Farm Tenancy Question 



(Continued from page 8) 



elevator manager in Fairbury said that 

 most of these buyers make good land- 

 lords. They try to build up the soil by 

 spreading limestone and having their 

 tenants grow clovers and raise livestock. 

 The tenants stay on the same farms year 

 after year. The manager believes that 

 most tenants in the territory served by 

 his company are better off financially than 

 if they owned farms. 



Prices play an important part in reg- 

 ulating the standard of living among 

 country folks, he said. If farm prices 

 can be maintained at the present level 

 our soils will be kept fertile and the 

 farmers will always have a good living. 

 When farm prices drop we all have a 

 hard time, the elevator man said. 



A Ford county tenant pointed out the 

 need for tax readjustment. He said that 

 high taxes cause many landowners to 

 "run their land hard" in an effort to get 

 a return that will leave them a profit 

 after the taxes are paid and the improve- 

 ments are repaired. 



"Land owners can't hide their prop- 

 erty like some people do and that isn't 

 fair. It seems that those who have the 

 most money are always careful to have 

 it in such a form so that it can't be 

 taxed," this farmer observed. 



Another tenant in Ford county ex- 

 pressed a hope that prices will stay at the 

 present level long enough to allow him 

 to accumulate savings on which to live 

 when he quits the farm for his small 

 house in a nearby town. He thinks that 

 the soil conservation program will keep 

 farm prices up for a few years at which 

 time he will be living in town and won't 

 care about corn prices any more. 



Tenants Buy Land 



An outstanding example of long time 

 land tenure was found on the Sibley 

 Estate in Ford county. It was reported 

 that several of the tenants on the estate 

 were born and grew to manhood on 

 the farms they are now operating. Many 

 of the men who operate farms for the 

 estate are landowners. 



An owner-operator in Iroquois county 

 said, "We have a big landowner in this 

 county who runs his tenants pretty hard. 

 Some make good and are well fixed in a 

 year or two and others go broke. This 

 owner has a stiff lease he makes all his 

 men sign. I've seen those that work hard 

 and follow the lease come out in eight or 

 ten years and buy farms of their own. 

 Those that don't follow the lease — 

 well, they end up in town broke in a 

 year or two." 



Questioned further about the leases, 

 this man revealed that they demand that 



24 



certain practices, such as trimming 

 hedges, clipping stubble after harvest 

 and crop rotation, be followed exactly 

 or the tenant must pay for having the 

 work done either in cash or in grain. 

 Under this system the land is kept in 

 high fertility and the yields are better 

 than average. 



"We don't have many tenants around 

 here. We all own our farms," a young 

 dairyman in southwestern Cook county 

 said. He started farming in 1930 on the 

 quarter section his father had owned. 



A neighbor of Victor Johns who owns 

 320 acres in Livingston county is not 

 disturbed by the tenancy problem. "I 

 would like to see some of our young 

 men have a chance to get started toward 

 owning a farm," he said, "some of our 

 best farmers in the county are young 

 tenants — they deserve a little help." 



"I bought this place five years ago and 

 I've almost paid for it," a middle aged 

 man whose father had farmed the sunny 

 Italian slopes proudly retorted. "The 

 government didn't help me either." The 

 farm contains 120 acres of sandy loam 

 and is located in Iroquois county. 



Go To City 



"Our best farmers go to the city." 

 This is the opinion of an elderly farm 

 owner in the pan-handle of Ford county. 

 He explained that some of the boys who 

 Stay at home and farm are good farmers 

 and that they should have some consider- 

 ation when and if federal funds are 

 available to help tenants. He revealed, 



RAIL FENCE — CUMBERLAND 

 COUNTS, "Once a luxury — now a 

 reminder of pioneer days." 



however, he was over 30 years of age 

 when he started to pay off the mortgage 

 on the 160 acres that are now his. More 

 years of good prices will keep farm boys 

 on the farm, he believes. 



"More farmers is what we need," said 

 a 35 year-old landowner. "One man to 

 a 320 is not enough to do the job right." 

 He pointed to his neighbors' farms and 

 in each case mentioned the number of 

 acres each one is handling. He would 

 like to see one farmer on each 160 acres 

 in Livingston county. When prices were 

 low many of the farms were being 

 operated by one man with no hired help 

 except in rush seasons, he recalled. 



"Back in the early 30's I just about 

 quit farming," a Will county dairyman 

 asserted. He told about milk checks so 

 small that it was impossible for him 

 to buy the feed necessary to keep his 

 milk base. He has 80 acres and 10 milk 

 cows. He refinanced with the Land 

 Bank of St. Louis and will soon have 

 his mortgage paid off. This man stated 

 that he would rather have farmers try to 

 keep prices at a fair level than have 

 every tenant who wanted to, buy a farm. 

 With good prices an average farmer will 

 buy a farm in time, he said. 



After conversations with 20 to 25 ten- 

 ants, and owners — it seems that all 

 that industrious farmers want is con- 

 tinued parity prices. With an income 

 that will allow paying rent, either share 

 or cash, plus a fair amount for upkeep 

 of equipment and savings, the better 

 farm operators will conserve soil fertility 

 and will, in a few years, be in a position 

 to buy their own farms seems to be the 

 general feeling. 



Livestock Meeting 



(Continued jrom page 22) 



leader in co-operative enterprises but it 

 lags behind other states in wool market- 

 ing, Phil Evans, director of organization 

 for the National Wool Marketing Corpo- 

 ration, told the livestock producers. He 

 pointed out that only a small part of 

 the six million pounds of wool produced 

 in Illinois is sold co-operatively. 



Farmers can make more money by 

 withholding their clip at shearing time 

 to wait for a more advantageous market 

 later when the demand becomes greater, 

 Evans said. 



All directors of the Illinois Livestock 

 Marketing Association were re-elected. 

 A. E. Dreman, Ina, was elected to fill 

 the vacancy left by Samuel Sorrells who 

 is retiring from active service with the 

 association. Daniel Smith of Shelby 

 county was elected president, Mont Fox, 

 vice president, and Lee Harris, treasurer. 

 Ray E. Miller was re-elected secretary- 

 manager. 1 ■■''■. ^" 



LA. A. RECORD 



