The Farmville herald and farmer-leader. (Farmville, Va.) 1934-1957, 1954-08-13

may be needed to bridge the price
gap between the domestic and ex-
port market. To maintain an &C
ceptable share OF export market
for wheat we have had to pay.
thus far during this marketing
year, an export subsidy Of AZ cents
a bushel.
Pricing domestic products at 80
per cent of parity draws imports
to our shores as a magnet draws
metal. These products are at
tracted out of their normal trade
patterns. away from the legiti-
mate recipients and to our already
overburdened markets.
In order to keep costs of these
rograms within reasonable
bounds. embargoes, quotas. and
import fees are needed. These I'M
a vol d a b G distractions offend
those nations whom We urgently
need as friends.
If 80 per cent of parity price
support is voted. the Congress by
that act establishes a restrictive
foreign trade policy for agricul-
ture products.
5. Ninety per cent guarantees re-
suit in strict controls and de-
creases farmers freedom of
choice
With high price supports, pro-
duction is encouraged and con-
sumption retarded. Consequently,
SURPRISES accumulate These sur
pluses are costly to store and diff
cult to move For most commod-
tiles. Spoilage is threat Thus
SURPRISES tend to overhang and
depress the market Consequently
TO avoid the evils of continuing
surpluses it becomes necessary to
place sharp restrictions on pro-
! ductlon. The restrictions reduce
not only farm output but also
sharply restrict activity in related
+ agricultural industry
+ This essential truth has not
been made sufficiently clear to
American. farmers and nonfarm-
erS. In the past. every time the
problem of excess stocks began
to loom large, something inter-
Vened. The variability, over a
period Of years, of a system which
retireS from production large
numbers Of acres of our basic
crops has not been fully tested
The droughts of 1884 and 1896
reduced our supplies and called
for feed production from the di-
verified acres. Then. when the
problem again began to pinch
World War II broke out and
called for the use of all our acres
In 1850, when we again faced the
problem of what to do with cares
retired from wheat corn. and cot
ton the Korean war interviewed
and we put all our acres back into
production.
b. Continuing rigid supports at
temporarily profitable levels
requires controls that must
actually cut production unless
the entire pOrgram is to col
lapse. as 1t is presently in
danger of doing for some OF
the basic crops such as wheat.
II the adjustment principle were
TO be strictly followed on wheat
farmers would not have right
TO plant more than approximately
o million acres for harvest next
year. when Just 2 years ago they
planted 78 million acres-oyer 10
times as much acreage. OF course
such an abrupt adjustment is i'm
practical-yet 1t shows the des-
perate situation in which wheat
farmers find themselves.
Marketing quotas have not been
invoked by any Secretary of Apri-
culture on corn, mainly due to the
CONVICTION by people experienced
with controls. that corn market
ing quotas cannot be made to
work, Yet rigid price supports are
providing powerful force to in
crease production of feed grains
and other crops Sat can be used
Tor feed. If we do not begin to let
prices allocate resources to direct
the production and consumption
OF agricultural commodities, we
inevitably are faced with the
stark necessity of extending con-
trolls to more and more crops
II farmers substitute feed grain.
such as grain sorghums and bar
ley. for wheat acreage. the feed
surplus will continue to mount
TO unbearable levels. AS more and
more intensive production of for
age crops is encouraged, control
VIII become necessary on live
STOCK. Mr.. Farrington's prophecy
OF a completely managed aeri- !
economy by the govern
ment is fast become a reality
Z. Rigid price supports injure
farmers by assisting their
competitors
VI
we nave seen how holding up
the price Of wheat has increased
competition for the efficient wheat
farmers by the less efficient wheat |
areas of the United States. Sim