War 



I 



Farmers Comment On Storage Program, 



War and Other Questions 



C\4,^ITH Illinois' third bumper 

 ^»yi/ crop in three years knock- 

 '"g ^^ t^c door, farmers are 

 working under pressure to get 1937 

 and 1938 government loan corn out 

 of the way to make room for the new 

 crop. Even more pressure was applied 

 when corn and soybean harvests started 

 at least two weeks earlier than usual. 



How farmers are meeting this emer- 

 gency was revealed in a recent survey 

 of conditions in 11 eastern and central 

 Illinois counties. 



The state oflFice of the agricultural 

 conservation association estimates 30 to 

 35 per cent of the 1937-38 loan corn 

 will be resealed both on farms and in 

 local elevators. That leaves the bulk 

 of some 65,000,000 bushels of sealed 

 corn to be absorbed by the Commodity 

 Credit Corporation, holder of liens 

 against it. 



Store Where Needed 

 Aim of the CCC is to store corn 

 near where it was produced to be used 

 as needed by livestock feeders. 



In planning for resealing and for 

 1940 production, farmers are consider- 

 ing war as a great unknown factor 

 which, they believe, will sooner or 

 later boost prices. To a man they 

 hope the war will end before their 

 corn and wheat are needed to feed 

 Europe. They want no profiteering. 

 They want a parity price and they 

 are willing to cooperate to get it. 



One farmer in Kankakee county 

 summed up the feeling generally when 

 he said, "I'd gladly give my corn 

 away if that would keep our boys at 

 home. I think we should open our 

 ports to all comers and let them buy 

 all of every commodity they can pay 

 for. My corn will be resealed. Not 



Rrice, plus 70 cents for July through 

 fovember, plus 55 cents for the 

 months of December through April 

 and plus 45 cents for May and June. 



Class 2 — evaporated milk price, 

 plus 32 cents for July-November, plus 

 28 cents for December-April and plus 

 25 cents for May and June. 



Class 3 — 3.5 times average Chicago 

 92 score buter market, plus 20 per cent. 



The butterfat differential from 3.5% 

 milk is four cents for each one-tenth 

 of one per cent above or below. There 

 is a check-off of three cents per cwt. 

 to be paid to the market administrator 

 by so-called independent producers. 



with the idea of cashing in on war 

 prices. All I want is enough to pay 

 off the loan and expenses and have a 

 little left." 



Kankakee county farmers are hope- 

 ful of retaining 50 per cent of their 

 corn under seal. If Leonard Shultz 

 is typical of half the farmers in the 

 county, the goal will be achieved. He 

 is erecting steel bins near his perman- 

 ent crib to store 4000 to 5000 bushels 

 of corn. 



"I see no reason why we can't ad- 

 just acreage to raise just the amount 

 of corn that can be used without 

 throwing prices out of line," he said. 

 "I'll stay with the AAA program re- 

 gardless of corn price." 



Frank Oberlin, another Kankakee 

 county farmer, is building a permanent 

 crib 44 feet long and 14 feet high 

 with an eight-foot crib on either side 

 of the driveway. His 1938 crop will 

 be resealed in his old crib. 



R. W. Chambers, Ford county, just 

 completed a substantial temporary crib 

 32 feet long, 16 feet high and nine 

 feet wide. Using all new lumber, a 

 sheet metal roof and snow fence, the 

 cost of materials ran about |200. He 

 estimates it will hold 2150 bushels. 

 Cost per bushel: 9 l/3c. The new 

 crib and the old one will hold all 

 the corn he produces on 90 acres. In 

 other years he has been forced to fill 

 the crib and shell it out to make room 

 for the remainder of his crop. This 

 year he will apply for a corn loan. 



About one-third of the loan corn 



MASS PRODUCTION 

 Mora than ISJXK) steel bins will be 

 erected in Uinoia thia iall to hold loom 

 com for the CCC. Here is a Ford county 

 crew odiusting o rooi, the hardest p<zrt in 

 construction. Five men can put up two 

 2000-bushel bins a dor- 



HOW LONG WILL STEEL BINS LAST? 



Merle, son of Chorlas Wagner, Cham- 

 paign county, is shown entering 550- 

 bushel bin erected 16 years ago. It will 

 be used for ear com this fall. 



in Ford county will be resealed accord- 

 ing to Howard Stuckey, chairman of 

 the county AAA committee. This 

 amount is more than was earlier ex- 

 pected and is believed due to f)OSsi- 

 bilities for better prices resulting from 

 the European war. 



Elevators are being paid 2% cents 

 a bushel for putting up and filling 

 steel bins. That's $55 a bin. Con- 

 struction costs, including materials for 

 foundations, are running from |15 to 

 130 {>er bin. Costs are diminishing 

 as crews gain experience. Where ele- 

 vator men figure they can't break even 

 on the 2% cents, county AAA com- 

 mittees are doing the job. 



Use 15,000 Bins 



More than 15,000 bins, totahng 30 

 million bushels capacity will be erected 

 in Illinois for storage of CCC corn 

 being turned in on corn loans. 



Some difficulty is expected in filling 

 the bins as fast as farmers can shell 

 and haul in. Portable elevators that 

 handle 20 bushels a minute won't be 

 fast enough to handle the flood of corn 

 breaking loose from scores of cribs 

 surrounding every shipping point, 

 grain men say. They point out that 

 shelters, running day and night, can 

 all but swamp the average local ele- 

 vator. 



Construction of steel bins in Ford 

 county is speeding along under mass 

 production methods fjerfected by a lo- 

 cal contractor. The foreman schooled 

 five men in erecting bins. After two 

 days of tutoring, each man became a 

 foreman of similar crews. Five men 

 can erect two bins a day including 

 foundations and roofs. 



A homemade derrick fashioned on a 

 truck was being experimented with 

 to facilitate putting on roofs. 



In Vermilion county, farmers were 

 anxiously awaiting word from their 

 local elevators to shell their corn and 

 (Continued on page 12) 



RD 



OCTOBER. 1939 



