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Show YOUR FARM PROBLEM i diately before I became secretary of agriculture, the farm price parity par-ity ratio slid from 113 to 95 per cent. Since February of this year, prices have been more stable than in 1952, averaging about 93 per cent "of parity. This story of declining farm income in-come and mounting agricultural agricul-tural surpluses is the best evidence, that our present program is not functioning effectively. For more than a decade, our farmers have been producing under pressure. To meet the war-time needs of ourselves and our allies, they turned out record amounts of food and fiber between 1941 and 1946. With the end of the second World War, they were asked to provide the commodities required in the rehabilitation of Europe and other sections of the earth. Then came the Korean war, with new and heavy demands for farm goods of all kinds. Suddenly this situation was radically rad-ically altered. World food production produc-tion had been climbing since 1946. By 1952 this was exerting pressure in the market places. Our wheat exports dropped by one-third in a single year, cotton by even more, not only had importing na'ions increased in-creased their own production but they found that they could supply their reduced needs at lower prices from exporting countries which had no farm price support prcg.ams Just as many American consumers consum-ers have turned from butter to less expensive spreads, so have other nations sought cheaper wheat, cotton and other products. We have learned through sometimes some-times bitter experience that when the farmer is in trouble, there is likely to be trouble ahead for ev- BY EZRA TAFT BENSON Sercetary of Agriculture. (First of a two-part series) This nation has a serious farm problem, not affecting agriculture alone. It is everybody's problem. Today your government has approximately ap-proximately $5 billions of your money invested in farm commodities. commodi-ties. You own outright more than $2.5 billion worth of wheat, corn, cotton and other surplus farm products. You have outstanding loans on agricultural commodties totaling about the same amount. You are paying more than $14 millions each month just to store these surpluses. The losses which your government govern-ment sustained in disposing of just a small portion of your holdings during the first three months of this fiscal year amounted to $47 millions. But, you ask, don't we have a farm program designed to insure agricultural prosperity and prevent the very situation we find ourselves our-selves in today? ' The answer is that we are operating oper-ating under the same farm program pro-gram we had last year and for several previous years. Actually we have strengthened it in several important respects to permit farrn-eis farrn-eis to take broader advantage of its provisions. Existing legislation binds us to a continuation of price supports at 90 per cent of parity 1 on basic commodities through the 1954 crop year. Nevertheless, farm prices have declined steadily from the record peaks established under the impetus , of the Korean war in February, 1951. During the 12 months imme- erybody. This year, net farm income in-come is expected to be nearly $1 billion below the preceding year. While farm income has been dropping, drop-ping, our total national income has actually increased. This disparity cannot continue in an economy such as ours. When the farmer can't buy the products of industry, there are certain to be serious dislocations. ' How we got into this situation is not as important, at the moment, as what we propose to do about it. I have outlined here some of the major problems facing agriculture. agri-culture. In a subsequent article, I should like to discuss some of the possible solutions. |