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Show ORGANIZATION STRESSED AT MEET Utah Farm Bureaus Hold Instructive In-structive Convention at Provo; Prominent Men Give Views The need of farmers' organizations was the headliner for almost every speaker at the recent farm bureau convention, according to County Agent Walter F. Smith, who returned Sunday from Provo, Sam Thompson, president presi-dent of the American Farm Bureau Federation, made a plea for a larger state farm bureau enrollment. "At no other time in the history of organized effort has there been a greater need for the farmers to organize for their own good, than at present," he said. "The American farmer has reached a high state of efficient production, the agricultural man power has increased 15 per cent during the last 10 years due to improved machinery, improved methods of crop production, knowledge knowl-edge of the control of insect pests and diseases, knowledge of scientific feeding feed-ing of livestock and knowledge cf methods for controlling livestock diseases. dis-eases. Scientific production has greatly exceeded ex-ceeded agricultural distribution. Orderly Or-derly distribution, he says, can only be remedied by group organization. A recent survey shows milk costing the consumer 14 cents per quart, the producer pro-ducer got 5 cents and the distributor received 9 cents. The same survey showed apples retailing at $1.74 per bushel. The producer got 74 cents, the distributor $1. These conditions are group leaks, and group leaks can only be stopped by group action. The farmer is penalized, pen-alized, according to Mr. Thompson, when he increases production not because be-cause the world cannot consume all agricultural produce, but because the world does not want to eat it all the day it is harvested. Orderly marketing is the other half of agriculture. Mr. Brown, president of the Arizona state farm bureau, and commonly known as "Farmer" Brown, presented some very interesting figures: One hundred years" ago the world produced about two billion dollars in agricultural wealth each year. It cost one-third of this to market it and two-thirds went, to the producer. Fifty years later the. world produced pro-duced about ten billion dollars in new agricultural wealth per year. It cost half of this to market it and half went to the producer. In 1927 the world produced 27 billion bil-lion dollars in new agricultural wealth and it cost two-thirds of this amount " to market the produce. "Something rotten in Denmark." said Mr. Brown The family upkeep today is 78 per cent greater than 20 years ago. "Kie taxes are 158 per cent higher than 20 years ago. The hired labor is 68 per cent more expensive than 20 years ago, and the ability of the farm to produce and pay off this bill is on."y 40 per cent greater thae -ii was 20 years ago. If thefe;-'. to keep up to his steia'ara ' and maintain his dignity and honorable position in the world of business men, he must federate fed-erate himself with all the farmers of the nation. It's not only a local but a national problem. The government cannot do it all. Farmers' organizations must do their big share. At present no state is fully organized and Utah is very low in per cent paid up memberships. mem-berships. Dr. Farrell, from the Washington office of-fice reported that the farm families of the state of Iowa and some other sections of the corn belt are putting in their family budget .$1800 for family fam-ily maintenance for a family of five. The farm women are demanding this, he says, and if the old farm cannot produce this with the present improved improv-ed methods of farming, "they back it up in the corner and threaten to leave it if it cannot support them." Director Wm. Peterson made an appeal ap-peal to the county agents and farm bureau officers to sponser more boys and girls 4-H club work, saying that if the agricultural occupation maintains main-tains its dignity and secures the proper prop-er personnel to carry on its most important im-portant activities in the world's work, it must cling to its boys and girls now living on the farm. |