The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1933-06-01
yor WEATHER REGuo
NAN s1F s9 WHEAT PRODUCTION

Man sT,Es WHEAT PRODUCTION
acreage control conten-
Wheat a as the Farm Adjustment
Nv may sya meet the 81 farmers uGn that ma.
belief . aMers than man determines mes
ture r Tasa output. This idea' tho tho
the s. waaIy supported by the crop crop
appare anosnts Of the present sea,
devel y mistaken, says the United
son, IS pna ,,,' Of Agriculture.
States De mainly governs the pro-
Aer s;an in the long run; and tne
due.,91n law i is long run proposition o.
farm a, .ss will not depend on the
y. s..a sr Of the single season, out
s ousp ,otal readjustment it effects IN
-. .Ss relation of the American "nea'
; nd to its market. ....s
.h. - may be drawn from the may IA:
tn :..a ~ wheat forecast, which indi-
x ..,sd an outturn nearly 80 per,
cassu bslow that Of last year and
ss aar,v sixty percent below that OF
n ,es, the Department draws atten-
. .aS,' t. the trends Of production
.nJ acreage during the last 40
. .aa production increased about
% nsrcent and acreage about gu
0 ~ : The difference is attrlbu-
"a to 4 gain Of more than 70 per-
can't en- in yields per acre. But this
s ss;r !. as much a man-made fact
- ga a. the acreage. It reflects the
=, of varieties, of bet
tor farm practice, and of pest con-
troll. 80.
1900 to 1880 moved upward, with
the former Increasing its lead as
tbe Weld per acre rose. Taking the
country as a whole, the production
per acre was surprisingly uniform
from year to year. From 1905 to
1880 the average yield was 14.6
bushels The highest yields was
only II bushels and the lowest 1872
Seasonal influences affecting the
Yields had obviously small in
fluence as compared with the ac-
reage in determining the volume of
production. Locally and seasonally
the effect of the weather and of in
sects and disease often seemed
preponderant. But these influences
varied in opposite direction from
year to year and cancelled out,
whereas the influence of grow
ing acreage remained constant.
Price developments in the pres
ent crop season do not necessarily
betoken a permanent improvement
In our wheat situation, the depart
nent declares. They reflect infla-
ton buying, as well as heavy win
ter killing, an abandonment Of
nearly third of the acreage, and
the probability of the smallest
crop In 10 years. This country's
wheat acreage jumped from 50,-
$4,000 in 1913 to 70, 099, 900 in
1919 and was 100000 acres
above pre-war as late as 1929. It
totaled 55,177, 900 acres last year.
With a carryover three times
(36o, 000, 900 bushels) the normal
and . tremendously reduced for
eign demand, this acreage was
heavily excessive. Normal produc-
ton next year on an acreage as
large as that seeded this year
would give us more than 800, 0OO,-
600 bushels and this, in view of the
great decline in exports would
mean q substantial addition to the
domestic carryover.
1t would be a dangerous mis-
take, the department says, for the
farmers to conclude from the i'm
mediate crop and price situation
mat q reduction OF acreage is un-
necessary. Such a view would vir-
snaiiy ensure heavy overproduc-
non next year. Unless steps are
taken to prevent it, the winter
acreage abandoned this season will