The Farmville herald and farmer-leader. (Farmville, Va.) 1934-1957, 1954-08-13
This ortiee from the American Farm Bureou Federoton
Official News Letter in the interest Of Agriculture in vi
sno by the Prince Edwod County Form Bureou cumber
land County Farm Bureau and Powhoton County Form
Bureou.

ers' markets by lowering con-
sumption. This is just exactly the
opposite of what farmers need at
this time. The most satisfactory
solution to the current farm prob
lem is to expand domestic and
foreign markets until they bal
ance agricultural production. II
is commonly said that price has
little to with the consumption
Of agricultural products. Though
we might decrease the price of
wheat or cotton, it is said. no
more bread or shirts would be
purchased than before. There is
enough truth to this statement
to make it convincing and enough
untruth to make it dangerous In
the case of many agricultural
products, such as livestock and
dairy products. fruits, and vege-
tableS-by far the most important
source Of farm income-the state
ment that price has little to do
with guiding production and con-
1 sumption is completely untrue
1t is true. however that a lower
price for wheat would not increase
t he domestic consumption of
bread. But it would permit US 10
meet export competition and TO
move more wheat in the form of
I livestock feed. A lower price for
cotton would permit us better to
meet the competition of synthetic
fibers. 1t would permit us to re-
gain a part of, the world cotton
trade which has been lost to for
eign countries with respect to
whom we have held a price un-
brella. The housewife chooses food
on the basis of price. The foreign
buyer OF American export prod
ucts is price conscious. The text
tile trade selects its fibers partly
on the basis of price. No more
effective weapon can be used to
drive customers away from our
products than to price these prod
ucts at levels which are out of
line with other products or alter
native sources of supply.
;. Assist farmers competitors
The efficient neutrality-suspicious.
farmers that were in business in
1910 have watched with growing
concern the shifting of the right
to produce wheat from themselves
to other farmers here in the
United States as well as in foreign
countries. The western Kansas
wheat farmer along with the
wheat farmers in Texas, Okla
homa, Nebraska. South Dakota
North Dakota. and the other great
"heat-groWing states have seen
thousands of acres of additional
land in the old dust bowl area of
southwest Kansas. northwest Tex
as. northwest Oklahoma an q
southeast Colorado returned to
wheat in violation Of the Drjn-
clpleS OF effective soil conserya-
/ ton. They have also seen the less
elnclent wheat-farming areas of
the country that are better adapt
ed to other types of farming shift
to the production of wheat For
example. they have seen Michi
gan expand wheat and 90 out of
the production of dry edible beans
because the production of wheat
Tor the government was a more
profitable venture. Now that we
nave such a tremendous surplus
supply of wheat 900 million
bushels-over times the normal
amount prescribed by law which
is destroying market prices and
threatening to OverWheIm the
farm program in a manner similar
TO the way it destroyed the old
Federal Farm Board. serious cuts
IN production are being called for
Inc new areas are claiming their
right to produce wheat and the
efnclent producers in the old areas
are being cut drastically. For the
most part, the efficient wheat
producing areas can produce
wheat better than anything else
yet the support program has built
up such surpluseS that they are
being deprived of their right to
produce while other areas which
could more efficiently produce al
tentative crops are staying in the
production of wheat due to the
nigh government incentive prices.
The efficient western Kansas
wheat farmer along with the
efllclent wheat-producing farm
ers in other states also see that
the price-support program has en-
couraged the Canadian, Agentin-
IAN, Australian, Turkish and other
wheat farmers of the world to
plunge into the production of
wheat in competition with him
knowing that the wheat of the
United States farmers will be the
last to find its way into the world
markets. The cotton producer who
is looking at the facts is also
aware of both domestic and for
eien competition which is being