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Show Careful Studies Being Made of Sugar Beet Conditions Before Decision on Contract I Consideration of th 1SJ contracts Hor Kr(iiii(.- tuff' bests Li do be for HEft "tiira r i-ompanlc of I'tah. Idaho I n ... Hsxmcr. in area lurroundlng thssi Hrit sugar man u far; n ring plant. Hh economic problems facinK uth m th. in Huch aa to civ added Importance 16 Rh contracts formulated ihls winter nd careful tulie ar.- being, made s c th exact effect thai PRK i i -i . K I f I "Facts About Sugar.'' A trade pub-Hcati- i published at Chicago, gives he following llforl.il r.n Th-- I'HCS Hf .supar mid of i I "In one of the several economic latu-l." published In mil pages In, UK'liirh .fmlK sidncv H.illuu has contributed con-tributed so strlklnsly to th clear 1 Bndci -i indlng various phases ( Ihc sugar situation, he advanced th' I f iiiKcc-i ,.,, lh.,; I,, th( !'iiif run it ll Hiot the COSt of production tha' d ermine the price of sugar but price' hni determines cost of production. i . .!; p i i. i l meal ni fir' rhoushi imt It In aecur-Egt- In the sense that onlj thnfi whO K-n produce within the limits fixed I !' in-- .ii.ii;- prii i.vor a series ofj l.ji i "i onur.ii.- in the business "It is ob loiin th.it cost pf produ-I produ-I ti'-n i i. no i II reel relation to thi sell' Hng price in an) particular reason else Hre should not have h.il Cuban raw i WUKa i selling . I'M ji Iwent) cents a BSoiiml las) Mai white su--.u- of tin Bjsatn' crops, costing ilie same to i""-Hluce, i""-Hluce, now Kin in. i nii .;-s than four wonts. It is. of our ihe relation-1 ' ; demand and suppl) that de-f Htermlnes price Just ns Is the case' Hsrlth wheat anil cotton and other pvorld ' rops, l hi GRQW lS(i I J "This ihoujclu im su.i$gfst-d by read-! I ! c it of i he -ost of Rprowlns sugar b.i- in two western iKtates. These figures represenl com-Bjdl.itions com-Bjdl.itions iiv the growers I hem K I I ej of Hhc cost of making their crop during I ih p.. i -.iv"ii i" -nun oases the K-osts shown run up as high as $13". Pn acre. Based on a yield of twelve tons t.j the acre, which Is above the ei.ii,-. ll,!- 'I.nv ri inM ahout $!I! j ton and the figures are used as th"-B. th"-B. I ' 1,1 .i higher Brlce should be paid for beets next VP. I y Th.se high costs of course are KiiAsed upon tin rate of charges for the Klabor of men and teams that pre-II pre-II vail. cJurinB I ho yar now .-tiding This is legitltnaie enough, although Writ is fair to point out thai material . S eductions In lh--" I.-. I, or ,-o.stji a rc c.-- 'Ktaln to take place before the pexl u-rnp Is ut und.-r cultivation Iess -defensible Is the Inclusion of a charge I f or th use of land based on the high valuation Imparted l ts ernplovmcnt I for beet growing. The fai i that farm I land Is adapted to sugar beets gives I It a market valuo mil. h gr;:lcr than lit would have it restricted to most ot liel i i op- .. ,,, i,. ,,U , ',,,.;, I ltallzcs this special value in a high rental charge. "Aside from any question of the I soundness of theve figures, howf r I 1 the onl honest response that can ho I given to the grower who advances E them is that he cannot hope to groiir X-ar unless he can find means of re-I re-I duclnc hlx COSU W ith th' pr n . ol j sugar below it selling .figure leal I year and the i jr before and rapMlj N lining to ftlll lower Isfslg It Is ob-1 ob-1 vlous thxit a reduction Instead of an I Increase In the prici I paid for t-eets Is m prospt-.-t if the companies ar. to 'continue In operation. M U muM.v i It Is already evident that many of i the suear companies will lose tnoiie ion the luujor portion of this seasons 1 output which r.-malns unmarketed. The .ost of manufacture varies, great-lv great-lv with th.- sie and efftl renry of the I plants I; Is an e.is calculation, hoW- evsri that if a factors pays $18 . ion for sugar beets from which it can obtain ob-tain a Utile oer 200 pounds of sugar the cost of this sugar before extraction extrac-tion is nOarl) six cents a pound, if we add to this on- .-, n.l a half CfOtS for the various factor) operations we have a cost of seven and i iialf cents exclusive of marketing charges. Interest on Investment and various other expenses. With uanC granulated selling at a link ovei eight cents and frith raw cans prii i pointing the wa) to s further decline it is reasonably i leal that the net results of the sea-son's sea-son's operations for many beet sugar companies will .appear on the wrong Side of the ledger. "it always has appealed to us, and we have exoress. il tin. niiimoti n ,.. quently in these pages, that the, sound -esf and fairest method f paymi nt for sugar beets Is by a Sliding .stale Pas.-d on the selling price of sugar This is the method in practical! universal use in the cane industry and it recently recent-ly has been adopted extensively In the beet Industry. Jn the latter, however, It usually is modified by a fixed minimum min-imum guarantee. This Is a one-sided bargain to ihe exten; that practical!) all the risk is assumed by (he sugar ompany. g H l I. i III PR M "Each Individual grower will have to answer for himself the question whether ho can afford to grow sugar beets ai the prices which cohditlons prevailing in the market when eon-tract eon-tract time arrives enable the companies com-panies to offer. The chances are that he will decide it by comparing the 1 probable income from other crops with the assured return from beets rather than by comparison with costs : during the paat season. We believe that the sugar companies ghould place before their growers a full and frank statement of the situation and should consult with them In arriving at a fair and equitable price basis. The erower Is not entitled to receive a price for his crop which will involve in-volve certain or probable loss to the sugar c ompany, but he is i nliUc-d i,, J a Irani, statement of conditions and .the same opportunity that the com-1 pany Itself has lo obtain a remunerative remunera-tive return. f'omputatlons of past costs of production may be of value i to the grower or the manufacturer in determining whether or not he shall continue sugar production, but they are of no practical bearing on the price which can be paid for next year's crops." no |