EDITORIAL 



"Of Course, Farm Prices Will Go Down" 



11- 1-AKMF-.R> lAxr h.iii loiunHint; proot ot ttitir rictJ 

 t)t .1 still i;rt.atLr Dr^.iniz.ition, tticv sliiuiLl ttnJ it in 

 the turri-nt .itiitu>i<. ot m.iin i;incrnnuiit k.idirs .mi 

 iiulustrijl ,inJ l.ibor yroiips .ihaiit pDst-w.u f.iriTi prut^. 

 That attitude, boikd duun. is Miii]-'iv tins, ( )l" C (H RSI'. 

 I ARM HRICIS WILL C-O DOWN 



Less than a \ear ap), utimaK vm^tl- rLasMirini: Mrnicrs 

 that tluTc- was 11(1 nttd t>i wnrn ihnut post war Mirphists 

 ■ it tiHul and tihcr. what with jMtential I'urupcan dtinanl 

 and tilt pkdi:<-' to maintain [irKts at parit\ tor at kast iwn 

 \LMr-. attcr tin iDiitiut Indav, the attitude sceiiis t.i lu 

 that a sliarp deiline in tarm pri><-s is ini\ilaMe i 



That WDiihl he sernuis enough, hut at the saniL [inie. 

 mdustrv l^ pridiitiiii; liiyher prues tcr its puNi war pmd- 

 liets. and lahof is diiiiandiiii; that wai;es he niaint.nn(.d 

 at wartime levels, with, a i;uar.u)tei<[ annu.il wai.'e, -t t.iki. 

 Iu>me pay adjusted hiLlli Lriouyh to make- up tor the loss 

 lit nvertinie The ()PA is .ipparenth iisins: I'M,' prues 



is a standarvl .Autdninhilc m.ikers h,i\e told 

 scrie-s (it statements, that i.irs wil! ..ost 1 

 per leiit '"ore than thev dui in prc-w,ir d,i\ s ^'^,s 

 labors wai:es will he ni.iiiit.niied, ,u'id 

 lipped ti.i eomptns.ite tor,ini re.is^d losts 

 I'arm Priies Will Iro I> own 



Is that attiiudi, l.ur." Hols it m.iki. schsl And \\I),U 

 ' .m tarniers J.o .ihout i! ' Thosi. .ire (.juesfior.s upon whiJi 

 the t',irnv-T .in.j iIk- non l.irni popul.ition iiei. d ' ■ d. ■ .i loi 

 ot thinkini," 



Win sheuild t,irm pruts he singled out lor d,iliiK. 

 ■Ahile otiu rs ,iri to he m.untaiiKd' Is it tin 



Us. m .1 Ihhl; 



s [xr lellt to so 



prc-w.ir d,i\ s 



ndiistri.d prues 

 hut ' ( )1 ( iiiifse. 



per- 



i;roups lor Jit.ip loo 



sisteiit , ,imp.iit;n ol m 



Pe.'.sant ,iL:ri< ultiire.- Is it tjie shortsii^hted thinking o| 

 some haisiness .md laUir 'tiruups wh() persisteiitK l.ul to 

 re-eoynize th.U the t.iriiier is their best i,ustonKr' 



[■•art ol It is |ust tii,it. Another part is the ptrsisieiit 

 idea that tarm j'^rues are unjustitiabU- Inch, .Xnti-Lirin 

 L;ronps take the depresseil larm prii es dl lOsO tin lowest 

 [seriod lor ai;rKulture in twent\ \e.irs except tor the 

 deptlis ot the depression .is their l^.isis ti)r ticiirini;. 



Then, lo .md behoKI, thev s.u i.irn'i prues ii,i\e iiureased 

 m(>re th.m waces." In .Aul'usI ot I'Jso. tarm [srues stood 

 .It '1 per eern ot Pari!\ . tarnKrs wtre able to re,ili/e .\n 

 average ol less th.m s^,^»> [s,,|- luituired. tor hoi;s, less th.m 

 5f' ^"^ ti>r .attle, less th.in ^^ .,ents per bushel ot wlnat 

 During the \ear l'M9 l.irmers received oiilv about '' cents 

 [XT pound tor . ottoii, 1 " cents per dozen tor et;t;s. .' i leiiN 

 a pi)und ti>r buttertat ,ind ^~ cents .i bushel Iit corn, 

 ,-\rc Comparis()ns based upon sluIi i pruc le\cl l.iir .uid 

 reasonable' 



