Chatting backstage before they talked at a Farm and Home Week general session 

 are, left to right: J. C. Spitler, extension service; President Charles B. Shuman of 

 the Illinois Agricultural Association; Arnold P. Benson, State Director of Agriculture; 

 Dr. Alfred P. Haake, mayor of Park Ridge; and Dean H. P. Rusk of the College of 



Agriculture. 



20 per-cent more land in corn and soy- 

 beans than in 1940, a good deal of 

 emphasis was placed on the need of 

 getting these acres back into soil build- 

 ing legumes and pastures. 



A good legume and grass program 

 should not be delayed but started in 

 1947, speakers said, to tie in with a 

 good livestock program. 



Johnston also advised producers to 

 take advantage of seasonal price 

 changes in planning their livestock pro- 

 grams. With ceilings removed farm- 

 ers should again plan to market their 

 hogs in March and September, to have 

 high egg production during the winter 

 months, to sell medium and common 

 cattle in the spring and choice and 

 prime cattle in the late summer or 

 early fall, he said. 



Another recommendation was to buy 

 light weight feeder cattle or cattle for 

 a short feed. He predicted that the 

 practice of buying calves to be fed on 

 hay and pasture the first year and fin- 

 ished the second, will be much less 

 profitable than during the period since 

 1933 when there has been an upward 

 trend in beef cattle prices. Good to 

 choice feeder calves, he said, should be 

 pushed to market the first year. Beef 



cattle supplies are large and it appears 

 that the liquidation period of the cycle 

 will coincide with declining demand 

 which will provide two price-depress- 

 ing factors operating at the same time. 



Johnston also recommended culling 

 beef cow herds and dairy herds more 

 closely than usual. 



Farmers were urged to start or ex- 

 pand a family-sized flock of sheep. 

 Since sheep numbers have dropped in 

 the nation by 25 per cent during the 

 war. the market for mutton is expected 

 to be excellent for the next few years. 



Another side of the agricultural out- 

 look picture — farm legislation — was 

 viewed by Dr. Norton who made these 

 predictions. 



(1) That the authority of the Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture to limit support 

 prices only to cooperating farmers may 

 be extended to the non-basic commodi- 

 ties. 



The Secretary now has this authority 

 for basic commodities. This would 

 mean the price support would only 

 go to cooperators in reduction pro- 

 grams in the case of soybeans, potatoes, 

 and also of livestock products if any- 

 one can work out a way to limit live- 

 stock production. 



The poultry people, he said, may 

 ask to be exempted from the price 

 support rather than be put under 

 quotas. No one should expect price 

 supports without acreage controls or 

 marketing quotas, Dr. Norton said. 



(2) The Secretary may be given au 

 thority to substitute direct payment for 

 price supports under certain circum- 

 stances. Dr. Norton pointed out that 

 the difficulty of supporting certain 

 commodities in the market is becom 

 ing increasingly recognized. Just how, 

 he asked, would you support the price 

 of hogs.' You can't put them in a crib 

 and make a loan. No one can be com- 

 pelled to buy all that is offered for 

 sale at a fixed price. 



(3) The life of the CCC, which fi- 

 nances most price support operations, 

 will have to be extended. This will be 

 done, but its borrowing power, which 

 determines how much it can lend or 

 lose, will likely be reduced, now that 

 the war is over. 



Dr. Norton added that he did not 

 think any basic postwar farm program 

 would be evolved in the near future as 

 Congress will be too busy and will 

 adopt a "wait and see" attitude. 



Jimmy Benjamin, 13, of Will county 

 was the beekeeping enthusiast at 

 Farm and Home Week. He owns sev- 

 eral bee colonies. Here he Is shewn 

 with Carl Killion, Paris, state apiary 

 inspector (center) and Dr. V. G. 

 Milum, university entomologist (riglit). 



Stockmen ore 



shown at their annual banquet held in connection with Farm and 

 Home Week In Champaign-Urbona. 



The Illinois Agricultural Association 

 was well represented on the program 

 of Farm and Home Week. President 

 Charles B. Shuman made a brief ad- 

 dress during the opening general ses- 

 sion, and members of the lAA staff 

 spoke at other sessions. 



S. F. Russell, lAA director of live- 

 stock marketing, and Carl Johnson, 

 farmer from DeKalb county and chair- 

 man of the lAA livestock marketing 

 committee, outlined the lAA's plan for 

 coordinating cooperative livestock mar- 

 keting activities in the state. This plan 

 was fully outlined in the December 

 lAA Record. ' I 



L A. A. RECORD 



