Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-03-16
Enough Farm Labor
Suid to Be Available
Harvard Economist Believes
Thot Sufficient Food
Can Be Produced
To the Editor of The Star:

To the Editor of The Star
In Washington for the past four days,
Washington papers on the food situation
and have become disturbed over the
| manner in which the food supply ques-
ton is being discussed in Congress and
the press. This is no time for hysteria
on the subject 1t is highly important
that the public be not needleSsly fright
ened about the food supply and equally
important that the farmers be not dis
| mayed by misleading reports. We need
to know as accurately as is possible what
| the facts are about the food and farm
! labor situation, and then talk and act in
terms of these facts.
Our understanding of the Situa tion
recently was very much confused by the
clrcularlzlng OF the county agents OF the
country as to the prospects for the l943
crop Most of them reported that the
1943 goals would not be attained some
of them indicating a deficiency of Is TO
80 per cent. No one holds in higher
regard than I do the county agents of
the country and the help they are giving
to the war effort. In fact, one OF the
defects Of the present organization OF
agricultural production is that it does
not give them a chance to be as helpful
as they could be. But reporting crop
prospects is one of the few things that
rnnntU do 1N oil ho,
been common knowledge in the Depart
ment of Agriculture for many years that
county agents make poor crop reporters.
Almost invariably they overstate changes.
II there has been shift toward dairying
In an area and you ask the county agent
about 1t, he commonly will report twice
what has occurred. Conversely, If some
disease attacks cattle in his county. he
often will report twice the amount of it.
This, of course. is because his attention
constantly is called to the most pro-
nounced examples Of the phenomenon
I had occasion this winter to ask for
reports on the losses in last years crops
from large number Of people in agri-
culture in which many county agents
were included. The county agents re-
ports exaggerated losses greatly as COM
pared with other reporters and as COM
pared with the final official reports on
production. Their reports of farm labor
shortages were even more exaggerated as
judged by the same standards. The only
farmers who bother the county agent
about farm labor are those who are short
OF labor. Also these commonly are the
larger farmers, who, naturally, have had
the most difficulty finding needed labor
Whether this years food output will
exceed last years will depend upon the
weather more than anything else So far
as planting, breeding and feeding are
concerned, enough will be done taking
all classes and sizes Of farms together to
give us more than was produced last
year, provided the weather Is as good:
also provided public and private agencies
make enough of the right kind Of credit
available, and also provided the farmers
and public agencies do a reasonably good
JOB OF collaborating in utilizing the farm
labor that is available now on farms or
that can be made available when needed
Congress has chance right now to help
with both Of these provisions.
Even il the season Is relatively I'M
favorable, no one in this country need
go hungry any more than usual. (Of
course, We have many millions Of under
led people in this country all the time:
but this is not because we cannot produce
the needed food Some shifts in diet
Will be necessary, but they will not lower
the general level Of diet, and, in fact,
easily could be made In such a way as to
raise 1t. ANY strong argument for
larger food supply must be based upon
the strategy of supplying our Allies with
more food than at present both while the
war is on and Immediately afterward.
Arguments on this basis are compelling.
There is farm labor enough at hand
or within reach to plant, care for and
harvest this years crop and livestock
output, II 1t Is reasonably we'll modified.
The dairy areas probably are as short OF
labor as any, and yet last week received
a letter from dairy journal editor in
the heart of the dairy region which con-
tains the following sentences: There
Is no surplus labor on dairy farms. On
the other hand, there is enough labor to
permit the farm work in this section to
De well done" From the heart of the
corn belt comes a report of a farm to-
farm canvass Of labor needs and avail
able labor in five counties to the effect
that, "reshuf1ing is taking place at a
rapid rate. Farmers short on labor are
selling cows to their neighbors that have
suffcient help to expand and maybe
renting them some land too, So. Few
of the farmers who earlier said they
needed year round help were still want
ing them when we offered them such
hands recently"
But We cannot be sure that the labor
Will be modified as it should be- The
Department of Agriculture is proceeding
1alterlngly with the development of an
efnclent organization for this purpose.
Congress has not helped much as vet,
| JOHN D. BLACK.
professor OF Economics, Harvard Uni
Versity, Member of Food and Nutri-
ton Board, Editor of Nutrition and
Food Supply: The War and AfterJ