es- 

 pecially when he doesn't know what 

 he's talking about." 



John Phillips who farms .south of 

 -Morris is a tenant. The land he is on 

 !s level black clay loam. Practicallv 

 .ill of it goes into corn and oats. The 

 :arm has a high soil-depleting base 

 which might have to be cut by the 

 'ownship committee. Phillips doesn't 

 know much about the plan yet. but 

 when It was explained he floubted if 

 iie could afford to uo alone. He'll ii>«ed 

 lots of <'>ri5 next fall to pay for his new 

 tract''. Br if ihi' price is low a heavy 

 > H Id won'l hel)) much. Phillips ^.lid: 

 One "f in.\ neiuhbnrs li.Ki .<ii .iT his 

 f:irm SO acres in voil-deplenna ep^ps 

 l.i-t yyai. Oni' I'f tin township ■■■•m- 

 niitteeiu..|i told hini he- woiild hav to 

 [lut 24 acri'- :n elovi^r nr ~.oil-buiM;ng 

 irnpv this y<;ir (o ai-1 p;inl f"r 12 iu res. 

 I don't think thai is fail 



The next farm we ^trjpptd a! was 

 neat and well kept. It happened 1o be 

 the ri'sidenci' of J. M. Ely. president 

 of ihe Gnindy County Farm Bureau. 

 "The bov and I run 440 acres here," 

 said Mr. Ely. "We've tried to conserve 

 fertility ever since I have been farm- 

 ing. This program is right. I think 

 farmers gc-nerall.v will support ' it. 

 Certainly they should. It's no more 

 than all farmers ought to do for their 

 own good as well as for the protectiorj 

 of the coming generation." 



How docs the plan work? Every 

 farmer in Illinois ought to know by 

 this time. But for those who have 

 missed attending township meetings, 

 several illustrations are given. 



Briefly, the plan nationallv is to re- 

 duce acreage devoted to soil -depleting 

 crops some 30.000.000 acres this year 

 ... to convert this acreage not needed 

 for present market r<Hiuirement> to 

 clover and grass. Each farmer who re- 

 duces his soil-depleting acreage up -to 

 1 .1 per cent will b(^ paid for <'aeh acre 

 shifted" from such crops as c"rn 

 -mall gia;n. soybeans. p>itaIoes. dr.. t" 

 flover. ura-;-. rilfal!";i. vi>ybe;i!i> plowed 

 under creen. tries, and other -oil- 

 huilding crops. .Averae*' paymeni'- for 

 "shifting" such crops are SlO per ;irre. 

 said to average S12.8II for Illmii-. 



Up to SI per acr(> will be paid foi 

 the acreage in 1936 devoted to pas- 

 t'ure and hay ground (which has been 

 plowed up in the last five to six years i 

 and to such soil-building crops sown 

 this spring as clover, timothy, alfalfa. 



MAV. 19.'{« 



