| OCR Text |
Show i: FARMERS HURT BY PRICE DROP Meredith Says Situation Should Be Handled as National Problem j WASHINGTON. DfeC i 1. .n..n-! .n..n-! can farmers f:icc a situation vjo to Calling; prices for farm product! which nh..ul.l be dealt with as ' national f.rohlem, Secretary Meredith declared in Ms first annal report mnde puDIIc " lodav. On November 1 prices were 33 ' Doi cent below those prevailing :jt planting lime, the secretary of agriculture agricul-ture said, adding. "There Is perhaps no single .solution for the situation which the farmers hre new farms, but there are many Steps which can and .should " laker to place our agriculture on n more satisfactory bai and to stabilise the 'uisiness of farm log. not m the internal inter-nal f the farmers alone, but In the h-prest h-prest of the nation aa a whole. A j sober national thought with regard to j n... importance, the absolute necewlty, 1 of a ?ustninel agriculture In this coun-i coun-i i r is Imperatlx e." CO-OPERATIVE M ARRETING, Several remedies were .snug' steel in- hiding extension of co-operathri i ftetinf and some means ot aiding In ijarrylng ovoi ti periods low production pro-duction the surplus of years of hiKh pi ...luction. The fpusllon of farm and personal credit must be g1vn re Favorable consideration, the secretary declared, and ways be found to aid Sonant farmers or men Just embarking in the business of agriculture i- i anb-Ush anb-Ush themselves. I The road between the producer .nd i ho consum-r should be kept open a ad made shorter," the report s.id. to insure in-sure fair prices ,:tnt that the consumer, will he able to hu with only "reasonable" "reason-able" profits attached to the orglnal jelling jrlce. Co-operative marketing nndoubledly affords an opportunity to Biorten the channel between producer and consumer, the secretary said, as well as opportunity to reduce the cost of production by use of governmental information as to marketing, grading, RECORD CROP HELD The farmers of America "have again justified the faith of the nation to meet Its requirement:',' Mr. Meredith declared, and have produced crops estimated to be worth i 1 3. :'. aaa.ono this year. The combined yield of the1 ten principal crops was 13 per centi "labove the average for five years. The corn crop of 3, 19$. 000, 99 bush-1 Is is unprecedented, representing about four-fiiths of the world's pro-1 ductlon, the report said. The sweel liutato crop of 1 0i;.ou0,i.m"ui hushels is far In excess of any oth' i v.-.ir exu-pt 1919. while the rice crop .1 U.'.nnO.'Ji'O bushels Is one-fouith greater than the largest crop ever before harvested. To-. To-. bacco production of 1,476,000,000 pounds, the sugar beet crop of 1 4'.'.-300,000 4'.'.-300,000 bushels and the potato crop of j 121,000.000 bushels stand out as liiKh inork-t ivhilo th altnli nrrnln. lion of 1 236,000,000 bushel has 1. I I led i Only once. I "It ought to be a fact." Mr Mere-1 dith continued, "that when the farms of the country produce abundantly the consuming public will be liberally supplied sup-plied with food at rea.so::a I h- pries H e farmer taking hiv profil b i ause of targo production and the consu i re- eiving his increment of benefit rrom ' "having an adequate Supply :it B reason reas-on blc cost. BURT BY PRICE DE I INE. "In general, we should epeel 11 to he true that the farmei u condltl s improved in direct propi rtlon to the jiumbcr of bushels of wheal Ol corn or the number ol bales ol otton he produces. It frequently h ippens, how-; ever, that when all farmers have WC-I Iraordlnarlls good crops during the! 'jarao year low prices leave him worse off than he has been 'in other years with short crops and high prices This year, Mr. Meredith said, hlghl orices for farm products continued un-111 un-111 they were ready to sell, when tin. I price reduction set in. covering everything every-thing the (armors had te s n and materially ma-terially affecting nothing they were . ompelled to bu "The year's output, produced at am abnormally high cost," the secretary :rtded, "Is worth at current prices J3.-. O00.000.0oo less than the sro II r crop of 1 9 1 '' H ml J 1 ,000,0011, i . s ,. II,:,, L the still smaller crop of !! is The! I best estimate that can now be made f indicates that the total value of uni-' mal products in 1920 is ?8, 76 7,000. oOo ! or about fJOO.OOO.OOO less than in' 19 in. "There is probabl) no othel industry I or business that could suffer a slml-I slml-I lar experience and avoid Insolvent v.' lR0BXiEM8 OF I i i . I Farm finance, he said, h.is become more and more Involved until it ranks I in Importance With the financial prob- 1 I lem of Industry. In this, as In m.n-I m.n-I keting. Mi eredlth suggested axpan-I axpan-I slon of the a-operative iden as lik'el) I to brms definite and tangible results I of bcnotll to the farmer. The department depart-ment is making a study with a lew to I ippiying the co-operative pah. to farm I mortgage and personal credit and I Kii in lusura l he report added. I National thought will be directed to the problem of land ownership during the years Immediately ahead, Mr. Meredith predicted. Causes and re-' suits at farm tenancy, v said, must bo placed "squarely before the Atnofi-I Atnofi-I in people so that their Importance may be re og nixed." since on the qui b-ii. b-ii. m of soil depletion and tin- serious pffect it hii on prodn'ctlon depends large)) the food supply of the future He urged Congress to make available funds for exhaustive studies In I his onncctlon. MOVEMENT TO CITY. A governmental study also should lie made ' the farm labor situation. Mr Meredith said. ' Failure to recognize its complexity," complexi-ty," ho added, ' has resulted In many unwise attempts to solve It." The movement from the- farm to the city constitutes "a real concern" In America, the report said. If the iuci e.Lslnp population Is to be ted from available farm hinds. efforts ef-forts to reduce agricultural hasardS must go lorwird vigorously, Mr M. t. dlth said. Among these hazards he enumerated plant diseases. Insects, rodents ro-dents and livestock diseases- congress was urged to provide for wide:- Investigation Inves-tigation of these questions, the report asserting they should be curbed us u national duty to ward off grevloufl situations sit-uations in the annual food production In later years. |
