The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1941-06-18


of Agriculture, at Minneapolis, May
27. to put the spotlight on a very seri-
Gus condition affecting the marketing
of the 1871 grain crop Local eleva-
tors are full, terminal elevators are
short of space and box cars for tenn
porary storage are out of the picture,
the meeting developed. Even box
cars for movement of the crop may
not be on hand in sufficient number
to handle it. With that in view Mr..
T. C. Croll, for the Farmers Union
Grain Terminal Association, issued a
warning to all affiliated local eleva-
tor managers and directors, on the
impending jam; and urged quick ac-
ton by them and all farmers 10 set
their house in order while there yet
is time This is that warning, which
every grain producer should read and
get busy:
For sever~l months, Mr.. Thatcher
has been trying TO impress upon the
secretary of agriculture the iInpor-
lance and necessity for taking a gen
uine responsibility to protect wheat
and corn producers in connection
with the Warehousing and Loan Pro-
gram devised for those commodities.
The Ever-Normal Grauary is slowly
piling up large surplus stocks of feed
and crop. The Commodity Credit
Corporation took over from this years
wheat crop about 200 million bushels
Country houses are pretty well filled
with grain stocks. That is also true
of the terminal elevators, and goes for
all part of the country. Some surplus
stocks in the grain producing areas
are now being moved into eastern
and gulf ports, where the space is
limited.
To Make Storage Space
The secretary of agriculture became
convinced that there was a good deal
to this problem and appointed Mr.. j.
e. Wells as special assistant to him,
to adopt whatever course seemed best
that would enable the secretary and
the Commodity Credit Corporation to
facilitate the movement of stocks and,
so far as possible, make storage space
available.
About a month ago, Mr.. Wells
started to hold regional meetings, be
ginning at Amarillo, Tex, and then
going to Enid, Okla; Kansas City and
st. Louis, Mo-. Omaha, Nebr.; Chi
cago, ILL.,, and on May q the meeting
was held in Minneapolis
About $50 people met with Mr..
Wells. They represented the rail
roads, professors, country elevator as
sociations, terminal elevators, COM
mission men and cooperative groups.
Out of this meeting an overall com
mittee consisting of % men was Gre
ated, representing every branch of the
industries. An executive committee
of about eight was set up to deal with
the problem. Mr.. Thatcher represents |
our interests on that committee. Also |
represented are the Triple A and the
Commodity Credit Corporation
An Embargo Is Certain
The function of the committee is
to find solution of the problem:
How much wheat is in the country; |
how much in the terminals; how much |
of that will be processed and moved |
out of this area to make room for
the new crop? That picture is much
worse than you imagine. If the Spring
wheat crop comes through, there will
be the worst congestion ever known.
An embargo appears certainty.
While the crop may be harvested in
60 days, it may take 10 months to
move it, The railroad people pointed |
out the lack of availability of cars,
which are being used in defense work |
There is an order out now to move |
cars from the east into the grain area. |
But it carries with it the order that
such cars be loaded with goods from
the defense industries.
Any thought that we have grain
business as usual is out! There is a
brand new order, so long as this pres
ent situation exists. The terrific bot
tleneck-lack of space-which now
prevails will be here regardless of
how farmers voted on marketing quo
tas. Voting quotas will not provide
boXcars or elevator space.
Our managers, directors and farm
ers must understand this problem,
and understand it NOW. Everybody,
including each farmer, must begin
now to assume responsibility for ways
and means to warehouse each farm
er's production. Wheat isn't the only
problem. We also have the problem
of moving barley, rye, oats and flax
seed. Buyers will not purchase these
commodities unless they have a place
to put them, pending their use in con-
sumption.
Take Out the Bottleneck
Based on the statements made by
those present at the meeting, about
20 million bushels additional space is
being built over the Spring wheat
area. 1t is not known if that in
cludes what the F. U. G. T. A. is
building. If it does, we are building
80 percent of it. 1t is does not we
are building rs percent Nobody is
making the effort being made by the I
Farmers Union Grain Terminal Assoc
citation to provide space.
This preliminary information is
given so that you will get busy i'm
mediately to take the bottleneck out
OF each elevator under your direction.
The matter of whether or not the t
local elevator may lose little storage t
revenue now becomes a colossal joke e
What would 800 or 5000 revenue L
mean as against freezing that house i
up so it cannot move? Another thing f
to be remembered is the case of a t
question as to whether the grain is in I