NFO-286 (AV10785): US Farm Report: Leaders Speak Out Part 1

On this week's U.S. Farm Report a visit with three NFO leaders from widely separated parts of the country Arizona Idaho and Oklahoma. Stay tuned. [Music] Hi everybody and welcome to U.S. Farm Report this week. Interviews with three NFO leaders the first of whom is a young man whose roots are deep in the ranching soil of Arizona the area of Casa Grande. Mac McDavid now works for the National Farmers Organization as National Meat Representative. Here is Mac McDavid you married Mac. Yes I am married. Children no children. How big a family do you come from. I have just a sister in the family there's four of us. Okay. Did you go to school. Yes I went to a at the University of Arizona in Tucson Arizona. Then in sixty eight went into the service National Guard and then came back out and went back into the farming operation with my dad. And I've been connected with agriculture or farming since then and a more realistic way I guess maybe earning a living at it which is not too easy at this stage of the game. Well I think that your current activities or are preparatory is better living anyway don't you. Well I think this is certainly I have gained. Very broad education and probably more commodities although I am and working primarily with slaughter cattle. But I've gained a lot broader perspective of what we have really got to face and in total agriculture and probably more areas than I ever would have a fighting this state in Arizona and tried to produce myself out of business. Let's talk a little bit about your background in Arizona. Tell us about your farming operation there. Well like I said my dad has been involved in agriculture. I born and raised in agriculture and. And primarily operation in Arizona here not too many years ago was. Quite diversified. We've been in the cattle business for several years and also diversified farming operation cotton and feed grain programs. Whatnot under irrigation pump water and in the Casa Grande Valley primarily about 1962 I guess that. We saw that we were undergoing some problems and primarily involved price wise. With. Our cotton and also our grain and we decided that at that time we would sell the farming operation or liquidate the farming operation. I guess I should say. Which we did and primarily now are involved only in cattle. So you might say an evolution of what has happened in the agricultural industry which we were very diversified ten years ago. Farming maybe 2500 to 3000 acres of farmland as well as to cattle ranches in Arizona. We've cut all of our farmland and row crop land out now and they're primarily involved in the cattle industry which is not too healthy at the present time either. Well, you're joining the NFO you and your father as partners in this cattle operation and farming operation was almost commensurate I guess with your decision to to liquidate your farming operation. Well basically we had probably already gone through the liquidation process of our row crop farming operation as a matter of fact I when I went to work for NFO in. February of last year I was really not even a member of the organization at that time I had been on the ranch as well as been doing mixed feed and consulting work with a feed mill and whatnot in Casa Grande. Well now. Bring us up to date on just exactly what you're doing as National Meat Department Representative. Well primarily what my job involves with the organization is going in. I was I've been in quite an extensive training program since February which is evolve now and I working in the western areas and are possibly new frontiers of NFO where. We have had not too many contacts or contracts I guess I should say with the cattle industry in the western United States and we started out there and in April of last year with a small contract and in the state of California where I'm primarily have been for about the last two months. And have evolved now and moving into a new contract with a central location there involving probably you might say the first actual supply contract in California with a hundred head of cattle a day and that in that area out there. Of course we're just barely scratching the surface but. Due to certain situations I think that where we have seen in the past few months in the cattle industry or livestock industry. The acceptance with the large corporate you might say or large individual feedlot in that area these people that primarily a year ago were receiving 34 cents for their fat cattle are now. Down at lower levels and. In some instances are probably losing anywhere from 20 to probably 60 dollars a head on the cattle that they are selling. So these people are much more interested in talking with the organization and we are gaining momentum in California also and I would say we could even broaden out into Arizona that more and more people are interested in the livestock industry in that area talking with us and. We. Of course there's a lot of hurdles that we still have to cross in that area that many many of the people in the Midwest have crossed. But. With the guidance and what basically I have done in the Midwest or gotten right involved with. The