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Show Holiday Issue 1966 UTAH FARM BUREAU NEWS Page 5 Hanks Sets Tone For Convention at Las Vegas Elder Marlon D. Hanks of the First Council of Seventy in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints, told the members of the Farm Bureau gathered in Las for the 48th annual con- vention, that America is the great- est country in the world, not be- cause of programs, politics, or weapons, but because of thefunda- beliefs that they have. EIDER MARION D. HANKS, of the L.D.S. Church's First Council of Seventy, addresses the Vesper Services before a crowd of more than four thousand in the opening session of the AFBF's 48th annual convention. at the traditional Speaking Vesper Service which opens each Bureau convention, Elder Hanks told the group of more than four thousand farmers and ranchers that there has never been a time when more people are "sag- ging ' in their view of the world, Hopelessness is prevalent. "This Time Is Ripe seems tobethedayof the shrug," Elder Hanks said. Elder Hanks appealed to the group to do what they know is right. "Most Americans are less ligious than they ought to be," said Elder Hanks, "and they owe a vast and continuing debt to the saving remnant among them who hunger and thirst after righteous-ment- al ness and walk humbly before their God." The church leader also minished the group to give at- tention to the literature that can be had by all at the corner news- stand. "I pray for the time when we will look at dirty books and magazines and plays and movies for what they are - - dirty things, and seek not to back away defensively and apologetically from the originators and purveyors or re-Veg- as ad-Fa- rm de- fenders of such stuff the people who mine gold out of dirt at the expense of our children and Elder Hanks said. ourselves, Marketing Aid Biggest Need Says Shuman future prosperity of The Nevadas agriculture is dependent on producers developing their bargaining power to meet the dramatic changes in livestock marketing, Charles B. Shuman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said in addressing the annual meeting of the Nevada Farm Bureau. turned 20 . . . the cost of living has almost doubled during, your lifetime ... but my average pay for an hour's work (one kilowatt-ho- ur of electricity) has gone down. Today most families use more electricity than they did 20 years ago because they have so many more electric servants. Electric appliances unheard of not too many years ago are helping make todays living much more convenient and comfortable in the home and on the farm. So, if your electric bills are more, it is because electric helpers are providing you with an easier, cleaner, life. In fact the average Utah Power & more care-fre- e Light Company family uses MORE electricity than the average family in the nation yet pays LESS per kilowatt-hou- r for it Thats why I say electricity is the biggest bargain in your family budget r Your Electric Servant PLEASE NOTE. One of many ways that Utah Power & Light Co. keeps the cost of electricity low is by sending bills to most customers only every other month. This saves on labor, postage, paper, and printing. If you to get receive a bill just divide by two the actual monthly cost. ... end cheap . . . Bectridty is plentiful in the area served by Utah Power & Light Co. "The innovations taking place in livestock marketing rival the technological revolution in farm production that occurred when machines replaced horses," the national farm leader said. "The question is whether farmers and ranchers will meet the challenge of change and adapt their marketing machinery so that they will have a voice in determining price in the market place. Too many producers today are not really marketing their livestock - - they are merely passing title to it - - because they are not organized, lack market information and too often are contacting only one buyer before making a marketing decision. "The stakes involved in our marketing efforts are high. In Nevada, the sale of livestock and livestock products accounted for 82.4 percent of the total cash receipts received from agriculture in 1965. Receipts from cattle and calves amounted to 60.8 percent of the cash receipts, sheep and lambs, 4.6 percent, and 1 percent," Shuman reported. The need for changes in live- stock marketing programs, Shu- man said, is outlined in a study made by the American Farm Bureau Federation, at the request of State Farm Bureaus in 23 states of the Midwest and Western regions. The study was made by the and commarketing research modity activities division, AFBF. Some 570 producers, feeders, land grant research and market agency personnel were interviewed, and a large amount of published research material was reviewed. These studies show that the changes in the production, transportation, selling , buying and processing of livestock and in meat retailing have been highly significant in recent years. They point out that drastic changes need to be made by farmers and ranchers in their marketing agencies to meet these new inovations. In Nevada, for example, Shuman said, the interviews pointed up the need of a marketing service for feeder cattle producers. (Continued on Page 7) (Continued from Page 2) While all segments of agriculture have the capacity to produce in excess of market needs, Shuman said, the availability of land does not determine wheat, soybean, cotton or feed grain production. " Price, the prospect for profit, and the availability of capital, are the most important determinants of production," he said. Shuman suggested several protective actions that should be taken in making the transition from governmental manipulated prices to the market price system. Since government price support and allotments have tended to become capitalized into land values, Shuman said that Congress should appropriate sufficient funds to purchase the allotment of any farmer who chooses to discontinue growing the controlled crop for a stated period of years rather than producing for the competitive market. A second Important transitional protection, he said, would be to prohibit the dumping of government-held stocks on the market to wreck farmers prices. Shuman also recommended that price supports through non- - recourse loans be ended. In this type of commodity loan, the farmer is permitted to make repayment through delivery of the commodity to the government. price support loans have been a contributing factor in stimulating excess production and the buildup of surpluses in government storage in past Non-recour- se years. The farm leader said that commodity loans with recourse (full repayment required) could be made to farmers and would available stabilize marketing. help Discussing inflation, Shuman said that the cause of inflation is deficit spending and other federal policies which permit or cause the supply of money and credit to expand faster than the supply of goods. "Only the federal government can cause inflation, and only the government can correct the causes of this dangerous sickness. "The enormous cost of the Viet Nam war provides a very strong inflationary thrust. Unless these necessary expenditures are offset by a drastic reduction in domestic spending, the efforts to control inflation by taxes and credit will most certainly fail. "The new Congress should drastically curtail, suspend or discontinue the spending schemes that were rammed through the Great Society Congress. Most of them are political patronage hand-ou- ts anyway. "Billions of dollars can be cut from the huge appropriations for farm programs, foreign aid, public housing and other subsidy programs. "The Administration has moved against inflation too late and with too little, but there is still time to prevent a disaster. Immediate steps should be taken to balance the federal budget by making substantial cuts in spending, he said. Referring to the November Congressional elections, Shuman said that the changes in Congress made by the voters will result in a better opportunity to develop sound solutions to current problems. "The Constitution of the United States envisages the Congress as an Independent branch of government - - not a rubber stamp for the Chief Executive. The newly elected Congress has a better balance of power and is fortified by a mandate from the voters to execute independent judgment. "Ten zealous advocates of government supply management who served on the House Agriculture Committee were defeated by the voters. It should now be possible to obtain cooperation in seeking economic rather that political solutions to agricultures problems," Shuman said. non-defen- bi-parti- san se |