The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-02-26


 These are the so-called farm goals for the year. These goals are then broken down to Q regional basis, figuring how much wheat can be produced in the wheat belt, how much corn In the corn belt, how much cotton in the cotton belt, and so on. tr
 The area goals are then broken down into state goals. To every triple-A state board is sent Q de- tailed estimate of the goals set for that state. @
 The state baords divided up their quotas on @ county basis and turn them over to the county triple-A committees. The 3000-ocd county triple-A committees in turn break their county goals down to township programs or to programs for groups of 10 townships or so, and the township goals are again divided up so that every farm has its goals.
 NO IMPOSSIBLE SHIFTS w
 Poultry raisers aren't expected to convert to raising spinach, nor are corn-hog men expected to shift to flax, though emphasis everywhere is on reducing acreage of short staple cotton and wheat, of which there are surpluses. But as equitably as possible. the goals are set for each and every farm, and 1t is made e point of pride to meet each goal. Finally the program gets down to Farmer Jones, an average farmer of the great plains states area, who may have 200 acres in wheat, for which he will get $1S4 triple.A benefit, and another 200 in which he can plant war crops, Suppose Farmer Jones is given a quota of 50 acres of flax.
 Now, before Farmer Jones can collect his triple-A benefit for not growing more than his allotment of 200 acres of wheat, he must plant at least 90 per cent of the goal set for him on every war crop allotted to hirn-flax, soybeans, garden truck or whatever. Tn this case, flax. Farmer Jones must plant 90 per cent of 50 acres, or 46 acres, in flax before he can collect his $i04.
 Furthermore, for every acre less than 45 planted to flax, Farmer Jones can be penalized $15 an acre. WHERE BONUS COMES IN And now at long last you come to this incentive payment business. Since the government doesn't want Farmer Jones to grow less of any war crop, but more, 1t proposes to offer Farmer Jones Q bonus if he will plant up to 1l0 per cent of his quota on any war crop. The Jones flax acreage quota was 50 acres, and ll0 per cent of that would be 55 acres. The federal government would, therefore, make incentive payments for flax of $l0 an acre or all acreage above 90 per cent of the 50-acre quota.
 Of course, it should be understood that the incentive payments are over and above anything the farmer gets for selling the grain in the open market. Simple, isn't 1t?
 The same 90 per cent to l10 per cent principle applies on other war crops for which incentives are to be offered. The penalties are straight | SIS an acre on all war crops. though the incentive payments are to vary. For Soybeans, the incentive is to be SIS an acre. peanuts $50 an acre, dry peas $l5 an acre, grain sorg- huns $8 an acre, fresh truck crops $50 an acre. dry beans $20 an acre. and Irish and sweet potatoes 50 cents a bushel for all yields above 90 per cent and below no per cent of the revised sweet potato goal. This last figure may later be con- verted to an acreage basis.
 The Department of Agriculture economists who figured out the inc centive payment principle insist 1t isn't Q subsidy. They say instead that it's a kind of crop insurance to | protect farmers in case they get Q low yield in planting some crop they have had no experience with before, or in case there is an un- favorable growing season this year. Whatever you call it, 1t Is going to cost an estimated $l00 million. But what's 4l00 million?