| Show W LISTEN imm AMERICANS by dr george S benson DIRECTOR NATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAM searcy arkansas under tile the present high rigid support program for some of the major agricultural crops the U S government the taxpayers will be obliged this year to invest additional billions in crops for which there Is no market at the arbitrarily high fixed support price this situation concerns every american and invites the attention of every american no one can deny that a prosperous agriculture is necessary to a prosperous america and no discerning person will deny that agriculture ri as an industry has problems unlike those in other industries in the arkansas county where here I 1 live we aye are sweltering in what appears to be a third year of drouth corn on our hill farm land is burning up before the ears can mature cotton Is being stunted our truck crops are affected drouth la Is admittedly admit edly an act ot of nature over which the farmer has no control whereas most other industries dus tries can more nearly control their factors of production yet the farmer can adjust to periodical drout droutha hs we are beginning to do it in our county I 1 visited briefly last week with the owner of a small farm who Is adjusting his operation to what could be a permanent climate change in this region toward a drier hotter summer growing season his corn acreage lies near a small stream last summer when it seemed apparent we were in for a second drouth year he be went to little rock and in an auto junk yard lie he found an old broken down tire fire truck today the old fire truck is pumping away sending bending nourishing water to his corn field through a low cost aluminum piping and spraying system with this improvised irrigation ho he produced 90 bushels of 0 corn to the acre last year and expects the same this year more than three times the average arkansas normal year production a and nd a drouth year this shows what enterprise can do and it shows something else this farmer can afford to sell his corn at a lower price and still make a piolet and more people will eat cat more of it with the present rigid high support po rt prices we are being forced into a program of scarcity and controlled production and away from the basic american idea advancing pi production and freedom A tree free agriculture sparked by the wonderful ingenuity and enterprise of our american farm families can assure its own prosperity except in times of disaster when a helping hand away from the basic american idea of advancing production and agriculture for long except agriculture itself |
