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Show Page 2 June 1974 Utah Farm Bureau News UTAH RftRM BUREAU HI NEWS m POSTMASTER: P least sind FormJS79to Utah Farm Bureau, 429 East Fourth South, Salt Lake City, Utah M102 Published each month by the Utah Farm Bureau Federation at Salt Lake City, Utah. Editorial and Business Office, 429 East Fourth South, Salt Lake City, Utah, M012. Subscription price of fifty cents per year to members is included in membership fee. subscription price: One dollar per year. Non-memb- er Second Class cargo preference bill might ruin export trade Oil g Senate committee poses food favorable a threat to export negotiations, a protectionist cargo preference" bill is moving through Congress with overwhelming support and threatening overwhelming consequences for American agriculture. The Energy Transportation Security Act of 1974 (H.R. 8193) has to do with the shipping of petroleum products into our country. The bill, if passed, will require that at least 20 percent of those products be shipped in United States flag vessels immediately upon passage. That proportion would increase to 23 percent after June 30, 1975, and at least 30 percent two years later. ' How does that affect our agriculture? Following World War II the United States built most of the world's merchant ships. Now we build about 2 percent. So first, there's a question of whether we have the capacity to haul a fifth of our oil imports. We've recently learned how vital they are to agriculture and other industries. Second, the cost of importing oil would increase because our merchant marine has higher costs than other nations, estimated at somewhere between a few cents and a dollar a barrel. That increase would obviously raise the cost of producing food and probably reduce demand. When demand goes down, the unit cost of producing food increases still more. So the bill could trigger that upward spiral in food Even while a prices. slow-actin- Third, passage of this bill could well be used as justification for extending cargo preference to our export of wheat, soybeans, com and other farm products. That would raise the price of these commodities in foreign countries and reduce demand there for our food and feed. Not only would this result in lower farm incomes here; it would upset our balance of trade, which is being held in the black by agricultural exports. Also, oil exporting and transporting nations might adopt retaliatory measures that again would lower postae paid at Salt Lake City, Utah UTAH FARM BUREAU FEDERATION OFFICIALS President Elmo W, Hamilton, Riverton Jay Child, Clearfield C. Booth Wallentine Elwood Shaffer. Vice President Executive Vice President S. demand for our farm products and set off the same spiral of higher costs per unit of food, lower demand, and still higher costnot to mention shortages. While the cargo preference bill, if signed into law, would hurt U.S. farmers, it would pinch the of urban consumers too. poc-ketboo- Editor DIRECTORS: Frank Nishiguchi, Garland; William Holmes, Ogden; Jack Brown, Granfsville; Edward Boyer, Springville; John Lewis, Monticello; Jerold Johnson, Aurora; Kenneth R. Ashby, Delta; Mrs. Paul Turner, Morgan; Robert Johnson, Randolph. ks They would: (1) Pay more for the petroleum products they use themselves; (2) pay more for industrial goods in which petroleum is a strong cost factor; and (3) pay more fqt their food and fiber from American sources American Farm Biieaft policy states that We support efforts to maintain a strong U.S. merchant marine. However. . . we do not believe it proper for our government to. require certain cargoes to be placed aboard American ships when their rates are r not competitive with other available transportation. And those price differences for shipping exist in spite of extensive subsidies paid to the merchant marine of this country. The House passed the cargo preference act by a vote of 266 to 136. If the Senate subcommittee on Merchant Marine, part of the committee on Commerce, doesnt reject H.R. 8193, the financial stability of this nation could well be tottering on yet another brink. Market heeds lower beef margin With the third successive monthly drop in farm prices, consumers are becoming aware that retail prices are not matching the- price declines at the farm. The news media both print and electronic-- are reporting the increasing margins being chalked up by whplesalers and retailers. NBC network news noting the drop in the farm parity ratio, cited government figures which show that while hog prices are down 30 percent from a year ago, retail pork prices have declined only 3 percent. Similarly, while steers are off 12 percent for the same period, retail beef prices are down less than 1 percent. The Associated Press and United Press International quoted American Farm Bureau Federation President William J. Kuhfuss thaf consumers are not the full benefit of recent major declines in farm prices. For the month ending May 15, the farm parwas 79, down from 83 in ratio il ity and - mid-Apr- 85 in the same period Farm Bureau worker and supporter Willis G. Whitbeck died in early May after suffering an accident at his summer home in e Manila, Daggett county. His wife, Barbara, was chairman of the state Farm Bureau Women's Committee for many years. She served until November 1973, when she stepped down from the job to spend more time with her husband and family. n Mr. Whitbeck was in Utah agriculture as a dairy owner, president of the Salt Lake County Fair Board, and chairman of the Utah State Fair Board and Exposition Association. He and his wife until recently owned and operated the it Dairy next to their home at 5770 S. Redwood Road in Bennion, southwest of Salt Lake City. They had just completed the sale of their animals and buildings; bypass highway will run. through their former property. Accompanied by UFBF president Elmo Hamilton a close friend, Mr. Whitbeck was repairing an overhead garage door at his summer home when the spring mechanism struck him in the jaw, causing a fatal concussion. He was district chairman of the well-know- Will-O-Wh- 1-- . 1973. Farm prices on May 15 were down 14 percent from the February peak and 4 percent from April 15. Retail food prices fell only 0.4 percent in April from a month earlier. In addition to lower cattle and hog prices, lower prices for cotton, wheat, eggs, and calves contributed most to the farm price decrease, partly offset by higher prices for potatoes, hay, and cantaloupes. In March, the annual retail cost of a typical food market basket rose $15.00 despite a drop in raw farm products. In April, although middlemans margins expanded again, farm prices dropped so sharply that the net retail cost of the basket went down $20.00. Consumers, who think that lower farm prices may mean lower store prices, in the long run could discover that losses to hog producers and cattlemen instead could result in lower output and eventually higher prices. Accident claims Long-tim- of Willis Whitbeck Farm Bureau in Milford, where he had lived for many years. He also served on the town board there for work 8 years and was active in and the volunteer fire department. He is survived by his wife and three daughters Mrs. Bud (Granette) Breeze and Mrs. Clark (Arleen) Morrill of Bennion, and Mrs. Randall (Belva) Parr of New Jersey. Hundreds of Farm Bureau members and other friends attended the funeral services in the Bennion Ward Chapel May 9. 4-- H |