roucATIONAL I>ROSB»m|/ 



Fertilizer BiU ::::::::::-.::::::::::::::::: 



Would Ennch 



This explanation of the federal fer- 

 tilizer bill was given to Farm Bureau 

 leaders meeting in Springfield, March 31, 

 by George E. Metzger, lAA secretary of 

 orgofiization and information. 



TO START the nation on the road 

 to regained soil fertility, the Na- 

 tional Soil Fertility Bill has been 



introduced into the Congress. 



The bill's objective would be 

 achieved by a widespread educational 

 program, conducted by established 

 agencies of the government, with the 

 cooperation of farmers. 



The bill introduced in this Congress 

 has virtually the same objective as the 

 bill described in one of these meetings 

 about a year ago. To help farmers dis- 

 cover for themselves the kind and 

 amounts of fertilizer that should be 

 used, the Extension Service in each 

 state would establish a program of test 

 demonstrations involving the active 

 cooperation of approximately two per 

 cent of the farmers in the state. 



In accordance with plans worked 

 out, these farmers would test fertilizers 

 in different combinations applied in 

 varying amounts on the most impor- 

 tant crops. These farmers would be 

 .required to keep careful records on 

 -each test, both as an aid to themselves 

 .and for the information of their neigh- 

 bors. 



Under the test program it is con- 

 templated that some of the fertilizers, 

 particularly high-grade fertilizers, 

 might be provided to these demon- 

 strating farmers at reduced cost. Under 

 the provisions of the bill the farmer 

 would, for the most part, buy his 

 fertilizers at the going rate and 

 through regular channels. Soil man- 

 agement practices, as well as fertilizer 

 tests, would be carried on by this 

 group of cooperating farmers. 



Under the provisions of the bill, the 

 state will be the key unit in the opera- 

 tion of the program, and the state Di- 

 rector of Extension will be the official 

 responsible for administering the pro- 

 gram. He would have the advice and 

 assistance of a state committee com- 

 posed of two farmers, the director of 

 the experiment station, a representative 

 of the fertilizer industry, and a repre- 

 sentative of farmer cooperative organi- 

 zations. Funds appropriated by Con- 

 gress for the program will be allocated 

 to the states. 



National policy for the program will 

 be formulated by a national committee 

 advising with the Secretary of Agricul- 

 ture. This committee would be made 

 up of farmer representatives from 12 

 of the state committees, plus three 

 representatives of the Association of 

 Land Grant Colleges. The Secretary 

 of Agriculture would communicate 

 with the state committees and directors 

 of extension through the Extension 



Service and the office of experiment 

 stations in the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture. 



The carrying on of this proposed 

 program would necessitate an increase 

 in the production of high analysis 

 fertilizers, particularly phosphate ma- 

 terials. The fertilizer production ca- 

 pacity of the country would be in- 

 creased in several different ways. 



(a) The Tennessee Valley Authority, 

 which now produces a limited quantity 

 of high analysis phosphate fertilizers 

 at Muscle Shoals, Ala., would build a 

 plant for the production of triple 

 superphosphate at Mobile, Ala. This 

 plant would be an experimental plant 

 where an effort woulcf be made to try 

 out, on a commercial scale, the blast 

 furnace method of making triple super- 

 phosphate. Work done thus far on 

 this experimental method indicates that 

 the blast furnace method might be 

 approximately 20 per cent cheaper than 

 the electric furnace method. During 

 the period of operation by TVA, half 

 of the production of the plant would 

 be made available for test demonstra- 

 tion programs. The rest of the ma- 

 terial would be distributed through 

 farmer cooperative organizations. The 

 bill provides that TVA would be re- 

 quired to sell this plant within five 

 years after its completion. This is one 

 of the safeguards to keep government 

 out of commercial business. 



(b) The bill also provides that 

 farmer cooperative organizations will 

 be eligible to receive from the Farm 

 Credit Administration long-time loans 

 at reasonable rates of interest up to 80 



Eer cent of the value for the purpose of 

 uilding new phosphate and potash 

 plants near supplies of raw materials. 

 Loans may also be acquired for the 

 acquisition of nitrogen - producing 

 plants built during the war. Any 

 cooperative securing one of these loans 

 would be required to sell a certain 

 proportion of their production to the 

 government for the soil fertility pro- 

 gram. Cooperatives acquiring these 

 loans would make no claim for income 

 tax exemption. 



(c) This bill also provides that the 

 Tennessee Valley Authority will con- 

 tinue its educational activities within 

 the Tennessee Valley, which would 

 provide useful experience for the na- 

 tional program. 



(d) It provides further that the De- 

 partment of the Interior would con- 

 duct surveys in search of new reserves 

 of phosphate and potash materials and 

 gain more information about those al- 

 ready located. 



(e) Another provision is that the 

 federal government would be author- 

 ized to make payments to states and 



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