Drouth Proves Advantages 

 of Agricultural Planning 



Benefit Payments Will Soften 

 Blow of Dame Nature 



The drouth has emphasized the 

 value of agricultural planning, Dr. H. 

 R. ToUey, economist and leader in the 

 AAA, told farm advisers at their 

 summer conference in Urbana June 

 11. The AAA programs have helped 

 to meet the emergency, he said. First 

 is the crop income insurance feature 

 of the benefit payments. Those pay- 

 ments made and to be made may not 

 be sufficient to take care of farmers' 

 needs without other relief, but they 

 do give a minimum of income which 

 is more than nature has done this 

 season, Tolley said. The speaker was 

 introduced by Dean H. W. Mumford 

 • as one of the leading thinkers and 

 economists of the country.^^ - ' . ^ 



The increase in the amount of acre- 

 age in feed crops, as a result of the 

 wheat and corn-hog progn'ams, is an- 

 other benefit, he continued. Had there 

 been no reduction in wheat and corn 

 acreage this land would certainly have 

 been planted to grain crops and the 

 amount of forage would have been 

 even smaller than it is. Discussing 

 future crop adjustment programs and 

 the necessity of a cut of 15 to 20 mil- 

 lion acres of land in crops, Dr. Tolley 

 outlined four possible methods of re- 



; li Voluntary adjustment, with 

 :••.;;• benefit payments as now carried 



2* Voluntary adjustment, with 



;>• penalties against those who re- 

 /'■■:■''"'•., fuse to co-operate now being 



•-followed with rice. Under this 

 plan, the millers hold back part 

 of the payment for the farmer's 

 ^^ rice until he has agreed to par- 

 ticipate in acreage control. 



>• Buying sub-marginal land by 

 ''"■■■■■.■■, the government. - . - - / ■ 

 : :4*^i Compulsory control of produc- 

 ■■ tion. • ■ ■•*'*'•■ '•'■ ■ 



: Discussing the proposed plan for 

 putting the adjustment program on a 

 farm rather than a commodity basis, 

 he mentioned the advantages claimed 

 for this idea, such as its simplicity, 

 freedom in planning farming opera- 

 tions, elimination of work, red tape and 

 detail involved in annual signups, soil 

 conservation, avoiding public reaction 

 to pig slaughter and plow up cam- 

 paigns, flexibility, and permanent in- 

 fluence toward keeping more land in 

 grass and legumes: "I doubt whether 

 we are ready just yet for this plan," 

 he added. "Possibly we can make 

 something like it a basis for a sign- 

 up in 1935 to run through the years 

 1936, 1937 and 1938." - r 





Burned pastures and starving cattle is the sequel of the drought in Boone oounty, 111. Normally 

 wet and green throughout the summer this pasture was parched and barren of feed early in June« 



Hog Market Stronger, ' 

 Returns Greater Than '33 



.V ' . 



Hogs shipped to packers during 

 May averaged between 15 and 30 

 pounds lighter than for the same pe- 

 riod in 1933 according to the AAA. 

 Marketings of hogs at light weights 

 have been stimulated by prospects of 

 short feed supplies and the relatively 

 high price of corn. Heavy loadings 

 during May and early June delayed 

 the normal price upturn. >^' • . 



. **When the large volume of hogs 

 sold during the last few months and 

 the price equivalent of the hog bene- 

 fit payments are taken into consider- 

 ation," said Chester C. Davis, ad- 

 ministrator of the Agricultural Ad- 

 justment Act, "the hog market has 

 been in a substantially stronger con- 

 dition this year than it was during the 

 same months in 1933. ' . • / 



, "Hog receipts in May this year are 

 about the same in number as a year 



earlier, and a processing tax at the 

 rate of $2.25 per cwt. was being paid 

 by processors out of proceeds of their 

 sale of products as additional incon^ 

 to hog producers as a group. 



"Thus, the total return to producers 

 from hogs marketed in May, includ- 

 ing the adjustment payments to be 

 made as well as the market returns, 

 was considerably larger than a year 

 ago. This indication of a larger hog 

 income for 1934 is notable inasmuch 

 as the major feature of the plan, the 

 1934 corn-hog program, has not yet 

 had time to substantially affect the 

 market." ; ^ 



As we go to press, Chicago top hog prices 

 haye advanced heyond |5.00. $6.00 hogs are 

 forecast hy mid-svmmer. Steadily declining 

 receipts, higher grain prices and increased \vtj' 

 •ng power, are responsible. — Editor.. 



Credit Not a Dole 



; 5 : Need In Winnebago 



Credit and not a dole is what 

 Winnebago county farmers want and 

 need in order to tide them over this 

 season's drouth, Charles H. Keltner, 

 farm adviser, recently told the Winne- 

 bago County Relief Committee. Kelt- 

 ner stated that there were as many 

 as 1100 Winnebago county farmers in 

 need of credit with which to buy feed 

 for cattle and hogs. The northern tier 

 of counties in Illinois have been hard- 

 est hit by drouth. 



Farm adviser J. E. Harris, Mercer county, 

 explaining the procedure followed in distribute 

 ing free government oil to fight chinch bugs. 



Institute of Co-operation 



The American Institute of Co-oper- 

 ation will hold its annual meeting at 

 Madison, Wisconsin, July 9 to 14. Illi- 

 nois farmers, co-operative officials, 

 farm advisers and others are invited 

 to attend. Secretary George E. Metz- 

 ger is on the program committee. 

 Several members of the I. A. A. mar- 

 keting staff will probably appear on 

 the program:' ;:^^/V-;. 



The I. A. A. ^eard totei to centriiiite 9100 to 

 the 1984 Institute at its June meeting. . 



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JULY, 1934 



