Golden Harvest (1951)

here you will see the highlights of conflict a war that has been fought in many forms since man first stirred the earth with a pointed stick today this fight this struggle for food is going through an entirely new phase but the adversaries are still the same man is still drawn up against the blighting forces of nature great gains have been made in this eternal battle on the farmlands of America crop rotation now conserves moisture and topsoil science has given us better seeds has helped us to enrich our soil with more effective fertilizers has improved our control over weeds and over insects yields have greatly increased during the past two decades and the harvest time has been sharply reduced harvest labor with efficient machinery has been reduced to one tenth of what it used to take and the harvest is now completed in days rather than spread over many months of summer and fall but to twist an old proverb it's a very good wind that blows no ill for in the midst of all these advances man has dropped his guard and nature has once again moved in to interrupt our march toward complete freedom from hunger the harvesting of larger crops within a comparatively short period of time presents a new problem each crop be it wheat other small grains or soybeans now pours from the field in a literal flood in the river banks of normal distribution are far too narrow to hold them the trickle of the few years ago has swollen into a torrent which now smashes against the bottleneck of local elevators elevators once could process and ship grains as fast as they arrived but today the receipts are not only far too great shipping is also by shortages of boxcars local storage space assume jammed to the and with too few boxcars to relieve the pressure no more space may be available for days or even weeks which way can the farmer turn to save his crop which is now a glut on the market if he's lucky he may find that a distant elevator or warehouse is not yet filled there he can either sell his crop right away or store it until the glut is over in either case his returns immediately drop between 10 and 25 cents a bushel the cost of hauling perhaps he decides to store his crop in that distant elevator until the market has risen above the glut price but regardless of where he stores his cost will increase at least an additional five to fifteen cents to pay for that storage or if he decides to sell immediately he will probably have to sell at a discount from the already depressed market price which usually comes at harvest time some farmers follow one of these income reducing courses while others in desperate hope store their crops and makeshift buildings on the farm they gamble on the market rising or space becoming available in the elevator before weather rats and birds can chisel too deeply into their returns but leave the grain just a little too long in this kind of storage and in addition to those losses there will be still another the crop will take a lower grading when it's finally marketed still more desperate is the farmers plight when he's forced to store his crop on the open ground for here spoilage can cause a loss of between 5 and 15 percent with a heavy dockage on the grain that's left and grain stored in this way is not eligible for a government price support loan in spite of and because of the great strides made by modern agriculture tens of thousands of grain farmers are caught each year in this tight squeeze between bumper crops and in adequate storage facilities they are modern in every other respect they use the most efficient equipment and follow the most effective scientific methods but even where these glut conditions do not occur farmers are losing a large portion of their income by sheer lack of control over the marketing of their crops alarmed by these heavy losses in both farm prosperity and badly needed grain the Department of Agriculture has repeatedly suggested a solution to the problem four top benefits the department says farmers must have facilities for storing grain a year or more on the farm requirements for such a storage unit a been specifically detailed by the department all bins must meet these requirements otherwise there may be damage or even total loss of the grain and storage and here are the government's requirements the storage unit must hold the grain without loss of quantity must exclude rain snow and ground moisture must permit effective fumigation to control insects must provide reasonable safety from fire and wind damage and when the grain is to be sealed as security for a price support loan the storage unit must have sufficient Headroom for inspection and obtaining probe samples must be constructed so that it requires forcible braking to be entered after sealing and among other important features listed in this bulletins reasonable cost permanence and low upkeep expense and convenience of filling and empty thousands upon thousands of grain farmers are today using the building which meets all these requirements are protecting their profits by complete control of their marketing with an on the farm storage unit as modern as the other tools which have helped to make American farmers the most prosperous in the history of the world this is the all steel Quonset the complete answer to a serious problem the building that meets all the requirements for efficient on the farm storage if permits effective fumigation to control insects it's built to keep out rain and ground moisture even in humid tropical areas in 70-mile Gale these buildings stand with a strength of steel and wherever Quonset SAR used highly resistant to the hazards of fire Quonset buildings completely meet the government's basic requirements meet also the requirements when grain is sealed for a price support loan there's plenty of headroom for inspection and for getting probe samples and of course the all steel construction would require forcible braking to enter this building after the grain is sealed and added to all those income protecting advantages a great convenience strongly recommended by the Department of Agriculture the labor saving time saving convenience of easy filling the labor saving time saving convenience of easy emptying permanence to is considered highly important and permanence is a built-in feature of all steel Quonset buildings hundreds of products of the highest quality are today made of steel have reached new heights of durability because they are made of steel and to the obvious advantages of this material strand steel has added