What are s,,nie ol these groups thlnkln^ oi - .Ar^ 

 thev indulgmu in the old t.illacv that dnminatcd the tatelul 

 IV2()'s, that prosperity can be maintained tOr iiiilustrv and 

 Iab«)r by txportinc huge quantities of industrial products, 

 and importing a vast amount ot agricultural products in 

 return.-' That, ot course, lould onlv mean another crash 

 in farm prices. Then the old pattern of depression would 

 inevitablv repeat itselt: a depressed agrieulture, a drastic 

 cut in farmers' buying power, industry and labor deprived 

 ^^i their farm market, and the country fating another 

 cata,strophe like that of l^^') s^ 



It IS up to tlie farmer, and to sound-thinking business 



nun and lalior leaders, to correct this dangerous and mis- 

 t.iken line ot thought, larimrs have two enormous tasks 

 before them in this conneetion. One is to lonviiue non- 

 l.irm groups that the parit\ standard, which insists upon 

 prices ti>r tarm products sutfuient to gi\e i.irr.crs a l.ur 

 exchange value tor the proclucts ol industr\. shoiild be 

 mamt.uncd This is agricultures one basic jsrolection in 

 the l.iw. and it must be clearlv explained and \igorously 

 Ic tended. The other is to prove again tci industry and 

 i.chor Ixforc it is too late that the m.iss buying power 

 ot the six million farm families ot .\merica constitutes the 

 mo-t iiiijiortanf single market tor the products cit industt) 

 ll tli.it buying jxiwer is destro\ed. national prosperit\ will 

 u'o dow n with it. 



bull national production ,ind .i lii.gh natu.inal income, 

 upon which depends our .ihilit\ to recover from the etfeds 

 ol war aiui to build a sound peace, rest upon producti\it\ 

 .iiid prosperitv in the cities and neither industn', labor, 



nor ,igric iiiture can prosper unless all groups prosper. 



Let s correct the false and dangerous thinking implicit 

 iti the st.Uenient, Ot course. f,irm prices must tro down 



I 



New Cooperative Frontiers 



,\' I'KIA'KM ,S issues 1.1 the Kr<(iKIi we iia\e .■utiiiieel. 

 espcxialK tor new members, the arrav of coo|x-rative- 

 servues wliiih the I'arm Bureau makes availalde to them 

 Si,:hst,uitial .in^\ imj^iirfant as past accomplishments and 

 present services are, however, the movement is not standing 

 still The I'arm bureau member through his county, state, 

 ,ind iKitional oruanization is exploring new frontiers ot 

 ionper,Uion He is finding where the needs of the post-war 

 period ,ire, aiul is planning what to do abiHit them 



Twii current developments in Illinois are the Service 

 br.iiid Iced program and the Plant I'ood pr<>gram Ser\ 

 lie l^r,mil feeds are complete- mixed feeds. In the ,Service 

 Hr.md I'eec! program, a liighcjualitv pre mix, containing 

 ih-. vitamin carriers and other important essential ingre- 

 dients, will he made by Illinois I'arm ."supply ( ompanv in 

 centr.ilized mills. This j+e-mix will go out to the countv 

 distributor who will grind and mix with it certain cjuanti 

 ties of grain ,uid protein feeds, obtaineil locally Qualitv 

 standards will be controlled In- a well-chosen tommittee, 

 and maint.iined bv constant ctieck upon the mixing at the 

 plants cif countv distributors 'I'he savings invcdved in the 

 iirst countv in whidi the ."service Brand program is in 

 elteet li.ive exceeded previous estimates 



I he Plant I'ood program is one of processing and 

 distributing mixed fertilizers and plant food ingredients 

 (,^Hialitv control is again a paramount consideration. Illi- 

 nois I-'arm Supply Company, v^ith similar organizations m 

 Ineiiana, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, is se-tting up an 

 ,icidulating plant and enlarging a mixing plant for this 

 purpose. The acidulating plant will turn out U), ()('() tons 

 of superphosphate per year, from which Illinois will re- 

 ceive more siiperphosph.ite than anv of the other coop 

 eratives invc)lved and as much mixed fertilizers fnnn the 

 mixing plant as Illinois Farm Supply s potash allocation 

 will make. When sutTicient allcxations of potash can Ix? 

 had, it is contemplated that the service will he expanded. 



Thus, on two vital frontiers, cooperative endeavor is 

 making plans and taking action. 1-armers, working to- 

 gether, can solve their problems. 



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