The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1941-10-22
The Value OF
CROP INSURANCE
TO FARMERS

| Wheat is a major source OF Mon
tana's agricultural income, yet for
years it was an income unprotected
| from the many natural hazards that
attack and destroy the golden grain
before it is deposited in storage bins.
Montana wheat has a quality second
to none through climate that seems
particularly adapted for the produc-
ton of high-quality wheat. Like all
other high-quality producing areas of
this nation, Montana has an album
dance of hazards that make wheat
production an uncertainty.
Realizing the risk of wheat produc
ton, farmers and farm workers had
long been planning program that
would guarantee wheat producers an
income every year and the Depart
ment of Agriculture has been studying
and conducting research work and
collecting data on the subject The
only precedent in the field of COM
prehensive crop insurance they had
to follow was the bitter experience of
private insurance companies some
fifteen or twenty-odd years ago.
On the other hand, they knew that
the burden of crop failure was often
more than farmers could bear and
that from 1926 to 1886, the Federal
government advanced 615 million dol
lars in emergency feed and seed loans.
They knew also that the drouth of
1884 put one million farm families on
relief and required 207 million dol
lars of emergency funds to stricken
farmers.
The Western Great Plains country,
first settled in 1885, has seen four
great exodus caused by crop failure. |
Since 1880, there have been 2S drouth |
years, II of major proportions. Each |
period of poor years piled up a crush |
ing load of crop losses, debts and dis
This group knew, too, that the good |
years usually resulted in lowered |
price that weakened farmers reserves
so that in the poor years they were
unable to Withstand the loss Of in
come and in many cases resulted in
loss of farm ownership. Studying all
this, the group realized that some
method of dwelling wheat farmers in
come would have to be devised. They
Knew that the climate and hazards
could not be completely controlled
Dut that some method to spread pro
Iuction over several years would have
o be devised to assure farmers an
income every year.
All this planning, studying and re-
search reached a climactic point in
1886 when tine Bureau of Agricultural
culture recommended active research
IN the subject In the summer of ;
936, the Secretary of Agriculture ad.
-ocated program of crop insurance
in kind to supplement the other agri-
ultural programs and the President
ppointed special committee to '
tudy wheat insurance.
"All-risk" wheat crop insurance was 9
orn when this committee, reporting
ack to the president, presented an {
insurance plan. This plan was intro I
uced in congress by Senator Pope l
nd was passed by both houses and s
igned by the President on February c
6, 1888. f
Wheat crop insurance was inte-
rated with the farm program already I
administered by the Department of !
.griculture and has as it's objective, G
ecurity for wheat producers. 1t is 7
n integral part of the Ever-Normal +
ranary by storing grain during the )
God years for use in the years of I
COR crops thus helping to stabilize
ne price of wheat in years of large d
Continued on Page Four)