1938 Soil Conservation Plan 



^^^^HE 1938 Agricultural Conser- 

 ^^—/^ vation Program, announced 

 V_y by Henry A. Wallace late in 

 September, follows the broad outlines 

 already established by previous pro- 

 grams and sets up definite objectives 

 for 1938. 



Like the soil conservation programs 

 of 1936 and '37, the 1938 program is 

 not a production control program. Its 



Eurpose is to further conservation and 

 elp maintain economic gains which 

 agriculture has made since 1932. 



The 1938 program was drafted with 

 the assistance of farmers and farmer 

 representatives from every state. Its 

 salient points are: 



(1) Establishment of a national goal 

 for soil-depleting crops and a national 

 objective for soil-building crops and 

 practices. The national goal will be 

 sub-divided into state, county and in- 

 dividual farm goals. 



(2) Establishment of individual soil- 

 depleting crop goals for the following 

 crops: cotton, corn, tobacco, peanuts 

 and rice. Corn goals for individual 

 farms will be established only in des- 

 ignated areas in the Corn Belt. Other 

 crops included in the total soil-deplet- 

 ing crop goals will be classified to- 

 gether in the general soil-depleting 

 crop goal. 



(3) A maximum payment will be 

 calculated for each farm. Payment 

 will be made for keeping within soil- 

 depleting crop goals and for attaining 

 soil-building goals, including carrying 

 out soil-building practices. 



If the soil-depleting goal is exceeded, 

 or there is failure to reach the soil- 

 building goal, the payment will be less 

 than the maximum payment. 



(4) In general, the 1938 crop classi- 

 fications will follow those for the 1936 

 and 1937 Agricultural Conservation 

 Programs. 



(5) In all regions the payments will 

 be divided between landlord and ten- 

 ant in the proportion that they share 

 the principal crop, or all crops and 

 practices on the farm. 



(6) The AAA regional organization 

 for the administration of the program 

 and provisions for local administration 

 by county and state committees will 

 correspond to those of 1937. Admin- 

 istrative expenses of all county agri- 

 cultural conservation associations, as in 

 1937, will be deducted from payments 

 to farmers in their respective counties. 



As was the case when the 1937 na- 

 tional program was announced, the actual 

 appropriation for next year's program has 

 not been made. The 1938 program is. 



'ther«fore, dependent upon the action of 

 Congress. In 1936, however. Congress 

 authorized an annual appropriation for 

 carrying out a program under the Soil 

 Conservation and Domestic Allotment 

 Act. 



The 1938 program will be easier to 

 comply with than were previous pro- 

 grams. Each farm will have a definite 

 goal; if that goal is attained exactly, the 

 farmer will receive the maximum pay- 

 ment. But if he over-plants soil-deplet- 

 ing crops and under-plants soil-building 

 crops substantial reductions will be made 

 from his payment in line with the amount 

 he deviates from the goal. 



Each farmer will know, after goals 

 for his farm have been established, ex- 

 actly what he must do to comply with 

 the plan and just how much he will 

 receive for complete compliance. Only 

 one type of jjayment will be made. 



Rates of payment for all commodities 

 were determined in a uniform manner. 

 In arriving at the rates the following 

 factors were taken into consideration: 



(1) The number of acres in each goal. 



(2) The farm value of the crops in each 

 goal. (3) The shift in acreage from the 

 10-year average necessary to reach each 

 goal. (4) The farm value which these 

 shifts represent based on 10-year average 

 values. 



This means that one-half the payment 

 is based on the conservation attained by 

 reaching the goals and one-half on the 

 sacrifice involved. 



The soil-building goal includes the 

 normal acreage in soil-conserving crops 

 and the increases resulting from the 

 shifts in soil-depleting crops. It also 

 includes practices such as liming, ter- 

 racing, restoration of land to native 

 grasses and the seeding of legumes and 

 perennial grasses. 



Goals will be set for each state. 

 Within the state, county goals will be 

 established by the AAA and the State 

 Agricultural Conservation Committee. 



In each county, the county agricultural 

 conservation committee will establish for 

 each farm a total soil-depleting crop goal 

 and any goal for an individual soil- 

 depleting crop applicable to the farm. 



In establishing individual goals within 

 the county, the county committee will 

 consider the tillable acreage on the farm, 

 the tyjje of soil, topography, production 

 facilities, the crop rotation, acreage cus- 

 tomarily grown on the farm and the 

 acreages of food and feed crops needed 

 for home consumption. 



Under the previous program, separate 

 rates were established for diversion from 



soil -depleting crops to soiI<onserving 

 crops. Under the 1937 plan the producer 

 could calculate his payment only at the 

 end of the crop year by applying these 

 separate rates to each acre diverted. In 

 1938, the maximum payment for each 

 producer will be calculated at the begin- 

 ning of the crop year. He will know 

 before he plants his crop exactly what 

 he must do to collect the full payment. 

 Methods of Payment 

 Payments will be made for staying 

 within a farm's soil-depleting crop goal 

 and for achieving the soil-building goal. 

 The payment will be computed as fol- 

 lows: 



(1) $1.50 per acre, adjusted for the 

 productivity of the farm, for each acre 

 in the general soil-depleting crop goal. 



(2) 10 cents per bushel of the farm's 

 normal yield per acre of corn for each 

 acre in the corn goal. 



(3) In Illinois and several other states, 

 three cents per acre of non-crop open 

 pasture land plus 75 cents for each animal 

 unit of grazing capacity on a 12 month 

 basis of such pasture. 



The sum of any of those payments 

 which apply to a farm shall be the farm's 

 total payment for 1938, IF both the soil- 

 depleting crop goal and the soil-build- 

 ing goals are fully met. Only partial 

 payments will be made if the soil-de- 

 pleting crop goals are exceeded or if the 

 soil-building goal is only partially 

 achieved. 



Specific crops and practices to be 

 counted toward the attainment of a farm's 

 soil-building goal correspond, in general, 

 to those approved for use m the iy37 

 program. A list of soil-conserving crops 

 and practices that will apply in Illinois 

 will be selected later by the state com- 

 mittee. The County Farm Bureau office 

 will be headquarters again for detailed 

 information regarding the new program. 



Little Diunb Creatures 

 Are They 



Did you ever watch the anxiety of 

 parent birds when their young are learn- 

 ing to Ry? They're on the job every 

 minute, coaching, demonstrating and urg- 

 ing better efforts. 



Human parents could well take a les- 

 son here. Youngsters learn to drive 

 largely by watching their elders at the 

 wheel and by following their advice. 

 If the example or the advice is faulty 

 so will be the driving. 



Parents should accept their full re- 

 sponsibility for the driving skill, or the 

 absence of it, in their sons and daughters. 



OCTOBER. 1937 



