Cavalier County farmers press. (Langdon, N.D.) 1920-1921, 1920-08-19

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cost commission to do the studying,
and in the meantime the farmer can
farm and wait the sweet will Of the
o. S. department of agriculture.
However, I happen to be personally
acquainted with one of the ablest Of
the men who were engaged in making
those studies, who says they were not
SO badly wrong from the farmers point
of view, but radically wrong from the
standpoint Of the interest of certain
large business concerns, which deal in |
farm commodities.
The head Of the department at that
time is reported to have said "that the
farmer was not entitled to that infor-
nation, that the farmers business is
to produce and not be bothering his
head about the market" Did the in
formation gathered reveal a cost so
much higher than the selling price
that they did not dare to make it pub
lie?
I believe this information obtained
at so much expense Of time and
money, was deliberately denied to the
public.
The probabilities Of getting the in
formation that will apply definitely to
North Dakota, from a general survey
made by the department Of agriculture
ut Washington, is, in my opinion, too
remote to be depended upon. This
data is very essential to the farmers
Of North Dakota, and, II made avail.
able soon, may be the means OF. saving
the farmers Of the state millions Of
dollars on the farm products that may
be- marketed between now and the
time when the U. S. department Of
agriculture chooses to make its figures
public. ~ So eN<ti" N ~
We insist that this knowledge is just
as essential to the farmer as like in.
formation is, to any one In any bust.
ness who desires to conduct HIS hllsls
8 in an intelligent and competent
manner. Therefore it is of the great.
est Importance that definite md exact
data on this subject should be avail
able at the earliest possible moment.
| We are not in favor Of banking on
promises from the federal authorities
that may or may not be fulfilled. We
do, however, urge most insistently that
the next state legislature provide for
| the creation of a cost commission with
| powers to investigate all the details
Of farm production and report every
month the ratio of cost Of production
to selling price of the product.
know that the foregoing suggestion
will stir up a large amount of opposi-
ton from those interests that profess
to be rendering a service to the farmer
by handling his products. This is al
ready finding expression through the
medium Of that portion Of the public
press which represents these same In
t~erests, as witness a recent paragraph
in the "Price Current-Grain Repor-
ter" in which the federal department
of agriculture is severity criticized for
giving the figure of sos IS the cost OF
producing q bushel Of spring wheat in
1919. The Grain Reporter says:
"The department of agriculture
ought to be in more profitable business
than contributing in this way to the
%egregious fallacy, which a certain type
of itinerant, ignorant farmer parasite
agitators at this time are propagating
that cost Of production has, per Sc, q
relation to the price that can be OF
should be placed on farm products"
There you have the protiteer's view
point in a nutshell. That paragraph
is, l think, Il fair sample of the style
of criticism that is poured forth upor
any one who dares to state that the
farmer should have precise knowledge
of his own affairs and a clear under
standing of whether he is making OF
losing money on his agricultural opera
lions. The farmer should know, wher
he feeds hogs>for the market, if he j:
doing so at a loss or a profit.
Corn and Price of Pork.
To Illustration July 10Th the mar
ket on corn was $1.5O per bushel of 81
lbs. When the government was nego
tiating with the packers during thu
war in relation to the price to, be pait
the farmer for pork, they set the ratio
VI COll W PORK at 1o DuSllclS VI CUT
to 100 lbs. of pork. This is IL lbs. O.
corn for one pound of pork. Toda.
corn is selling on the market at $1.5l
per bushel, or $0.027 per lb. Multiply
ing these factors together we get thu
cost of the pork at $.196 per lb. 1
the hogs were sold at the top of tn,
market they would bring a cents pc
h., and on this basis the produce
would be losing ) cents per lb. on tn
pork on the single item of corn alone
Add to this the housing. risk, inSur
ance, veterinary expense. and labor
also interest on investment, and yo1
have somewhere near the sum tOta
of loss to the producer.
Whether this conclusion is correc
or not it serves at any rate to illus
trate the element of uncertainty as t
whether or not any one certain phas
Of farm activity is profitable or other
wise, andseto emphasize the right OF
the farmer who pays the bill, to know
whether his labor and outlay is bring