President Smith's Address 



(Continued) 



If I know the purpose of the Farm 

 Bureau movement, county, state and 

 nation, it is to contribute in a construc- 

 tive way to the solution of this all-im- 

 portant question. When all is said and 

 done in seeking the solution of this 

 problem, public sentiment will control. 

 It is not the President of the United 

 States, his cabinet. Congress or the 

 Supreme Court that will furnish the 

 final answer. Their sympathetic in- 

 fluence is necessary for action, but pub- 

 lic consciousness and resultant public 

 demand is essential for permanence. It 

 is, therefore, to the latter that I appeal. 

 American farmers are seeking only such 

 governmental assistance as is necessary 

 to control the supply of the products 

 of American farms that they may be 

 fed into the market channels of this 

 nation on a price basis in line with 

 American wages and the prices of Amer- 

 ican industrial products. To this end 

 American farmers have long struggled. 



Dealing with a rery complex problem, to 

 say the least, we were met years ago with 

 presidential vetoes and a year ago a Supreme 

 Court decision. We entered 1936 with a deep 

 conviction that upon the principles of federal 

 law then existing, there could and would 

 be builded a sound, workable and permanent 

 structure to enable farmers to control the 

 supply of their products in keeping with 

 domestic and foreign demand. Farmers and 

 other thinking people of the nation were 

 shocked at the momentous decision of the 

 Supreme Court, which on January 6th invali- 

 dated much of the Agricultural Adjustment 

 Act. This decision created an emergency re- 

 quiring prompt action. Time would not per- 

 mit detailed thinking or detailed preparation, 

 and the challenge presented by this decision 

 was met in a general way by the suggestion 

 and efforts of organized agriculture that re- 

 sulted in the Soiil Conservation and Domestic 

 Allotment Act of 19}6. In making this state- 

 ment, I do not minimize the interest, influence 

 or action of a sympathetic President, Secretary 

 of Agriculture and Congress. The administra- 

 tion of this act has disclosed both merit and 

 weakness. It has assisted in maintaining the 

 progress previously made under the Agricul- 

 tural Adjustment Act; but either this law must 

 be amended or legal means found to effect 

 changes in administrative regulations that 

 appear essential to more effectively control the 

 supply of farm products in keeping with the 

 demand, while at the same time effectively 

 preserving the greatest national asset — "fertil- 

 ity of American soil." 



While nearly all farm commodity prices 

 have reached parity levels for the first time in 

 many years, we cannot give full credit for this 

 improvement to agricultural laws or their ad- 

 ministration. Serious droughts in two of the 

 past three years have materially influenced 

 the upward trend of price levels. Can we 

 depend upon a system that requires distress 



in some producing acreas to secure and main- 

 tain fair prices? Are farmers to depend upon 

 influences such as droughts and insect pests to 

 insure balanced production and fair farm 

 prices; or, are we to organize sufficiently so 

 as to demand laws necessary to assist cooperat- 

 ing farmers in formulating a program that is 

 fair, that is practically workable and will 

 insure the permanence essential to restore 

 confidence of the producers of food and fiber 

 of this nation and so as to keep such a pro- 

 gram out of partisan politics? The answer is 

 obvious. 



Regardless of the reason for the balance 

 now existing between the supply of farm prod- 

 ucts and the demand therefor, we should take 

 advantage of our opportunity and immediately 

 place machinery in motion to maintain this 

 balance in a constructive and equitable manner. 



What should such a program provide? 



(1) Produrtion adequate to satisfy the 

 needs of American citizens for the food and 

 fiber necessary to sustain life on the basis 

 of equitable economic conditions enjoyed 

 by every one, whether executive or worker; 



(2) Adequate production to meet total 

 demands of world markets over and above 

 the production of the farms of the nations 

 requiring such products; 



(3) In full recognition of the impossibility 

 of planning these requirements in advance, 

 a system of commodity control by farmers 

 is essential to ample control of the com- 

 modities produced in excess of market and 

 export requirements so that surpluses may 

 not unduly affect the price level of prod- 

 ucts flowing into market channels; 



(4) An adequate and practical system of 

 commodity loaiu enabling farmers to effec- 

 tively control these surpluses by storing 

 them in the most economical manner and 

 allowing them to flow into these market 

 channels only when price levels justify. These 

 major provisions of law should be con- 

 sistent with the requirement for protecting, 

 restoring and maintaining the fertility of 

 American soils. 



(5) Effective production control consis- 

 tent with the first four factors enumerated. 



(6) Effective law covering marketing 

 agreements entered into by prwlucers, proc- 

 essors or distributors. 



I have never believed it wise policy to 

 depend solely upon production planning 

 to attain balanced production. Too many 

 factors beyond the control of man determine 

 the volume of production of American farms. 

 I have always believed much more em- 

 phasis should be placed upon controlling 

 supply of farm products to the end that 

 surpluses above market needs may be 

 constructively held from market channels 

 and their undue bearish effect upon prices. 



The outline I have suggested would in- 

 sure the nation an adequate food supply 

 even though we were again forced to ex- 

 perience droughts or other disaster, while at 

 the same time it would keep under the 

 control of farmers the supply of their prod- 

 ucts. 



Applying my thoughts to the major prob- 



Farm Advisers President, Sam Russell of Adami. 



lems of the central west, I see no good 

 reason nor do I think it desirable to unduly 

 restrict production of our basic crops in 

 1937. We should, however, immediately 

 develop a program that provides for the 

 farm storage of surplus food and feed grains 

 that, we hope, will result from 1937 farm 

 operations. Any restricted or planned pro- 

 duction should be directed along lines that 

 insure at all times surplus cribs of corn 

 and bins of wheat on the farms of the 

 central west under seal and not permitted 

 to force prices below parity levels. It has 

 been proved that this can be accomplished 

 through a system of commodity loans re- 

 quiring the withholding of such surpluses, 

 if necessary, for a year or until the demand 

 in market channels is such as to absorb them 

 without bearish influence upon prices. Such 

 a system of commodity loans should be 

 developed on an increasingly simple basis. . . 

 We are hearing much of the problems 

 presented by increasing farm tenancy and 

 also suggestions for crop insurance. While 

 I do not minimize the ultimate effect of the 

 farm tenancy situation, yet I believe the solu- 

 tion of this problem will not be found by 

 the setting up of commissions or unsound 

 loaning policies. You may give a farm to a 

 tenant, but he cannot long hold title to same 



(Continued on page 28) 



There are approximately 6,800,000 



farmers in the United States. Of these, 

 about 2,860,000, or 42 percent, are full 

 tenants, renting all the land they oper- 

 ate. Another 10 percent rent some 

 land in addition to what they own. 

 Only 47 percent, less than half, of 

 American farmers are full owners, and 

 have title to all the land they operate. 



A sharp decline in milk production 



during the last month, and the prob- 

 ability that prices for dairy products 

 will be well sustained through the win- 

 ter are seen by the Bureau of Agri- 

 cultural Economics in its December 

 summary of the dairy situation. ;■ ,^ . 



Uncle Ab says that the biggest men 



generally use the smallest words. ; ;. 



8 



L A. A. RECORD 



