Soil Conservation 



MODIFICATIONS in the soil con- 

 servation program was another 

 immediate effect of the drouth 

 in central and western states. Un- 

 der the revised regulations farmers who 

 sowed clover with a nurse crop this 

 spring will receive credit for doing so on 

 their Class II payments if failure to ob- 

 tain a good stand was caused by condi- 

 tions beyond their control. 



Land from which a crop of oat hay or 

 annual legume hay such as soybeans and 

 field peas has been harvested, will be 

 classified as soil-conserving if a good 

 stand of a soil-conserving crop is grow- 

 ing on this land when performance is 

 checked later in the year. 



This provision was made to encourage 

 late summer and early fall seedings of 

 legumes and grasses, also to pave the 

 way for pasture and hay crops in 1937. 

 To get credit for sowing clover and grass 

 seed last spring, farmers must provide 

 evidence that such crops were seeded. 

 Land which has been devoted to grasses 

 and legumes which have been killed or 

 dried out by drouth, insects, etc. may be 

 plowed up and planted to emergency 

 forage crop without changing the classi- 

 fication of such land. 



Another modification announced July 

 1 by Secretary Wallace will enable farm- 

 ers who had an abnormally large acreage 

 of soil-depleting crops last year, as a re- 

 sult of the 1934 drouth, to receive some 

 soil-conserving payment in 1936 for mak- 

 ing a diversion to soil-conserving crops 

 from the 1935 acreage of soil-depleting 

 crops. 



Under the new rules farmers who grow 

 a smaller acreage of soil-depleting crops 

 in 1936 than in 1935 and make cor- 

 responding increases in their acreage 

 of soil-conserving crops will qualify for 

 at least a part of the total soil-conserv- 

 ing payment which they would earn Lf 

 they made the maximum diversion from 

 their established base. The established 

 base of soil-depleting crops for any farm 

 determined by the county soil conserva- 

 tion association, is approximately the 

 acreage that that farm should devote to 

 such crops in good farming practice. 



The following example illustrates how 

 payments will be determined on an in- 

 dividual Illinois farm under the revised 

 provision: 



" Acreage of soil-depleting crops 



harvested in 1935 _...120 acres 



Soil-depleting base established 



for the farm 100 acres 



Acreage planted to soil-deplet- 

 ing crops in 1936 106 acres 



Maximum 1936 acreage of soil- 



ALL ABOUT SOIL CONSERVATION 

 LeH to right, L. M. &entry, Ogle County, cSairman State Soil Conservation Comn<itt*«; 

 Earl C. Smith, preiident lAA; Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace confer in Atsocia- 

 tion headquarters, Chicago. 



depleting crops to earn max- 

 imum soil conserving pay- 

 ment (15 per cent less than 

 base) 85 acres 



Number of acres diverted from 

 1935 acreage of soil-deplet- 

 ing crops (120 acres minus 

 106 acres) 14 acres 



Number of acres necessary to 

 divert from 1935 acreage of 

 soil-depleting crops in order 

 to receive maximum soil-con- 

 serving payment (120 acres 

 minus 85 acres) 35 acres 



Maximum soil-conserving pay- 

 ment which may be earned 

 assuming a rate of $10 per 

 acre for the farm (15 per 

 cent of base or 15 acres 

 times acre-rate) flSO.OO 



Total payment earned under 

 new provision (14/35 of 

 1150), or 60.00 



(If this modification had not been 

 made, the farmer even though he had 

 contributed to the objectives of the pro- 

 gram, would have been ineligible for a 

 soil-conserving payment. In addition, 

 the six acres of soil-depleting crops in 

 1936 in excess of the base times the 

 rate of $10 per acre, or an amount equal 

 to $60, would have been deducted from 

 any other payment to which he other- 

 wise would have been entitled.) 



Watch out for plant poisoning of live- 

 stock in dry weather when feed is short. 

 Black nightshade, white snakeroot, 

 whorled milk weed, water hemlock, and 

 jimson weed are all poisonous. 



With present population trends, 100 



years hence two-thirds of the people in 

 this country will be descended from the 

 fifth of the population now on farms, 

 says the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Weather Holds 



the Spotlight 



(Continued from page 4, Col. 3) 



compensate for the loss in production. 



In the St. Louis territory. Sanitary 

 Milk Producers reported a Class I price 

 of $2.31 effective July 15 with Class II 

 bringing Chicago 92 score butter plus M 

 per cent plus 25 cents per cwt. 



Kentucky, Tennessee and other south- 

 ern states which suffered from severe 

 spring drouth were favored by heavy 

 rains in June and early July. The mois- 

 ture restored pastures and raised hopes 

 among farmers of raising forage enough 

 to tide cattle and other livestock over 

 next winter. 



No such luck in the western states 

 where the AAA is actively administering 

 a drouth relief program. Cattle are be- 

 ing bought for slaughter or shipped to 

 areas with surplus feed. Farmers and 

 others whose crops have been destroye<l 

 are being given work relief jobs. In some 

 of the drier sections reports show that 

 farms are being abandoned. Too many 

 dry years in succession. • 



The drouth has aroused renewed in- 

 terest in crop insurance, and while there 

 has been much discussion, no definite 

 proposals have yet been made. Farmers 

 in areas where crops are more sure will 

 be reluctant to help pay for losses in 

 sections where drouth is more or less 

 chronic. 



A distinct trend toward centralization 



of ownership in meat packing is noted 

 by the "Illinois Farm Economics." 



AUGUST, 1936 V 



d 



