The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1929-02-06
THE MINNESOTA PLAN

cleS De ITdIlSu Will TcldIlOu W
the length of turnovers in farm
production and the need of steady
or slightly ascending price levels.
The distress of the 1921 depression
was greatly intensified for farmers
by the fact that farm credit was sud-
denly contracted without regard to
the length of time necessary for farm
turnovers. Loans were called in
1920 on half grown pigs and cattle,
on grain still green in the fields, on
unpulled sugar beets and on potatoes
in blossom.
Since that time great progress has
been made in improving our banking
practices in these respects, but there
is room for more improvement. The
farm turnover must be understood
to include the length of time needed
and only to grow the crop but to
market it, and in marketing the crop
there should be kept in mind the
principal now recognized by law and
by sound business practice that farm
products should be eased onto the
market rather than dumped.
In this connection we believe it
vital that those who are charged with
applying the rules of banking prac-
tice, whether they be with the gov
eminent banks or private corpora
tions, must be conversant with farm
ing and loyal to it.
Being the industry with the long
est turnover, agriculture is the least
able to meet a declining price level
with restricted production until such
time as the market yields the cost of
production. Hence farming will gain
most from those policies which tend
to general price stability or to slight
initiation. Such progress towards
stability will result in better farm
production planning where as now
farmers tend to jump from product
to product in the hope of finding
what will pay.
One of the major reasons why we
appeal for adequate farm relief pro-
lection is that thereby farmers in
their turnovers will have conditions
in this country to deal with instead
of the worldwide vagaries of labor
cost, climate, money fluctuations,
transportation charges and dumping
policies.
Provision for continued support
and aid in the development of CO.
operative marketing as a means
of increasing the net returns to
farmer producers and at the same
time reducing the cost of food to
the consumers.
The principal of cooperative mar
keting is, we believe, accepted. We
believe that the continued develop
ment of cooperative marketing Of
fers the best agency to solve most
farm marketing problems. We do not
believe it will solve all farm market
ing problems because in some cases
farm product marketing is now done
on so small a margin that savings to
be effected would not be sufficient to
make the cooperative marketing
venture a success. However, with
many products, cooperative market
ing is sound and practical and in the
continued development of the system
in the way for the farmer to get
larger net returns for what he pro-
duces. The system also has POSSIBLE
ties of reducing prices to consumers
through establishment of more direct
routes from the producer to the con-
sumner. The development of cooper
alive marketing also makes the farm
er better business man. He comes
,Ia@ he do
mands are. This teaches and i'm
presses the great value of quality
in production. This in turn leads to
the introduction of better and better
methods back on the farm. When the
farmer deals with his consumer, eth
er directly himself or through his
own cooperative organization, in
stead of coming in contact only with
the buyer or dealer, there is developed
within him a sense of craftsmanship"
which works powerfully to cause him
to work and study and plan to produce
back on the farm the kind of pro-
ducts that can be sold.
Recognition of the growing
need of large supplies of cheap
fertilizer if American farms are
to produce at low costs and ac-
ceptance of the idea that aid in
securing such supply is to be a
part of our national farm policy.
We need concentration on a fertil-
izer policy. Previous generations
have mined our soil from the Atlantic
to the West, moving on to new soil
as the old declined in yield. There is
no more frontier and the land now
down must be restored. The problem
exists today in our most fertile Sec
tions as well as in those less fertile
by nature. Potash, phosphates, nitro
gen, animal husbandry, paying crop
rotations are means wherewith to
struggle back to fertility. No land
either north or south has withstood
more than 80 years of cropping with
out replacement.
We as people are concerned. We
spend immense sums for river and
harbor Improvement, furnishing wa
ter for irrigation purposes and even
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