104 THE COUNTY AGENT'S SERVICES 



buy supplies and to sell products most efficiently. Both 

 county agents and their supporting agencies, the farm 

 bureaus, will naturally approach the solution of these 

 problems from the educational standpoint and in their re- 

 lation to public welfare as well as to the welfare of 

 farmers. 



THE IMPORTANCE OP PRODUCTION 



There is much loose talk about arbitrarily reducing pro- 

 duction and tending to minimize the problem of produc- 

 tion. Its purpose is really to emphasize marketing and 

 distribution problems rather than to minimize production 

 problems. In relation to production there are two funda- 

 mental facts which must always be kept in mind. 



In the first place everybody must be adequately fed. If 

 farmers do not perform this task well themselves, the 

 Government must in the interest of the people to be fed 

 find some way to do it itself. Moreover, the public has a 

 right to demand the greatest possible efficiency in produc- 

 tion consistent with a fair standard of living on the farm ; 

 and farmers have a public obligation to be reasonably ef- 

 ficient. 



In the second place, efficient production still offers the 

 biggest opportunity and the largest incentive for indi- 

 vidual gain. While it is true that the effect of big crops 

 on the nation on the whole is likely to be lower prices, per- 

 haps below the cost of production and usually with a 

 smaller net return to the producer, nevertheless, the effect 

 of a big crop secured by the individual as a result of his 

 own efficiency, and with reasonable expenditure of money 

 and effort, is usually greater profit to that individual. 

 Every good farmer is trying to get the largest possible 

 crop with a reasonable expenditure of time and money; 

 and if he succeeds he is apt to be proud of it. It is 



