WAR 



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•THE PRESIDENT HAS ASKED ME 

 TO APPOINT AN AGRICULTURAL 

 ADVISORY COUNCIL. THE SITU- 

 ATION IN EUROPE INEVITABLY 

 WILL HAVE ITS EFFECTS UPON 

 OUR AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY 

 AT MANY POINTS ... IT NOW 

 SEEMS PROBABLE THAT THE SIT- 

 UATION WILL BE CHANGING 

 RAPIDLY AND IN UNEXPECTED 

 WAYS. THE DEPARTMENT OF 

 AGRICULTURE DESIRES TO 

 WORK VERY CLOSELY WITH 

 REPRESENTATIVE FARM LEAD- 

 ERS AND BUSINESS MEN IN THE 

 FOOD AND FIBRE FIELDS. IT IS 

 OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE OF 

 COURSE IN ANY PROGRAM TO 

 DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO 

 KEEP US OUT OF WAR." 



So telegraphed Henry A Wallace, 

 Secretary of Agriculture, to a list of 

 some 19 men including Edward A. 

 O'Neal, president and Earl C. Smith, 

 vice-president of the American Farm 

 Bureau Federation, Clifford Gregory of 

 Wallace's Farmer, Thomas E. Wilson, 

 Chicago meat packer, representatives of 

 other farm groups, of food chains, 

 cotton, tobacco, and grain processing 

 interests. Summoned to a meeting in 

 Washington were members of the 

 Council on Sept. 19 where plans were 

 discussed for handling agricultural and 

 food problems that may arise as a result 

 of the war in Europe. 



Stick to AAA 



"I urge American farmers to pro- 

 ceed with their production plans as if 

 the outbreak in Europe had not oc- 

 curred," Secretary Wallace said in a 

 press statement. "Some farmers, re- 

 membering high war-time prices, may 

 wish to discontinue cooperation in their 

 farm programs in order to expand the 

 acreage of wheat and other crops. I 

 would remind them that the average 

 of wheat, corn, hogs, and beef were 

 lower a year after the World War 

 started than they were in 1914. The 

 course of prices for the months just 

 ahead may not follow the pattern of 

 1914 and 1915, but present supplies of 

 cotton, wheat, corn, meat animals, and 

 many other commodities are large. 

 There is a little likelihood that any 

 substantial increase in production of the 

 major crops will be desirable, certainly 

 not in the immediate future." 



War hysteria gripped the New York 

 and Chicago stock markets in the days 

 immediately following the declaration 

 of war on Germany by England and 

 France the first week in September. 

 Steel, copper, airplane, and munitions 



mm 



EXTRAI EXTRAI 



Newsboys announced the outbreak of 

 WOT as the Sports Festival opened at 

 Champaign SepL I. 



stocks jumped as much as 10 points. 

 Wheat and corn futures went up the 

 limit several days in succession. Then 

 as more sober judgment came to the 

 fore there were sharp declines. For 

 a few days, a shortage of hogs de- 

 veloped in terminal markets as farmers 

 held while they sized up the new sit- 

 uation. Top prices soared from around 

 the $7 mark to 19.40, then dropped 

 back as runs were restored to normal. 

 Despite the declines grain and livestock 

 prices held substantial gains since the 

 outbreak of the war, wheat holding 

 17c of the 20c gain (as of Sept. 20) 

 and corn retaining approximately lie 

 of the l6c advance from the pre-war 

 price. Top butcher hogs on Sept. 20 

 were $8.10, down |1.30 per cwt. from 

 the top but up around Si. 25 from the 

 market late in August. Cattle likewise 

 went up, then down, but held from 

 75c to |1.25 of the gain three weeks 

 after the war scare. 



Food Hoarding 

 Housewives reacted quickly and 

 started a run on sugar, staples, and 

 canned goods at grocery stores with 

 the result that scarcities caught retailers 

 under-stocked. Charges of profiteering 

 were bandied about as stores kept 

 clerks down after hours marking up 

 their stocks. 



The situation became so acute for a 

 few days that President Roosevelt re- 

 moved all restriction on imports of 

 sugar and issued statements assuring 

 consumers that food stocks were plenti- 

 ful. 



Later the President reminded the 

 public that farm prices are still sub- 

 stantially below parity and any talk 

 about high cost of living is out of 

 order. 



AAA 



\^^< HE 1940 AAA program, sub- 

 / stantialiy the same as that of 



V>/ 1939, increases the acreage al- 

 lotment of wheat from 55,000,000 to 

 62,000,000 acres. "There is nothing in 

 the current wheat situation that war- 

 rants changing this part of the pro- 

 gram," said Secretary Wallace. "We 

 have domestic wheat supplies of nearly 

 a billion bushels and these are ample 

 for any immediate prospective demand. 

 World supplies are the largest on 

 record." 



In the commercial corn area, farmers 

 having a corn acreage allotment of 10 

 acres or less, may be classed as non-al- 

 lotment farms. Producers on these 

 farms may plant corn not to exceed 10 

 acres without deduction for overplant- 

 ing. The 1939 program set eight acres 

 of corn as the maximum. The final 

 date for accepting applications for pay- 

 ment in any area under the 1940 pro- 

 gram is March 31, 1941. 



Following the September crop re- 

 port, which indicated a 1939 corn crop 

 of approximately 2,523,000,000 bushels, 

 and the October 1 carryover estimate 

 of 470,000,000 bushels, Secretary Wal- 

 lace announced there would be no re- 

 ferendum on corn marketing quotas 

 this year. 



Marketing Quota 



The 1939 marketing quota level was 

 set at 3,030,000,000 bushels largely be- 

 cause of increased livestock numbers 

 and the European situation, whereas 

 the total corn supply was placed at 2,- 

 993,000,000 bushels. 



The principal factors in holding the 

 corn supply at a level to make a mar- 

 keting quota referendum necessary this 

 year, despite high yields, were an- 

 nounced as follows: (1) increased par- 

 ticipation in the AAA program result- 

 ing in a downward corn acreage pro- 

 duction of 18 per cent in the corn belt 

 compared with the ten-year average; 

 (2) increased livestock production. 



A much higher average yield per 

 acre for corn land, the government 

 said, is due, first, to the use of hybrid 

 seed and, secondly, to the retirement 

 of poor land from cultivation. The 

 soil conservation program, likewise, is 

 increasing soil fertility through the use 

 of more legumes in the rotation. 



On September 1 the AAA milk mar- 

 keting agreement went into effect in 

 Chicago and the north shore suburbs. 

 N. J. Cladakis of Washington, D. C. 

 was named market administrator with 

 headquarters in the old Post Office 

 Building, Chicago. The price of milk 

 was tied to the evaporated milk price 

 as follows: Class 1 — evaporated milk 



OCTOBER. 1939 



