Show the fanner and war Bond by charles W Hol maii secretary tho national cooperative milk A MERICAN tamers farmers have a 1 C 1 great deal more at stake in purchasing war bonds than simply a patr pati otic lolic urge to assist in financing the war so that it may to be prosecuted to an early and victorious conclusion modern war demands governmental expenditures far in excess ot of those which may be met by current revenue hecei receipts this means government borrowing it if a large part of this borrowing Is through commercial banks additional inflationary spending power Is created through the expansion ot of credit on the other hand if 11 the borrowing is largely from individuals much of their excess funds are drained off hence the pressure on prices resulting from unusually large f funds bidding tor for limited amounts of goods and services Is r relieved eli eved and thus inflation retarded A tremendously increased agricultural production and some increase in average prices received above those paid by farmers have raised the net income of all united states farmers t from the average of 47 billion to 03 63 billion in 1941 94 billion in 1942 and an estimated billion in 1943 with available supplies of farm maeli mac anery nery replacements and building materials limited agriculture has a fund available for either debt retirement savings readily liquidated for future purchases of machinery buildings etc or for present investment ingan vest ent in land A marked decrease in farm mortgages in recent years indicates that much of this fund has been properly applied to debt retirement ti however activity in land sales and a very marked increase in land values demon strate strafe that farmers are proba probably bly diverting a large part of 0 this lund into land purchase seq r from rom march 1 1943 to march 1 1814 1014 average land values per acre roso rose 15 per cent with the larger part of the rise taking place in the last four months of the period the increase during this four m month anth period was the highest on record b being 1 ing 20 per per cent greater thin than the ile e average monthly rate ot of increase for the 1918 1919 20 boom year average values per acre have increased more than one third in the past 3 years in the 1918 1910 19 period the rise was about the same it appears that an bation of probably temporarily high farm commodity prices 1 is in n process just as in world IV war ar I 1 large mortgage debts incurred now at high levels of income w will ill prove disastrous when both total agricultural production and prices fall land values are based on the net return to land with the end of the war in sight and with trie the prospect that farra labor and other costs will require a relatively larger return leaving the return to land less the logical course for land values at present would appear to be downward rather than upward therefore it appears that farmers would do well to io invest evary every available dollar beyond that needed for debt retirement in government bonds these can be held against the day when necessary farm replacements will be available and when farm land values will have become more stable in this way the individual farmer may assist in hastening the lie day of return of his son and also have capital available to help finance him in ventures of his own choice V U S treasury tery dett department ent |