one of the greatest advances ever made in the history of building the invention which makes it possible to nail steel to steel making full use of one of the sturdiest materials known to the building industry and this covering goes on to stay because the nails driving into the jaws of the nailing grooves are deformed and clinched this creates holding power far greater than that's possible with ordinary building materials gives Quonset and almost unbelievable high degree of permanence to long life have the further advantage of low upkeep expense for Qantas are easy and economical to maintain this is a building of which you can remain proud over the years with minimum effort and costs to keep its appearance bright and fresh Kwan coat a special paint developed for use on galvanized steel is available in five sparkling colors white green grey cream and red one or more of these will match the other buildings on your farm will keep your quonset colorful with very little attention quonset buildings of all types are designed throughout for low maintenance expense for rugged long life in those two respects alone Quonset meets the final recommendation reasonable cost but the Quonset system of small grain storage goes far beyond those basic necessities to present a cruelly profit-making investment with his cooling tunnel you gain great additional advantages for now you can store your crops in either bins or bulk with a much greater assurance against the threat of spoilage normally warm air rises through the drain to cause crusting or to encourage the rapid increase of insects but when the cooling tunnel fan is turned on the natural circulation is changed to draw out the warm air to reduce the interior temperature of the grain with lower temperatures the surface of the grain is kept practically free from crust forming mold and insects are held to a minimum much less fumigation is needed when you have a Quonset cooling tunnel and the laborious time-consuming job of turning grain to prevent serious crust damage is practically eliminated Quonset buildings perform with maximum efficiency when they are used for the storage of small grain but their usefulness extends still further for in planning a new building it is desirable in many cases to consider the possibility of converting it to use for two or more different purposes this recommendation is made for several reasons if you don't need the entire building for grain storage then part of it can be used as a machinery shelter or for another example when grain has been sold off you can use your Quonset as a loose housing barn moreover as the government also points out it is wise to have a building that can easily be adapted to any other use in the event you change your type of farming the Quonset is a building that keeps pace with your needs a building design and built for many years of service and for a multitude of uses and if you wish you may apply for a loan from the commodity Credit Corporation to help you get started on your way toward making these higher profits toward helping to solve the tremendous grain storage problem that grows worse with every harvest the CCC can lend you 85% of your out-of-pocket cost or up to forty five cents a bushel to build a Quonset grain storage building on your farm the interest on this loan is only four percent a year you can make this loan for a period of five years if you have a crop failure payments may be deferred quonset grain storage buildings will pay for themselves many farmers who use Quonset for bulk storage have had their entire investment returned from the additional profits on one crop but regardless of the amount of grain stored in any one year may be deferred quonset grain storage buildings will pay for themselves many farmers who use Quonset for bulk storage have had their entire investment returned from the additional profits on one crop but regardless of the amount of grain stored in any one year quonset can eventually pay for themselves and then continue to return your profit over the years to come with on the farm Quonset storage facilities you control the marketing of your crops you control the time and the price at which your grain is sold you sell it when you want to not when you have to and you sell it when the price is right that's how Quonset spay for themselves and here are figures to prove it let's look at what happened the number three white oats during the last full year reported market prices fluctuated like this month by month they fluctuated from this low point to this high point a 31 cents per bushel difference or taking an average during the past five years there's been a 26 cent per bushel difference each year enough to completely pay for your quantity in less than two years in the case of number one dark northern spring wheat this is the way prices fluctuated during the latest reported year from this low to this high a 16 cent per bushel difference with an average during the past five years of 34 cents per bushel difference each year for those who had adequate storage enough to pay for your quantity in one year and here's number 2 barley a 34 cents per bushel difference for the latest reported year with an average during the past five years of 32 cents per bushel difference each year this would pay for your Quonset and show you an additional profit during the second year look at number two rye with an average during the past five years of 52 cents per bushel difference each year in this case one crop will more than pay for your quantity and now number three yellow card with an average during the past five years of 43 cents per bushel difference each year you could have made with modern Quonset storage additional profit from one crop can more than pay for this building and number two yellow soybeans with an average during the past five years of 89 cents per bushel difference each year for those who could hold until the price was right less than one half of these increased earnings on one crop can pay for your quantity and number two yellow grain sorghum with an average during the past five years of 66 cents per hundred pounds difference each year enough to pay for your Quonset from one crop that's how Quonset pay for themselves by giving you complete marketing control of your crops by permitting you to decide when you will sell by allowing you to sell when the market is at or near its peak the additional profits you make will pay for your quantity will go on piling up dividends as long as you need a building for any purpose on your farm [Music]