GOLD FROM THE GRASS ROOTS 



FARMING has come down through 

 the ages as an art, but to keep 

 pace with our times it must be- 

 come a business using the prin- 

 ciples of business. It must lower 

 the cost per unit, grow more on 

 fewer acres, cull out boarding cows for 

 higher producing herds, grow more 

 home-grown feeds, make higher quality 

 hays to substitute for costly concen- 

 trates, use labor saving methods, and 

 use permanent land use methods for 

 conservation of the soil and water re- 

 sources. 



Farming is Manufacturing 



Farming is basically a manufacturing 

 process of converting the plant foods 

 of the earth into feeds, foods, fibers 

 and oils. Farming is also a way of life. 

 But to be a rich and enduring life, it 

 must be economically sound; it must 

 provide the means to educate children, 

 pay for roads, buy a new car and the 

 thousands of services and things scien- 

 tists and engineers can provide, and 

 farmers can use. 



Over all, this farming must remain 

 the foundation of the American way of 

 life, the builder and preserver of the 

 self-reliant individualists who see the 

 hand of God in their surroundings. 



America is safe in such hands, but 



we are not yet even near to the ap- 

 proaches to this ideal. Much remains 

 to be done before we achieve our ideal. 



The opportunities for lowering the 

 costs of production so as to still make 

 a profit in a lower and perhaps wider 

 market have hardly been touched in 

 many instances. Never before has ag- 

 riculture had so many new technologies 

 from science and engineering that can 

 be used to greatly increase efficiencies 

 and lower the cost of production. These 

 technologies seem to offer us the best 

 opportunity to compete with the people 

 of the world who must hitch women 

 to an irrigation wheel, plow with oxen, 

 or live by some dictatorship that prom- 

 ises food and security, but at the cost 

 of the individual liberty which we 

 cherish. 



Here are some examples to illustrate 

 how to lower cost of production : 



More Crops — Fewer Acres 



The U. S. average corn yield is about 

 34 bushels per acre. Instead of making 

 our total volume of corn on about 90 



million acres, there would be more 

 profit and better feed and soil conserva- 

 tion if this same volume of corn were 

 to be made on about 60 million acres. 



About 40% — 35 million acres — of 

 U. S. acres planted in corn each year 

 yield only about 12 to 20 bushels per 

 acre. With such yields, the cost of 

 production is about one dollar or more 

 per bushel. Under such conditions 

 there can be no profit with corn selling 

 at one dollar per bushel. With corn 

 at two dollars there still is no buying 

 power. In such communities humans 

 compete with the mule for corn — it 

 does not show up on the table often 

 enough as bacon and eggs, or milk, 

 cheese or steaks. 



Science today shows practical means 

 to make nearly 100 bushels or more per 

 acre on any corn land of America in 

 normal years at costs ranging from 30 

 cents to 70 cents per' bushel, with 

 profits of $60 to $80 per acre when 

 corn is worth one dollar. Yields of 



(Conliiiued on page 21) 



by GEORGE D. SCARSETH, 



Diracter of Research, American Farm Research Association 



10 



I. A. A. RECORD 



