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Show Page 2 November 1974 Utah Farm Bureau News AFBF head gains media attention Real Facts About Food A new booklet has just been issued by the U.S. Department of Ag- riculture that should be required reading for all consumers. The question is how to get some of the facts to them. It would seem that farm organizations should see that as many of their leaders as possible get a copy and then pass on the information to consumers through farm-cit- y visits, luncheon club meetings, church socials and women's meetings. All members of Congress are getting a copy of the booklet. The new book is titled The Real Facts About Food. It is an update of an earlier booklet of a year ago and reflects some of the dizzy things that have been happening to food prices through 1973 and the first quarter of 1974. Here are some facts from the new booklet: The price of food jiisjrisen much less than wages. Average ..wages have increased nearly 142 percent from 20 years ago. The price 'df food eaten at home has increased 64 percent. The home and away from home increased 70 price of food we eat-- at of the rate of increase in wages. percent. Thats only one-ha- lf Twenty yeanr ago,'1 the typical household spent $956 a year for farm produced foods at the supermarket. In 1973, this market basket of food cost $1,573 61 percent more. If food prices had risen as much as industrial wages over the past n food would cost the typical household $2,314 20 years, tqday an extra $777 per year per household, or more than $2 extra This news conference with AFBF president William Kuhfuss (seated at table, of publicity. Elmo Hamilright) in early October brought Farm Bureau plenty held during a ton, (left) Utah FB president, accompanied him at the session Western States water conference in Salt Lake City. Use caution in writing state water policy, FB leader urges Major changes in Utah water law, including a formalized state water policy, should not be acted upon in less than two years time perhaps even longer, the executive vice president ot Utah Farm Bureau told a task force on Utah Water Resources recently. Appearing before the group appointed by Governor Rampton, Booth Wallentine listed a number of reasons why the state shouldnt rush into a formal water policy which might start a serious controversy among Utah citizens. Referring to the increasing needs of the energy industry for Utah water, he explained the emotional nature of the question: Should the competitive market system be allowed to award water rights long held by agriculture to the .highest bidder? Agriculture in the Beehive State is more dependent upon irrigation water than almost any other state, Wallentine said. About a million acres of irrigated cropland here form the base of operations for 40 million acres of rangeland, providing winter feed, farmsteads and other vital needs for the farm-grow- per day. If food had increased as much as direct taxes in the past 20 years, we would be paying 72 percent more for our food than we are which would cost us an average of nearly $474 more per person per year. The cattlemen who produce the choice grade beef saw the average price they receive for their beef cattle rise only 11 percent in the 20 years between 1952 and 1972. Then, in 1973, with slightly lower production and stronger demand for beef both at home and abroad, prices for beef climbed 23 percent. By the end of 1973 and in the first months of 1973, however, cattle feeders were in trouble. In June, 1974, for example, the price of choice grade beef in Omaha had fallen to a level 37 percent lower than the 1973 peak. And here are some facts about farm costs: Farm real estate taxes are 3.7 times higher per acre than 20 years ago. Farmers total production costs have tripled in the last 20 years. THANKSGIVING livestock industiy. I v ' ' 1 '' i LOOK BACK AND GIVE THANKS ' LOOK FORWARD AND TAKE COURAGE ten-perce- LOOK AROUND AND SERVE LOOKUP AND ASK GOD'S HELP .... v m , s Si 5 15! ills 'V- m . Wg Jw J Mn. Haven Smith, .... V' .V ' r w ; t y OK-I My -- i ' - Irrigation agriculture is the backbone of most rural Utah communities, he added. Food requirements of the U.S. will grow by an estimated 35 percent by the year 2000, the speaker pointed out. At least a increase in water for irrigation in the Intermountain states is called for by 1980. The future will demand an expansion of agriculture in Utah, not a reduction. . .And for agriculture, there is no alternative to water, Wallentine said, explaining that industry often can find alternatives to heavy water use. Even an increase in irrigation efficiency the ratio of water kept in fields versus that returned to the stream - .. ' 5' ' ' nt POSTMASTER: Please City, Utah 84102. has its risks, he told the task force.-Fo- r one thing, a very high rate of water efficiency reduces washing of natural salts out of the soil. These salts can then build up to toxic levels. Often, downstream users rely on return flow of irrigation water upstream for their own farming needs. And under present water law, if an irrigator spends money to line ditches, install sprinklers, or otherwise increase water use efficiency, he isnt permitted to use the water he has saved to irrigate other land. This disincentive for water conservation must be overcome, Wallentine claimed, if efficiency is to be increased above the present 0 percent level in Utah. Wallentine challenged the wisdom of putting water allocation authority into the hands of either a government agency or citizens group. Above all, we must not be so foolish as to sell off agricultural water at bargain prices only to find a few years from now that the most pressing need is for food. 35-4- Two suffocate In silo LeRoy Holdaway, 40, an active Utah county Farm Bureau member and former county board member, and his cousin, Ivan Holdaway, 26, died in a com silo on the Holdaway farm Thursday, October 17. They had apparently entered the silo to level the grain and suffocated due to lack of oxygen in the structure. The bodies were discovered lying in the silo about six feet from the top by a fellow farm worker. The funeral was held in the Vineyard LDS chapel Monday, October 21. sand Form 3579 to Utah Farm Bureau, 629 East Fourth South, Salt Lako and Business Office. 629 East Fourth South, Salt Lako CHy, Utah 84102. Subscription price fifty cents per year to members Is Included In membership fee. subscription prlci One dollar per year. Non-memb- zvm c Second-Clas- - - s er postage paid at Salt Lake City, Utah UTAH FARM BUREAU FEDERATION OFFICIALS Elmo W. Hamilton, Riverton S. Jay Child, Clearfield C. Booth Wallentine Elwood Shaffer President Vice President Executive Vice President Editor ward Boyer, Sprlngville; John Lewis, Monticello; Johnson ward Boyer, Sprlngville; John Lewis, Monticello; Jerold AuroraJohnson, Delta; Mrs. Paul Turner, Morgan; Robert Johnson, Randolph. jerol' I1, Sora- - S Kenneth R' a! |