oriented than some of you are going to like. I consider myself a 

 middle-of-the-road type of guy. Others may see me more on one side or 

 the other. I am- sure that we all admit, and I've heard it mentioned here 

 many times today already, that agriculture is basic to the past and the 

 present and the future well-being of our society. To emphasize this fact, 

 which^is all too often taken for granted, I would like to quote some figures 

 from some of Dr. Dick McConnon's work as head of the Agriculture 

 Economics Department of Montana State Unversity. 



Dr. McConnon tells us that the efficiency of U.S. agriculture, of 

 which irrigated agriculture is about 25 percent, has resulted in the U.S. 

 consumers paying a smaller percentage of their income than any other 

 nation in the world. Dr. McConnon tells us that as recently as 1920, one 

 farmer raised only enough food to feed six other people besides himself 

 but by 1976 it had increased to 56 people, one to 56, and as I look 

 through this group today, we have approximately 50 people here. Let us 

 examine these figures. I think they are extremely important. They mean 

 that each farmer between the years 1920 and 1976, released 50 people from 

 farm work to seek other types of employment. 



I can speak on these statistics from first hand knowledge on a typical 

 dry-land farm in eastern Montana And, in 1920 we did everything on this 

 farm with horses, as did our neighbors. The only item on the farm that 

 burned petroleum was a one-cylinder motor that we used to pump water for 

 the livestock and my dad fixed it to do double duty by hooking it to a 

 pully that would operate a hand-operated washing machine, which in turn 

 had replaced a tub and a washboard. We used kerosene for our lamps and 

 our lanterns. There was little or no wood available in the eastern Montana 

 plains but there was an abundance of lignite coal and I helped my father 

 mine this coal on our own farm for our field supply, which we used both 

 for cooking and heating. I lived on this farm into the depression years of 

 the 30's. I well remember the first car we had, a second-hand Model T 

 Ford. I remember our first REA service, although by the time that came 

 along I had left the farm to find a job and become one of the 50 who 

 sought other work. I am not discussing the merits of rural life versus 

 urban life. As a youth I had intended to become a farmer. I look back 

 on my farm youth with nostalgia and envy the few boyhood friends who 

 were able to continue the rural life. However, events for me proved 

 otherwise, just as they did for 50 other people mentioned earlier in Dr. 

 McConnon's statistics. 



Most of you here today are here for the same reason as I. Namely, 

 increased farm efficiency due to use of energy and water, eliminating most 

 of the farms. Many of you are one or two generations removed from the 

 land and don't really have first-hand knowledge of why you were either 

 able to or were forced to find your future in other walks of life. I would 

 remind you that whatever these other walks of life have been or are now, 

 they are a far cry from what the farm was in 1920 and before. A typical 

 day during the growing season was from 4:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. The 

 women from the farm family did everything, making and washing clothes, 

 dishes, cleaning, all by hand. Besides that they took care of the 

 chickens, the garden and in many cases milked the cows and of course, 

 churned the butter, canned the vegetables and if they had fruit they 



