Evening star., 1942-10-02
Administration Nav
Ask More Funds for
low-Income Farms
Weighs Plan for Looms
10 Spur Output, Help
Meet Food Shortage

Confronted with prospects Of
aschne In next years food produc-
Iion because of labor shortages. the
aaminlstration may soon request an
.ouitional congressional appropria-
,lol OF several hundred million dol
.eIs 1or loans to help .low-income
farmers increase their production.
agriculture Department officials
ss1mated that upward of 1000. 900
ioW-lncome farmers could increase
tnelr production considerably if
given financial assistance in acouir-
ing additional tools, machinery. live
sock' poultry and other facilities.
lnese under-employed farmers
we're said by the officials to consti-
eu'e gigantic reservoir OF untapped
HanpoWer which could be put to
greater use in meeting tremendous
demands for food being placed upon
'nls country because of the war.
Previous Request Pared.
Inc administration asked Con-
sIess early In the summer for $780,
ooo'Oo0 for low-income farm loans to
oe made by the Farm Security Ad-
mlnlstration, but only $97, ,O00, 900 was
voted ''''''
onder program being formulated
pS the FSA, some low-income farm
families living on sub marginal land
would be moved to more productive
tarms which have lost manpower to
tne armed forces and to war indus
tries.
Others living on farms deemed
capable OF producing more would be
alioWed loans for the purchase of
additional productive facilities.
Omclals cited results of recent
Agriculture Department studies to
snow the productive possibilities of
many low-income farmers. These
studles were said to show, for ex-
ample, that a typical two-mule
mississippi Delta cotton farm pro-
ouclng cotton, corn and small
amount of livestock requires a total
OF only 1890 manhours of labor a
year. The amount OF labor actually
available was said to be 1880 hours.
Held Generally Applicable.
"A similar picture of underem-
ployment could be given for small.
loW-lncome farmers in all other
areas Of the Nation" these studies
said.
Of1cials said proper credit ex-
Tended to underemployed farmers
now would continue to help them
produce for war needs for several
years. Loans would average about
$3.50 a farm, they added.
Such loan program would be
one Of several methods designed
TO meet agricultural labor shortages.
The War Manpower Commission
mas adopted four point program
designed to alleviate the serious
farm labor situation, and at the
same time the commission has asked
Congress for funds to further extend
labor recruiting into rural and in
dustrial areas, il was learned today.
The commission program, it was
understood. calls for:
l. Building up confidence among
farmers and farm workers in the
United States Employment Service.
2. Federal subsidy for transporting
workers into shortage area.
Involves Higher Wages.
}. Increased wages for farm work.
ers under price ceilings now in effect.
4, Freezing farm labor in shortage
areas, If the workers cannot be kept
on the job any other way.
Yesterday, it was understood the
commission asked 4 House deficiency
appropriation subcommittee for ST.
100000 to further the work of labor
recruiting. OF this sum, $4,000, 1000
would be used for extending into
rural areas the work of the United
States Employment Service, $6,O00.-
600 would be used to complete the
work of classifying seleci i've service
occupational questionnaires and the
rest for industrial recruiting.
The Government already has done
considerable work in relieving labor
shortages in certain areas by i'm
porting workers from sections where
stable labor supplies exist. Trans
portation for these workers has been
paid by the Farm Security Admins
tration
More than 1000 farm workers, it
was understood, have been shifted
from West Virginia and Kentucky
% assist In harvesting fruit and vege-
table crops in New York, Connecti-
cut and New Jersey Recently TOO
men were recruited in Chicago and
transported to far-off Washington
State. Along the same line, 500
MeXicans were brought into Cali