cattle program and seen what they do back here and then going back out there and we can eliminate many problems that NFO had in its earlier days I'm quite sure well you had a track record back here right in the Midwest to go on. This is true and it guided you and obviously guided you well because it appears that you've been successful there in California. Well it certainly appears at this time that we have been going quite well of course. Like I say it is well it it's only been in existence as far as the. Actual contract for about six weeks now. So we are moving and moving very rapidly with that contract. Mike when you look into your crystal ball what do you see in the future. Well I don't know. I know you can look at the cattle industry and in several different ways I think we have many basic problems in the cattle industry but primarily we've had. Psychology fact in the industry whereby there's periods of time that the rather affluent maybe for a period of seven years we have a little bit of affluence in the cattle industry in three years. We have we lose quite a little bit of money generally. But I think we're now at the stage in the cattle industry where the people actually realize. That something is going to have to be done. People can't sustain another blow like they had in 63 and nor can they sustain it from probably a twofold reason it. Looks. We've got an economic situation as well as. Other problems and things in the industry. But it looks like to me that we have. We're going to have to make a lot of strides in a short amount of time. Or else we're going to see. Some type of vertically integrated or conglomerate structured. Cattle industry and it is heading that way very very rapidly at the present time by the iNFOux of our size as the theatres in private primary producing areas. We've seen what the vertical integrators have done to the broiler industry right now the inroads are being made in the hog industry. Yes they are. And the next thing we know as you say we'll see this in the cattle industry. This is true. I'd say it's true I feel it's we're already seeing a great model that. More and more every day I think we see this type of structure going on in the cattle industry because primarily of the size of the operations these boys you know it's kind of like I've often said you know the. The man raises 50 head of cattle or fatness 50 head of cattle a year and in Iowa in Nebraska. He loses money too. But there is only real one real basic difference between a man that has 50 head in Iowa and Nebraska and the man that has 50 thousand head. Of cattle in California or Texas or Arizona as the fact he's just got that much more money to lose that much quicker. That's just about the. So really in perspective it's all the same situation. I mean they're just kidding themselves they say. Well we're we're more up on the market we know more about the cattle industry than those people do. I'd venture to say the inefficiency in large corporate feedlot or large individual feedlot is. You know when you have have to rely on people to drive a feed truck instead of the farmer going out to scoop it with a scoop shovel that man makes sure that they all get fed there because he owns them. The inefficiency in the. Actual large corporate feed lot of the equipment involved in maintenance and everything really the profit margin. Is not the greatest in the world. They're striving on volume and volume is really going to kill them. I think if we say it's not going to kill them but it's gonna put them out of business as well as anybody else. After my interview with Mac McDavid I had the pleasure of talking with Joe Taylor who is the president of his county NFO chapter from the state of Idaho. How many acres do you farm. We have twenty two hundred and the only farm about a thousand. What is the other thousand is it Timberland Joe or. No it's dry land and undeveloped. I see. Well as I remember in our traveling in Idaho. A lot of that land when it's undeveloped is pretty rough lives a lot of Mesquite on it and you really have a job to go in there and get it off don't you. Yes. Most of mine doesn't have very much sagebrush. Some rock outcroppings. I always call it mesquite now is that what's the difference between mesquite and sagebrush. It's about the same isn't it. No actually I thought mesquite grew in Oklahoma Texas. I think it is down in the south or southwest that mesquite grows well at any rate sagebrush is the right term and the government still owns land in Idaho that is not developed. Isn't that right. Right. A large portion of it is what we call BLM land. Do you mind if I explain to our viewing audience that you're having some problems with an eye. Oh that's right. The light here is bothering Joe a bit and forcing him to squint. But if you don't mind squinting through it. Well we certainly don't mind ourselves. Joe that's all right. Well let's talk about NFO in Idaho and your part of Idaho and something of the history of NFO there and its progress through the years bringing us up to to its status quo. Now you've been in that area from Michigan for 10 years as you say. When did you join NFO. About four years ago. And when did you become the