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Show The Farmers Union program calls for a 5 point Food and Fiber policy that would include establishment by the Federal government of an annual quantity quan-tity of each commodity required to meet needs for: 1. Effective commercial demand de-mand in domestic markets. 2. Special humane or social market needs for low income and other special groups of consumers. con-sumers. 3. The commercial export market. mar-ket. 4. Needed additions to the national na-tional safety reserve. 5. The humane or food for peace export program. The Federal Government after establishing domestic and export needs, would, .Patton proposes, assign each farmer a production goal which would become the maximum he could market in any one year. The greatest need of farmers, Patton contends, is for increased net income,, and in seeking that farmers should not shun direct government assistance. Farmers Union is Regarded as Most Liberal Farm Group The Farmers Union long has been closely identified with the policies of the Democratic party. Just what does the Farmers Union stand for as against the other major farm organizations? Washington Columnist Clinton Davidson recently interviewed Farmers Union President James Patton to get the answers. Here's what he found out. The Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union of America, more commonly known as the Farmers Union, would place more reliance on government administered programs than the other two general farm organizations. organiza-tions. "The keystone of Federal farm policies," says Patton, "should be the preservation, improvement improve-ment and protection of adequate family farms." The Farmers Union, smallest Of the three farm groups, has approximately ap-proximately 250,000 members in 20 states, chiefly in the mid-section of the nation. It is older than the Farm Bureau, but younger than the Grange. Generally regarded as the most liberal of the farm groups in its thinking and policies, the Farm ers Union often is also the most militant. It frequently is an advocate ad-vocate of Democratic party policies; poli-cies; seldom a supporter of Republican Re-publican programs. "Federal farm policies should provide legislative and economic conditions which efficient family farmers can earn and get an income in-come for their labor and management man-agement and their capital investment in-vestment and risk, equal to the returns of similar resources in other segments of the national economy." Equality of income for farmers, farm-ers, compared with city workers, has long been a goal of the Farmers Farm-ers Union. Latest U. S. Department Depart-ment of Agriculture figures show farmers last year had net income of a little less than half the national na-tional city average. "Federal programs must be provided to establish prices or returns per unit to reach the parity income goal for the family farm production units. "The minimum fair price guarantee guar-antee should be made effective to farmers through government loans, purchase agreements, purchases, pur-chases, income supplement, payments pay-ments and bargaining devices such as marketing orders, in effective, ef-fective, workable combinations for each of the different commodities." |