The Wilmington morning star., 1940-03-19
Behind The Scenes
In Washington

wv 9 PASSNAS VI
changes in American agriculture
creating problems that make pre-
vious farm problems look small
is painted in a report being com
pleted by experts in the depart
ment of agriculture.
Specialists from nearly all Of
the departments bureaus have been
working on the report for nearly
a year. Findings are being reduced
to writing and the job Of making
recommendations for action is I'M
der way. Within a fortnight 4
will go to Secretary Wallace.
FORECAST DISPLACEMENT
OF FARM WORKERS
Briefly, this report declares the
Industrial revolution, which over
took he city workers a century age
and turned his life inside out, is
catching up with the farmer and
beginning to work equally great
changes.
Here are some of the changes
which the department reports have
already begun and are going tc
continue:
AT least 400, 900 workers will
be crowded off the land in the
next few years, by continued dis
placement of farm labor.
"A steady increase in CONNER
cialized farming, coupled with g
growth in the size of the average
farm in the corn belt, the wheat
producing areas and in the south.
Embarrassing disparity between
cash income Of commercial farm
ers Of good land as compared with
income of those on poorer land
The established farmer with plenty
of capital will be better off, the
department concludes, and the lit.
tie fellow with little capital will be
worse off.
4-Sharp increase in corn produc-
ton due to use Of hybrid seed
Without addition to corn land nov
under cultivation, the report says
this increase is expected to amount
to 100000 900 bushels a year.
5-1ncrease in wheat production
due to use of better seed.
6-Heavy increase in livestock
production, due to improvements il
breeds and to release for stock
feed of hay and grain products Of
millions of acres formerly required
to feed horses.
SURVEY CENTERS
ON TECHNICAL CHANGES
The committee making the re-
port, which operates under direc-
ton of DR.. Sherman E. johnson,
acting head of the division of farm
management in the bureau of agri-
cultural economics, and DR.. F. F.
Elliott, special adviser to the head
of the bureau, deals only with tech
biological developments on the farm
changes caused by increased me-
chanization, better soil practices,
use of fertilizers and d~isease-resis-
tant seeds, and the like.
There are other factors equally
important, according to department
experts, producing equally grave
trends: Increasing farm population
pressure, rise in farm tenacy, ex-
tension Of absentee ownership, de-
cline Of foreign markets-and, most
ominous and Understandable Of all,
the European "a and the conse-
quences it will bring.
On the basis of findings in the
report, the department of agricul-
ture is up against the problem of
drafting a program-and is having
trouble doing it because some of
the plans it believes are indicated
might be politically risky.
Department experts agree that
there isn't any one answer to the
problem because there isn't any
one cause.
CLAIM INDUSTRIAL
REVOLUTION" HITS FARM
The report and the findings, of
course, deal with averages and
with agriculture as a whole. There
are still thousands Of farms anG
farmers operating pretty much as
they always have, and many prob.
ably will continue in much this
same way regardless of any pro.
gram the department may push.
In the main, according to de.
partment spokesman, changes tina
have been noted in the survey
sum up in the words, "industria.
revolution" And, as one economis1
in the department of agriculture
puts it:
eve got through the industrial.
revolution in the city all right, be.
cause it occurred when the worle
economy was expanding. But this
is hitting agriculture at a tim,
when the world economy is con