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AFBF President Says Leaning 

 Too Heavily on Government Price 

 Crutch Will Retard Farm Progress 





II- FARMERS lean too heavily un a 

 crutch of price supports, their strides 

 toward agriculture's economic ob- 

 jectives will be retarded and their 

 efficiency crippled, according to 

 .Mian B. Kline, president of the Amcri- 

 ( ,1 Farm Bureau Federation. 



We believe that farmers arc entitled 

 t.j lull parity, in the form of earned in- 

 I'lme, rather than in the torm ot a gov- 

 c.ainent-guaranteed return, he said in a 

 >t.itement to the farm press. 



Necessary though support prices are, 

 1: they are so high as to bring about rigid 



■ introls, they will tend to make it more 

 .i'.tficult. rather than easier, for the effi- 

 cient farmer to use his own skills in ob- 

 taining real parity with the rest ot the 

 c oiiomy. 



Nothing could be more harmful to 

 tile long-time welfare of agriculture than 

 to make the farmer depend on govern- 

 tiient as the major arbiter of farm prices. 

 In a relatively free economy, we can pro- 

 duce for the market, as it reflects con- 

 sumer demand. There is a distinct 

 danger that high supports, being them- 

 sci\es an incentive to production, would 

 c-> L-ntually lead farmers to produce for 

 the government rather than for con- 

 sumers. 



If we get into this kind of a situation, 

 ii;riculturc's freedom will be gone, farm- 

 ^-■r^ will be at the mercy of government, 

 ind consumers will be deprived, at least 

 fo some extent, of their means ot ex- 

 pressing preference -— the free market. 



Consumer demand is the guide, and 

 -iic only reliable guide, to agriculture's 

 oportunities. To prosper on any perma- 

 p.-iit basis, farmers must follow it. A 

 ; nic support program must encourage 

 •rn to do so, if it is to be of any per- 



■ inent benefit. 



The price support provisions of the 



■ * .^ricultural Act of 1948 meet this re- 

 ; irement fairly well — better, we think, 



■' in anything we have had in the past 



1 much better than the suggestions that 



-■ now being advanced for larger gov- 



nment guarantees and commitments. 



The flexible support schedules in the 



• t are a safeguard against the disastrous 



; 'He crashes which have been the farm- 



■ s nightmare for generations. On the 

 ' iicr hand, they do not destroy the farm- 

 " s vital guide to production. They per- 



mit prices to reflect demand, and leave 

 the farmer an incentive to adjust lii> out- 

 put to the wants of the consumer. 



Kline added that the attractions of 

 high price supports are largely an illu 

 sion, since they must be accompanied by 

 limitations on j^roduction vvhicli tend to 

 take away from the farmer s income the 

 amount that seems to be added by arti- 

 luially sustained prices. 



"The higher the support level, tlic 

 more drastic the controls are likely to be. 

 he pointed out. 



There are still a few copies left ot the 

 history of farm Bureau entitled ''The farm 

 Bureau Through Three Decodes," by O. M. 

 Kile. The long struggle for recognition and 

 better living conditions for farmers reads 

 ffke an adventure novel. You're missing 

 a good thing if you pass up this story of 

 your neighbors and yourself. To get a 

 copy send $3.50 to fhc American form Bu- 

 reau federation, 109 Norfh tVobosh Ave., 

 Chicago, III. 



Laivyer Drinks Bottle of Hog Virus 



IOWA legislators were startled recently 

 when Carl J. Stephens, attorney for 

 the Iowa Farm Bureau I'ederation, 

 gulped down a bottle of hog diolera 

 virus before them. 



Stephens drank the virus to prove it 

 was not harmful to humans. I. W. 

 Meyers, attorney for the Iowa Pharma- 

 ceutical Asscxiation, had just told the 

 legislators in Dcs Moines the virus was 

 dangerous for farmers to handle. 



It broken (the virus lx)ttle) on the 

 floor It could spread disease among a 

 great many pc-ople, " Meyers said. 



The Iowa Farm Bureau is backing a 

 bill to [x-rmit its subsidiaries to sell virus 

 and other products without supervision 

 by pharmacists. The Iowa supreme court 

 ruled recently that pharmacists should be 

 employed for this purpose. Farmers ad- 

 minister their own hog ihoKra viru> 

 and scrum in Illinois. 



tAA Pretldeitt Charles B. Shuman (left) discusses farm problems wirh Adiai Stevenson, 

 governor of Illinois, during the governor's recent visit to the lAA offices in Chicago. 



RECORD 



APRIL, 1949 