president of your county. I've been county president for the past two years. Well let's talk about how things were in terms of potatoes and other commodities in Idaho. Four years ago when you first joined. Well we sure needed some help in improving our market conditions and all commodities at that time of course was my main reason for joining NF O. Things were pretty bad at that that time four years ago. Yes we. We needed to improve our marketing and tell me what's happened. During the past four years. Well of course we've continued to block them together and and improve our markets and and they have it have improved. The bigger the blocks the better. We have seen our markets improve. You have good membership in your county. Yes we have a large membership and it continues to improve how many members do you have. Do you know the county. Well we have approximately 400. Now what does this represent in terms of percentage of farmers in that county is this 60 70 percent of the farmers. Or do you know. I don't know. At the present time production wise I couldn't tell you that this is of course more important. The percentage of production then then the number sure it is. Well now you've done a great deal of work personally in behalf of NFO and your county and your part of Idaho not only in potatoes but in other commodities. But let's talk a minute about potatoes. How about sort of giving us some of the background that has led to the most recent potato holding action well of course we led into a distressed situation last spring or we had a bad frost condition. We weren't able to move the potatoes and we could see where we were going to be forced to give them away forcefully as low as 50 cents a hundred. So rather than do that we bought them all together in and went into a holding action with them and of course we held them much longer than we had any idea where we were going to we moved someone that got into distressed as we could along through the whole and ultimately were very successful and moving him at much higher prices than we probably anticipated we were going to come in and did business with with all the people in our local area. That is all of the processors and shippers before we got done with the action. It was a long hard tough struggle and we gained recognition. And I had a lot of fun and disposed of all the crop and we did suffer a little shrinkage. And we're very successful. That's wonderful. You know Joe something you said to me earlier. I find very humorous. And I'd like for you to repeat it to our viewers. We were talking about the Idaho Potato and the claims made in other areas of the country in that regard. What was it you told me in terms of numbers presume you're referring to the fact that I mentioned that in regard to the fresh potatoes that we often say that the is about twice as many Idaho potatoes market is voracious as we grow. And it's an amusing thing I don't know that that's quite true with we often. Find that that that is said. Well this I think speaks so well of the Idaho Potato everybody wants to grow the Idaho but whether they're in Idaho or not don't they. That's right. At least they want to make claims for that right. Well let's talk about some of the successes in your part of the country and other commodities. Well grain is one that we have had a tremendous success. We started our grain program about three years ago with quite a bit of success. And of course we reoriented that program several times a year ago. We got a little bit foolish and set a target price and it didn't work quite so well. But this past year we started out with a new program with a new green representative for the voice you marking area and we had disaster prices and in June or rather about July but through our new Green representative and. With a 25 car sale to export into a different area higher priced area we were able to advance our market tremendously. I think it averages out about 12 cents a month over a seven month period to now we're back in real good position. We blocked it on the harvest sale. We have a long term block we have a short term block which operates very well we've been able to move everybody's screen within a matter of I'd say a week or two of whenever they want to. We've been able to move all the grain. I believe that all of the producers want it before the first of the year in fact things are so well that our own grain man wasn't easily able to attend the convention with us. He's just too busy. Yes. He had to cancel Al we've been able to what we call the upper valley and the Idaho Falls area. We moved to contract for them a short time ago and they now enjoy the same prices up there that we do even though there's a freight differential voice over An American Falls area. Joy the same price as we do we'd be unable to work all of the state in a combative way that we don't tear down one area. I'm I'm very real encouraged the way the areas are working together not to tear down one area oversupply one area this as it should be always before NFO got involved. One area was tearing down one over supplying another and was filled with rumors of what was going to happen other area. But now the communication system