EDITORIAL 



Overlooking Simple Facts 



^^^^. ARM representatives in several eastern states have 

 ^^— ^ made such a fetish of gold revaluation and a man- 

 yjj aged currenqf that they have become blind to 

 simple facts. No thinking person disputes the influence 

 dollar devaluation has had in raising farm prices. But the 

 amazing thing is that some of our eastern friends apparently 

 do not appreciate the elemental relationship between sup- 

 ply, demand, and price. 



Eastern farm papers have been particularly cool toward 

 production control. Their argument has been that no mat- 

 ter how much farmers produce there can be no over-produc- 

 tion. Everything will be consumed. They are quite right 

 in that observation. But what happens to the price and the 

 producer.' 



Consider hogs for example. In 1923 this country ex- 

 ported 828,890,000 pounds of bacons, hams, and shoulders. 

 In 1935 we exported only 61,691,000 pounds — less than 

 71/2 P^r <^^nt of the 1923 figure. Suppose we had main- 

 tained hog production in 1935 and '36 at the 1923 level. 

 Nothing but disaster to hog producers such as was experi- 

 enced in 1932-33 could have resulted. 



If we needed any further proof of the effectiveness of 

 production control the drouths of 1934 and 1936 furnished 

 it. They did far more than AAA or soil conservation pro- 

 grams to reduce crop surpluses and raise prices. Larger 

 and more evenly distributed production at son.ewhat lower 

 prices might have returned farmers more dollars and been 

 better all around. But the fact remains that surpluses were 

 wiped out. And prices of the most affected crops like corn, 

 wheat, oats, and barley climbed. 



Another illustration is onions. "Onion growers in- 

 creased their acreage last spring and then the weather 

 helped matters up to the point of a 17,625,000 sack crop 

 (100 lbs.) compared with 14,546,000 in 1935," reports 

 the Bureau of Agricultural Economics. "In the early states 

 growers got an average of 76 cents a sack where they were 

 getting $2.72 a year ago. In late November prices were 

 about one half those prevailing a year earlier, running 

 around 40 cents per 50 pounds in producing sections." 



The law of supply and demand has not been repealed 

 in agriculture. Farmers are determined to make it serve, 

 not ruin them. 



Thieves Are Abroad 



fy'TpvNE morning Ed Graham, a livestock farmer from 

 jT^^ I Tampico in Whiteside county, woke up to find 

 \^^ that thieves had carried off 34 of his best Chester 

 White shoats. They cut through wire fences to drive the 

 hogs to a convenient loading chute at an abandoned farm. 

 No trace of the stolen livestock has been discovered. The 

 $200 cash reward, $50 of which was put up by the Farm 

 Bureau, remains unclaimed. 



Stealing livestock from farmers is not a new crime. 

 But its prevalance today demands unusual alertness and 

 organized effort to stop it. Authorities charged with re- 



sponsibility for detecting and punishing criminals need the 

 help of us all in fighting this evil. Where farmers are 

 organized and work with alert law enforcement officers, 

 there is little or no crime. The thief strikes when least 

 expected. So be watchful. Be suspicious of strangers. 

 Protect your neighbors property as well as your own. It is 

 easier to prevent theft than to catch the criminal after he 

 has made his getaway. i 



Just Good Business 



y^N A recent article "The Co-operative Purchasing 

 Qj of Farm Supplies," Joseph G. Knapp of the Farm 

 \J_J Credit Administration points out that with the 

 growing commercialization of agriculture farmers have 

 been forced to do as all smart manufacturers do: cut pro- 

 duction costs. This they are doing by purchasing co- 

 operatively farm supplies that enter into the cost of 

 growing crops and livestock. 



"Purchasing of supplies by farmers has also been great- 

 ly stimulated in recent years," Mr. Knapp says, "by the in- 

 creasing use of tractors, trucks, automobiles, and engines, 

 which have tended to replace horse and mule power. To- 

 day oil and gas are as definitely farm supplies for the farm- 

 ing operation as hay and grain feeds. In 1933 the cost of 

 operating farm tractors, trucks, and automobiles amounted 

 to approximately $380,000,000. With the annual cost of 

 farm supplies used in production and marketing totaling ap- 

 proximately one and a half billion dollars in 1933, a year 

 of low prices, it is not surprising that farmers have turned 

 to co-operative purchasing as an economical method for 

 getting the type and quality of supolies which they require 

 and with the type of service most suited to their needs. 



"It is clear that co-operative purchasing associations 

 should not be looked upon as a radical form of business 

 enterprise. . . . Farmers' co-operative purchasing associa- 

 tions simply join a group of business men-farmers- together 

 to perform a purchasing service for themselves." 



Lift the Bars ' 



^"^w HE world still suffers from trade stagnation. Peo- 

 ^~— ^ pie are on relief here and abroad because we re- 

 ^^_y fuse to exchange the things we both need. Ger- 

 many has a chronic famine of fats, oils, and meats. She 

 makes a lot of fine goods like lenses, cameras, chemicals, 

 etc. that we shut out with exhorbitant tariffs. Germany 

 can't buy our pork, butter, and soybeans because we refuse 

 to let in her manufactured articles. So we're both worse 

 off than we might be. Why? 



The Farm Bureau is on record for "judicious lower- 

 ing of industrial tariffs, thus admitting more goods into 

 this country and making it possible for us to sell more of 

 our farm products abroad." Farmers want to restore agri- 

 cultural exports. Congress will soon again be in session. 

 It can render great service to farmers and the country by 

 lifting the bars that continue to hold back foreign trade. 



34 



I. A. A. RECORD 



