making a better living at someone else's 

 expense? Of course ndt. Food prices 

 are high; sure they are; all prices are 

 high, and why? Simply because more 

 American families have more money 

 to buy more of everything. Supplies 

 haven't been equal to the demand; so 

 food prices have gone up with most 

 other commodities. 



What is the farmer doing about it? 

 We just told you. He is pouring 

 record-breaking floods of food and fiber 

 on the market. What will this mean? 

 Already you should have noticed it. The 

 cost of food is dropping. 



Farm Prices Drop 



You say it isn't dropping much? That 

 may be true. But the farmer's prices 

 have dropped considerably. Wheat has 

 dropped an average 83 cents from the 

 peak price of $2.81 per bushel; corn 

 is down $1.08 per bushel. But remember 

 the farmer only gets 50 cents out of 

 every dollar you spent on food. It was 

 32 cents in 1933. The rest goes for 

 processing and distribution. The 

 farmer cannot help it if the middle- 

 man doesn't cut his price when the 

 farmer does. 



In bringing in these huge crops, the 

 average farmer made about $3,000 in 

 1947 and worked longer hours than 

 Bill Jones to earn it. And that doesn't 

 take into consideration help from other 

 members of the family. Besides he has 

 thousands of dollars tied up in land, 

 buildings and machinery. Bill Jones 

 probably has little or nothing invested 

 m the factory where he works and if 

 he did naturally he would expect a 

 fair return on his investment. 



The years 1910-14 are thought by 

 many experts to have been a period 

 when farm and factory income were in 

 proper balance. 



Considering this period as a base of 

 100, we find that average earnings for 

 factory workers have increased 350 per 

 cent while farm income, despite the 

 talk of high food prices, has increased 

 175 per cent. In other words, the 

 average factory worker is still away 

 ahead of food costs. 



Americans are fortunate in being able 

 to get and pay for good food. They 

 are fortunate that they have to work 

 far less than the peoples of many other 

 countries to be able to buy more and 

 better food. 



How long does the American worker 

 have to labor to earn enough to buy 

 the same foods as say, for instance, a 

 Russian worker? In one hour the aver- 

 age American factory worker earns 

 enough to buy a loaf of bread, a dozen 

 eggs, and a quart of milk. It takes a 

 Russian worker a half day to earn 



enough to buy the same bread, eggs, 

 and milk. In Russia it takes four days 

 work to buy a shirt. Bill Jones can buy 

 a good shirt for less than half day's 

 work. 



Has the farmer restricted production 

 in any way to create shortages and thus 

 raise prices? He has not. Per capita 

 food consumption has risen dramatical- 

 ly since 1938. With 1935-3f, the base 

 period, as 100, food consumption per 

 person rose to an all-time high of 118 

 in 1946 and receded slightly to 117 in 

 1947. 



During the years of rising consump- 

 tion, farmers kept pace with greater 

 production. Output responded to in- 

 creasing demands both at home and 

 abroad. 



What is the outlook now? The 

 farmer's skill and hard work have prac- 

 tically assured Bill Jones of more and 



better foods at lower prices in the 

 months ahead, provided processors and 

 distributors pass along the lower prices 

 to the consumers. 



Secretary of Agriculture C. F. Bran- 

 nan reiterates the above-mentioned 

 causes for the high price of food. In 

 a recent statement he gave the follow- 

 ing three reasons: 



1. "Demand is abnormally high. 



2. "Consumers are calling for increased 

 quantities of the more expensive foods. 

 Consumption of milk, meat, and poul- 

 try products is 15 to 27 per cent above 

 the pre-war level. For the cheaper 

 foods — wheat (bread), potatoes, and 

 sugar — consumption is five to seven 

 per cent below the pre-war average. 



3. "Increased food marketing charges 

 account for as much of the rise in retail 

 food costs as does the rise in farm prices 

 since June, 1946." 



Illinois Teams 

 Win Two More; 



Final Result 

 Illinois 3; Iowa 2 



Vw HEN the final returns were in, 

 " the results show that Illinois won 

 the series of championship ball games 

 with Iowa and not Iowa as the results 



carried in the November RecX)RD 

 showed. In two more games Palo Alto 

 County Rural Youth of Iowa lost to 

 the Coles County Illinois Rural Youth 

 champions in the three-game series. The 

 scores were 2-4; 3-2; and 5-4. The 

 games were played at Coles county. 



The DeKalb All-County champions 

 defeated the Hardin, (Iowa) All- 

 County team 5-0. 



The final tabulation shows that Illi- 

 nois teams — Vermilion, DeKalb, and 

 Coles — won and two Illinois teams 

 — Livingston and Will — lost. Thus 

 Illinois was the victor in the state 

 series, three games to two. 



Front Y 



OU MAY not care much for an Illinois 

 winter but you will have to admit that 

 there are scenes of breath-taking beauty 

 throughout our state after a newly-fallen 

 snow. This picture of winter beauty was 

 taken on a country road near Morris in Grundy 

 county. It is the 19th in our series of covers 

 on picturesque and historic Illinois. 

 To the man or woman who attended rural 

 school this scene may bring back happy mem- 

 ories — of trudging to or from school with the 

 snow soft and wet underfoot; of happy days 

 with Christmas and all its surprises and fun 

 just ahead; of trips to woods for a Christmas 

 tree to bedeck the schoolroom; of snowball 

 fights; of many things too remote now to re- 

 capture. ■ 



Just before Christmas there's a feeling of 

 quiet happiness in the still, crisp air. The har- 

 vest has been put away; the cattle are snug in 

 the bams; "God's in his heaven and all's right 

 with the world." 



DECEMBER. 1948 



