Show AA denies dedie blame BIame for F or grain GI burning hester chester C davis administrator of ke 0 agricultural adjustment act bently sent the following letter the editor of the northwestern tiler and american baker altor aitor the miller nd A american erlean daker baker minneapolis polls Alinne minnesota sota tear ear sir my attention has been called to n article in the northwestern milt AMT T and american baker ot of septem is er 25 accompanied by a photo raph of two flaming grain stacks nd carrying the caption burned t the stake by the AAA As you know burning of grain 1 which thousands of farmers were riven by the disastrously low pries of 1930 31 and 32 has become 0 infrequent that isolated iastan es of it now no are harped upon by nobody knows how many million lushell of grain had to be reduced 0 ashes instead of being used tor for lood but every farmer remembers hat bat in 1930 31 and 32 there was L 10 decent market and that it became an everyday occurrence to urn lurn tor for fuel surpluses which could not lot be fed to livestock here are the facts about the sit lion two specific cases of burping train are being exploited political y in both instances the farmers concerned ned had been urged by their ellow low farmers on the local commit ece tc to dispose of their kaess pro luct in a normal way at sarcoxie missouri the wheat farmer had een repeatedly told by the local armors committee that he could ut his excess wheat for hay in leno eno county kansas the farmer share tenant also had beon been noti noil led he could cut his oats as hay eorge E farrell director ol of tr kalns ains called attention ot of the far ners 6 ommittee committee to the tact fact that he AAA has never ordered any ally wheat or oats burned disapproves if t it and invariably offers farmers reducing in excess of contract leotas the privilege of cancelling heir agreements with the government ent without penalty loss t f benefit payments in line with his policy the two farmers who tad ad tailed failed to cut their excess pro fauct ct tor for hay allowed it to ripen were re notified they could donate to charity the wheat farmer made a pretense etense of offering ott ering to give his wheat heat away and aad then burned it to 0 me it seems a significant thing hat at the owners ot of the farm on which the oats was burned are identified denti fied not as farmers but as anglers landlers land lers and partners in the western rn terminal elevator company me ne of these clo elevator vator dpn farmers am told went to a hutchinson newspaper and got a photographer come and take the picture even when they ar ari staged the rarity ot of such occurrences today day is in vivid contrast to the agic situation before the farmers barners organized organized their adjustment pro rams in these days government agencies frankly recognized that thai he farmers situation was so desperate deserate that penniless farmers to buy coal in winter ought 0 burn grain in their stoves and furnaces ur naces studies were actually conducted by the university lot of xe he showing that shelled corn at 0 i cents a bushel was more acono teal fuel tor for the farmer than coal it 10 per ton similar studies were hade ado at the university of illinois minnesota and other states with mn rn selling as low as a bushel bu shil farmers realized that it was much more sensible to burn it to keep themselves hem hera selves warm than to let it rot I 1 the orange tudd judd farmer pub ched in chicago commented lit in ilso on reports of corn turning burning if corn actually should be burned is a fuel the would est upon those who are engaged in hoving up industrial prices and hoving down agricultural prices hard experience taught tha tarm farm ars rs to get away from the di disasters or f 1932 now they are using their adjustment programs to beat depression res slon the farmers have made lioney oney to spend tor for city goods and ith more employment city con mere lumere are able abl to buy the farmer tt products iro ro ducts the farmer has ended the rain burning era isolated and staged instances of 0 will not fool the farm try political groups aid processor mans can not debase the nonpar non par ian ban and nonpolitical non political tight fight tarm farm rs are making to overcome depres on sincerely yours signed chester C davis administrator |