Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-09-30
ISSUE WITHIN ISSUE
Soil Bank Is Torqet
For Political Borbs

Of the farmer when he was PLAN
ming his crop last spring.
Where the Money Went
A State-by-State breakdown Of
department figures. based on the
contracts accepted up to the dead
line date of July 81. shows that the
bulk of the soil bank payments is Z.
going into a dozen Midwestern
States where the farm vote is con-
sidered crucial. These IL States
are receiving rs per cent Of the
$260,998,747 being paid out this
year. Iowa. is getting $54,515,272,
or almost a fifth, of the total.
Some other examples:
Nebraska, $24,456, 4O6: Illinois.
$23,006.983; South Dakota, $l4,35O,-
225; North Dakota. $13,7l4,734;
Indiana. $l1.146,697; Minnesota,
$l0,813,858; Missouri, $40, 377, 629.
These OUTLAWS compare with:
West Virginia, 1882: Virginia,
$660,l4l; Arizona, $685., ll3; WASH
ington, $199.734; South Carolina,
$9l1.121. No contracts were made
in Maine, New Hampshire and
Rhode Island.
A noteworthy individual example
is Kentucky, where farmers are
receiving soil bank payments total
ing $7,116,867 this year. What
caused raised Democratic eyebrows
was the fact that, of the $4,000
soil bank agreements contracted in
the Bluegrass State, $1,000 of them
were for corn crops. Kentucky, pri-
marily tobacco country, is not one
OF the great corn States. Again, it
appeared to Democrats that the
base acreage formula for corn was
responsible for gravy train" that
had resulted in no actual acreage
reductions. They point out that the
Republicans are hopeful of getting
10 electoral votes and two Senate
seats in this border State.
The Democrats do not charge
that farmers are being turned down
by the soil bank administrators for
political reasons. But they do
charge-and Republicans deny it.
that Agricultural Sterilization Con-
servation Committees in the States,
which are appointed by the Secre-
tary of Agriculture to administer
the program locally, are recruit
ing" farmers in crucial States.
Confusion in Corn
The situation in corn Is the most
confused aspect of the program.
In the first place, the department
predicts an average corn yield per
acre this year of 43 bushels, the
highest on record, despite drought
in large areas of the biggest corn
States which the Department has
said is Of disaster" proportions.
The department also expects total
production this year will amount
to 3.3 billion bushels-another
record--compared to 80 billion
bushels in 1855 and slightly more
than 3 billion bushels in 1854. Yet.
the department claims the soil bank
is removing 5.450,194 acres of corn
from production. At 43 bushels an
acre, this amounts to 234,358,2 42
bushels represented in the soil bank.
Thus. according to Department fig
ureS. If it weren't for the soil bank
total corn production would be
more than 3.5 billion bushels.
Under the soil bank, actual planted
acreage this year, the Department
says. is 79.016.000 acres. Last year,
actual planted corn acreage was
much higher-81 .492. 900 acres, but
it produced 100 million bushels
under what is expected this year.
Democrats charge the 1856 fig
ures are inflated in an attempt to
show that the soil bank has taken
more acres out of production than
1t actually has.