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Show Page 6 Market System (continued from page 5) areas, and the flexibility provided by our livestock economy, governmen- t-owned food reserves are not needed for the protection of domestic consumers. If reserves are to be maintained, simple justice demands that they not be used to force producers to accept government payments as a substitute for market prices. Farm Bureau has long contended that government efforts to improve of the economic well-beito should seek farmers expand June Dairy Month Featured in Nations Agriculture Magazine An experimental dairy farming unit in Cayuga County, New York is the subject for the June Dairy Month feature in Nations Agriculture, published by the American Farm Bureau Federation. It tells about the father-and-spartof and Harold Haw Bruce nership on ng and strengthen markets at home and abroad rather than to fix prices and control the output of specific commodities. The results of many May, 1966 UTAH FARM BUREAU NEWS years of experience with federal farm programs attest to the validity of this viewpoint. The current economic position of cattle, hogs, poultry, and numerous other food commodities which have no price support, compensatory payment, or control programs is far more favorable than that of the commodities for which the government has long operated price support and control programs. During the 1965 fiscal year the cost of the present price support, direct payment, and P.L. 480 programs amounted to approximately $3.7 billion for wheat, rice, feed grains, soybeans (largely oil under P.L. 480), dry edible beans and peas and dairy products the major commodities likely to be affected by the Marketing Food for Freedom program which we are This figure inrecommending. cludes $0.8 billion in realized Commodity Credit Corporation losses, $1.2 billion in direct payments to farmers andor handlers as a substitute for market prices, ' and $1.7 billion for P.L. 480 programs. The Food and Agriculture Act of 1965 will result in even higher government expenditures for these commodities. A gradual shift of these funds to the new program would permit both a substantial expansion in the present rate of food aid shipments and a gradual phase-o- ut of existing and support payment price for food and feed programs commodities as the market system is strengthened. Since one of the conditions to be met by qualifying nations, under both the program proposed by the President and the program which we have offered, would be a requirement that they develop and follow plans designed to strengthen their internal economies, it should be possible to expand commercial sales on a gradual basis over the life of the program. This could be done in various ways. To begin with, we propose that the recipient nation be required to make its own ley their cooperatives. Farm Bureau and private industry their dairy income. at- tractive dairy farmstead of Charles J. Davis, Eaton County, Michigan. Attack on the Family Farm .is the subject of President Charles B. Shumans column, This We In spite of all the govBelieve. ernmental activity in connection the family farm, with many programs of the Administration and Congress are handicapping its success and numbers of these farms continue to shrink. The new broiler growers marketing program in nine southern states, where 80 per cent of the nations broilers are produced, is described in detail. How Farm Bureau Women can :play a major role in Political Action is outlined by Mrs. Haven Smith of Chappell, Nebraska chairman of the AFBF Womens Committee. (be DBneppedlieiniff we MEVEI& fBge( You ... won't find it spelled out in your policies but it's there. You will discover and ap- preciate it when you need it. If we were selling gasoline or shampoo, we would probably give it a fancy name. but we just call it SERVICE We feel it is essential to family security and peace of mind. All of our plans are good . . . we just include the service feature to make them great. people who serve you in your community feel as strongly about this as we; In fact, personal attention to your needs has become a habit with them. We like that, and encourage them by doing our best to back them up. The Your local Farm Bureau Insurance Man is ready to help you with a professional analysis of your coverages and programs. He will make suggestions . . . you will make the percentage of the total cost of the commodities furnished in convertible currency; or enter into loan agree- ments whereby credit extended for the purchase of food under the program eventually would be in dollars. full in repaid As such shifts took place, the need for public financing of the Marketing Food for Freedom program would be reduced. By and building markets at home abroad and producing for need rather than for storage and surplus disposal, we could move away from domestic control of agricultural production and marketing. We cannot support a policy of attempting to supply world food needs simply by superimposing a Food for Freedom program on current domestic price support and adjustment programs. Our policy moves in the direction of substituting the production of food for market needs in lieu of acreage controls and the marketdepressing direct payment programs currently in effect for many commodities. to improve The cover photo shows the transportation arrangements with carriers of their own choice. In addition, a recipient nation might be required to increase its commercial purchases over the life of a program agreement; pay a gradually increasing who chose to work through FARM BUREAU INSURANCE r. OME nih aflilfti |