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Show Page March 1975 Utah Farm Bureau News 2 POSTMASTER: Please send Form 3579 City, Utah 84102. to Utah Farm Bureau, 629 East Fourth South, Salt Lake Published each month by the Utah Farm Bureau Federation at Salt Lake City, Utah. Editorial and Business Office, 629 East Fourth South, Salt Lake City, Utah 84102. Subscription price of subscription price: fifty cents per year to members is included in membership fee. One dollar per year. Non-memb- er Second Class postage paid at Salt Lake City, Utah UTAH FARM BUREAU FEDERATION OFFICIALS Elmo W. Hamilton, Riverton Jerold N. Johnson C. Booth Wallentine Elwood Shaffer President Vice President Executive Vice President Editor Garland; William Holmes, Ogden; Jack Brown, Grants-villEdward Boyer, Springville; John Lewis, Monticello; Stuart Johnson, Aurora; Kenneth R. Ashby, Delta; Mrs. Paul Turner, Morgan; Robert Johnson, Randolph. DIRECTORS: Frank Nishlguchi, e; Big government threatens freedoms It is fashionable to picture the opponents of centralized planning as empty-heade- d reactionaries whose thinking has never proceeded beyond the 19th century. But the threat of big government is a phenomenon that has become altogether too stark and ominous during the 20th century. Today, in America, one in every six members of the labor force now works for the government local, state or federal. It took 186 years for the federal budget to reach $100 billion, a line it crossed in 1962, but then only 9 more years to reach $200 billion, and only 4 more years to reach $300 billion. Total government expenditures, which accounted for 12 percent of our gross d of the national product (GNP) before the New Deal, now represent GNP, and, if present trends continue, could easily exceed 50 to 60 percent of the gross national product by the end of the century. Government now directly controls several of our major industries air, rail and truck transportation, power generation, television, radio, the securities industry, to name the most obvious and exerts enormous influence on others through tax laws, environmental controls and the like. One need not be an idealogue to fear the continued growth of big government or to see the destructive effects that such overwhelming power has already had upon our economy and upon our freedoms. William Simon, U.S. Secretary of Treasury one-thir- Short course participants hear Dr. Don Thomas of USU discuss the value of vaccines, serums and other livestock drugs. tion, conditions of the newborn calf, Tips for cutting costs and losses in drug therapy, and veterinary procebeef cattle, as well as building more dures on the farm. efficient gains, drew 72 producers to a Utah Farm Bureau veterinary short Participants received a completion certificate at the end of the session. course at Brigham Young University in early February. Coming from all parts of Utah as well as Wyoming and Colorado, the cattlemen heard a staff of eight veterinarians present a series of talks on topics ranging from care of aniplanning to mals. Dr. James Schoenfeld, state veterinarian with the Utah Department of Agriculture, served as moderator of the program. John Keeler, UFBF director of commodity activities, coordinated the two-da- y meeting. Instructors included Dr. Jay W. Call, president of the Utah Veterinary Medical Association, and Dr. Don W. Thomas, Utah State University extension veterinarian. The course, which required a $15 registration fee, highlighted the following subjects: management of reproduc pre-concepti- on-the-fa- rm on HAVE YOU RENEWED YOUR FARM BUREAU MEMBERSHIP? If youve already renewed your membership in the Utah Farm Bureau Federation for 1975, youre all set to receive this newspaper and the American Farmer magazine for the next year. Youre also in line for discounts on tires, seed corn, emergency power units and other farm supplies. But if you havent paid your 1975 dues, this issue of Utah Farm Bureau News is your last one. And the other benefits of belonging to Utahs largest farm organization will also end. So why not send your dues in today, either to your county Farm Bureau or to UFBF, 629 E. 400 S., Salt Lake City, Utah 84102. HOW TO L05E WORLD MARKETS , , If people only had four stomachs. . . Many problems might be- solved if people had four stomachs like a steer or lamb, a meat industry executive said recently. Then we could eat the kinds of grains, grasses and forage that livestock eat." David H. Stroud, president of the National Live stock and Meat Board, was taking a look at the claim bv critics of the American lifestvle that the - j problem of mass starvation in the world would be solved by giving the grain used to feed livestock directly to humans. But humans are not ruminant animals, Stroud noted. Our one stomach cannot break down into digestible food protein the roughage, fibers and grasses which cattle and sheep consume along writh grains. Livestock thrive on waste products, such as stems, grasses and of other agricultural operations that humans cannot or will not eat, he pointed out. Of all feed consumed by dairy and beef cattle, hogs and poultry in the U.S., 65 percent is material that would otherwise be wasted. Eating less meat to release grain for people who need more food would amount to a superficial token gesture, Stroud said. We need our food factories. There is no practical way of maximizing our agricultural resources without them. Other observers point out that outmoded or almost distribution systems of hungry nations wouldnt be able to handle a heavy flow of foods now. The recent World Food Conference in Rome clarified that the nations who are most demanding of food from the U.S. and others are the least concerned with problems of exploding population figures and education for a agriculture. The United States is rightfully looking for those nations to exhibit more and by-produ- cts four-legg- non-existe- ed nt self-sufficie-nt self-contr-ol self-sufficien- cy. How not to curb inflation It may come as news to some consumers that taxes and not food prices showed the greatest increase in 1974. According to a report by the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, food prices rose 1.9 percent in 1974 while housing went up 13.5 percent, transportation, 14.3 percent, and taxes 25 percent. The tax bite included personal income and social security taxes. For middle and upper income families, social security taxes rose 21 percent in 1974 and personal income taxes including federal, state and local taxes went up 26 percent. Lower income families saw their income taxes rise 31 percent. One senator, predictably said he would call for a tax relief measure in the Senate to help cut the tax burden. Notably lacking in the senators appraisal is any recognition of his responsibility and that of his fellow Congressmen for the current heavy tax burden and runaway inflation which has pushed up the price of food, housing, clothing, health care and transportation. The members of Congress who have been voting for increased social security benefits, and larger health and welfare benefits, seemingly have operated under a theory that the federal treasury has a source of funds other than from the 1 free-spendi- ng taxpayers pocket. Most of the excess spending has been paid for through deficit financing, which is a major cause of our current inflation and high cost of living. It is certain that U.S. farmers and ranchers are not contributing to inflation, but are its sorry victims. Farm prices experienced the third monthly fall in a row as of January 15 as the parity ratio dropped to 72. Creston J. Foster, Director of Information American Farm Bureau Federation |