Milford chronicle., 1953-12-25
Your Farm Program
By EZRA TAFT BENSON
Secretary Of Agriculture
first Of q Two-Porf series)

This nation has a serious farm
problem.
1t does not affect agriculture
alone. 1t is everybOdys problem.
Today your government has ap-
proximately So billions of your
money invested in farm cOmmodi-
ties.
You own outright more than
S2.5 billions worth of wheat, corn,
cotton and other surplus farm pro-
ducts. You have outstanding loans
on agricultural commodities total
ing about the same amount. This
figure is growing daily.
You are paying more than S14
millions each month just to store
these SURPRISES. This bill is growing
TOO, as additional Inventories are
| accumulated by your government.
The losses which your govern
ment sustained in disposing of just
a small portion of your holdings
during the first three months of this
| fiscal year amounted to $47 millions.
Bus, you ask, done we have a farm
| program designed to insure agri-
cultural prosperity and prevent the
very situation we find ourselves
in today?
The answer is that we are operat
/ ing under the same farm program
we had last year and for several
previous years. Actually we have
| strengthened it in several import
ant respects to permit farmers to
take broader advantage of it's pro-
visions. Existing legislation binds
us to a continuation of price sup
ports at 80 per cent of parity on
basic commodities through the 1854
crop year.
Nevertheless, farm prices have
declined steadily from the record
peaks established under the impetus
of the Korean war in February, 1851.
| During the II months Immediately
before / became Secretary of Agri-
culture, the farm price parity ratio
slid from 113 to 95 per cent. Since
February of this year. prices have
been more stable than in 1852,
averaging about SO per cent of
parity.
This story of declining farm in
come and mounting agricultural
surpluses is the best evidence that
our present program is not func-
tiOning effectively.
For more than a decade. our
farmers have ben producing under
pressure. To meet the wartime
needs of ourselves and our allies,
they turned out record amounts
of food and fiber between 1941 and
1916. With the end of the second
World War, they were asked to
provide the commodities required
in the rehabilitation of Europe and
other sections of the earth. Then
came the Korean War. with new a9d
heavy demands for farm goods of
all kinds.
Suddenly this situation was radi-
cally altered. World food production
had been climbing since 1916 By
1852 this was eXerting strong pres
sure in the market places. Our
WHEAT CApOl - QlOppCu ny OlG-lllIIu
in a single year, cotton by even
more. Not only had importing ma
tons increased their own prOdUc-
ton, but they found that they could
supply their reduced need at lower
prices from exporting countries
which had no farm price support
programs.
Just as many American con-
sumers have turned from butter to
less expensive spreads, so have
other nations sought cheaper wheat,
cotton and other products.
We have learned through some
times bitter experience that when
the farmer is in trouble. there is
likely to be trouble ahead for
everybody. This year, net farm
income is expected to be nearly
81 billion less than it was in 1852