S0M6 Illinois farmers had their first 

 chance to size up the new secretary 

 of agriculture, Clinton P. Ander- 

 son, as he made his first speaking ap- 

 pearance in the state Sept. 20 at De- 

 catur. 



Secretary Anderson made a good first 

 impression. Farmers liked his forth- 

 right way of talking. They liked espe- 

 cially his statement that the govern- 

 ment intended to make good on its 

 price support program where it asked 

 for increased production. They also 

 liked his assertion that he intended an- 

 nouncing programs well in advance so 

 that farmers could make their plans. 



Secretary Anderson also spoke close 

 to the farmers' hearts when he told of 

 his difficulty in getting farm labor for 

 his own farm. 



The occasion for the new secretary's 

 visit to Illinois was to address the east 

 central Illinois regional conference 

 sponsored by the agriculture-industry 

 committee of the Illinois State Cham- 

 ber of Commerce in cooperation with 

 the Decatur Association of Commerce, 

 Macon County Farm Bureau, and Farm 

 Bureaus, Granges and local Chambers 

 of Commerce in 14 east central Illinois 

 counties. Some 642 persons attended 

 the meeting with representation being 

 equally divided between farmers and 

 business men. 



The matter of the government's 

 price support program, which is upper- 

 most in the mind of most farmers at 

 this time, was given further considera- 

 tion during the panel discussion fol- 

 lowing Secretary Anderson's address. 



This question was submitted to Earl 

 C. Smith, president of the Illinois 



Secretary Anderson Meets 

 Farm, Business Leaders 



By CRESTON FOSTER 



Agricultural Association, who served 

 as a member of the panel : 



"How can crop and livestock sur- 

 pluses or gluts be prevented if gov- 

 ernment support at parity prices makes 

 their production highly profitable?" 



President Smith first pointed out 

 that the question was incorrectly 

 worded. The government is com- 

 mitted to support prices at 90 per cent 

 of parity and not at 100 per cent of 

 parity. He said that if a business man 

 were asked to operate at 10 per cent 

 less than a fair price, he would not be 

 inclined to continue to increase pro- 

 duction. 



Therefore, with price supports at 90 

 per cent of parity and not full parity. 

 President Smith said he saw no reason 

 why there should be crucifying sur- 

 pluses as the result of the two-year 

 support price commitment. He also 

 asserted that he believed that if farm- 

 ers are intelligently advised in sufficient 

 time on what amounts to produce, they 

 would respond. 



President Smith then explained the 

 American Farm Bureau Federation's 



Participating in the panel discussion at 

 the Decatur agriculture-industry conier- 

 ence, left to right, were: Earl C. Smith, 

 lAA president; Secretary oi Agriculture, 

 Clinton P. Anderson; Leonard I. Fletcher, 

 Caterpillar Tractor Co., chairman oi the 

 Illinois Chamber of Commerce agriculture- 



industry committee, who served as mod- 

 erator; A. E. Staley, Ir.. President, A. E. 

 Staley Manufacturing Co., Decatur: Louis 

 Ware, president. International Minerals & 

 Chemical Corp., Chicago, and E. A. Eck- 

 ert. Master, Ulinois State Grange, Mas- 

 coutah. 



interpretation of the government's two- 

 year price support program. 



The AFBFs interpretation is that 

 the government is obligated to make 

 good on its assurance of 90 per cent 

 parity support for one year after the 

 war's encf, and on all agricultural com- 

 modities in which the government 

 asked for increased production. Price 

 supports in the second year after the 

 official end of the war could be modi- 

 fied only to the extent that farmers 

 might fail to meet the government's 

 request for adjusted production. 



Secretary Anderson declared that he 

 was delighted to hear President Smith's 

 report of the Farm Bureau's interpreta- 

 tion on the price support program. 

 The secretary said that he had not 

 heard all of the proposal before, but he 

 liked it. He added that this was not an 

 endorsement of any agricultural or- 

 ganization or leader, but he saw wis- 

 dom in the interpretation and would 

 be glad to cooperate with progressive 

 leadership as shown in the statement. 



In his prepared address. Secretary 

 Anderson declared that "Farmers can- 



Dean H. P. Rusk of the University of Il- 

 linois College of Agriculture chats with 

 Secretary oi Agriculture Clinton P. Ander- 

 son ot the Decatur conference. 



L A. A. RECORD 