that we have we always know what the opposite area is doing with just one or two simple telephone calls. We are in daily contact. There's no confusion. We don't believe the truckers and truckers still are happy. They know where they can get the green we sell on about two week contracts and I'm real enthused that in the grain trade we finally hit on something that looks like he's going to work. Later I talked with Leonard Harnick who is the grain coordinator from K County Oklahoma. The first president of his NFO chapter in that Oklahoma County. Leonard as NFO county charters go Kaye County Oklahoma which is your home county is one of the youngest and newest isn't it as to when were you chartered down there. Well you were a charter darn well about 16 months ago to be exact. And you were elected the first president of your county. That's correct. I think that's a very nice honor. Well. I feel that it is. Course along with that responsibility goes and honor goes a little work and how much accomplishment of you made down there in the last 16 months. Well in the last 16 months we've increased our membership around 30 percent. And now I've got my county structure fully organized my section foreman is working the bases is working and we've got good response out of my zone supervisor and the boys is working real good. I think that's wonderful. Now King County is in north central Oklahoma. In fact your places you told me is about what 12 miles north of Ponca City. You're what six miles from the line. That's true. Now what kind of green farming predominates through your area Leonard. Well our major crop is wheat and barley is second. And have you had some pretty good marketing successes through that area already. Yeah we feel like that we've accomplished some markets are not what we're been wanting but we're working towards them. They're probably better now than they have been placed in the quarter and a little bit as an improvement. But in fact it would seem to me that any little bit of improvement might be an incentive for some more of your neighbors down there to be joining in. Oh oh yeah. The neighbors began to get curious. They're wondering what semis is doing and you let them know in this way they're going to come along. You betcha. Well let's talk a minute about you. Leonard have you lived down in Oklahoma all your life. Yes sir. I was born in Kay County right there and I was born in Keller Oklahoma Kildare you know Kildare. Is that in Kay County and cake. I was in 1924. I'm just too young and you sure are still actively farming. Oh yeah. And I got to find a farm operation. How many acres do you farm. Well we go back quarters there and I've got 10 quarters I'd take care 10 quarters. Well now you know what when you get into those kind of terms you lose me in acreage. What does that amount to. Well I'd have to do little Fagan and be when around. About 16 18 hundred acres somewhere sixteen eighteen hundred. You have most of it in wheat now it's about two thirds cultivated and the third is in grass. Then you're running some cattle. Say I've got a. Combination of I've got a stock cattle and I've got brood cows. How big a family do you have Leonard. Well. I might surprise you I've got six children six children. Have any of you have any boys. I've got two girls and four boys. Boy that's what a farmer should do. By golly I was real fortunate to have had some of the boys stayed with you in your farming operation. And yes my skinny my oldest boy he's in the service right now. My youngest boy is home help me he's home the day he took to catalog pasture wheat pasture it's rained there and they tell me it's snowing snowing and they can take count and this is what we've been wanting is many to. He wasn't too happy with what you ought to be their help they're not doing that we're gonna be partners why you. You're gonna learn what it's like. That's right. Well of course it seems to me that to some degree with the with this young man on the farm with you that you're helping to solve one of the really serious problems of agriculture today and that is the keeping of the young people on the farms of America. And you've been able to do it in part at least as true and well better than most you know. Well I kind of made a deal with the boy I giving some wheat land and we bought two honored and fifty some had a stalker again and I told him I'd use fifty head that would be his share. I guess he got start out at the bottom. You going to work your way. But even so Leonard it seems to me you gave him a better start than probably you had. When I started out my folks give me one quarter land. And they give me two cows and my wife's mother. She gave a wife three cash so we had five. Yeah. And we developed this from the five cows I've got over a hundred and some had a cow. That's great. Well now what about these two boys unaccounted for your oldest you say is in the service. The youngest is on the farm. What about the middle two boys if they'd gone off into other areas and all they're young to have. I've got one more. He's up well he's fifteen a Jag on the high school and I got the little tadpole. He's five years old. I think that's what's kept you young Leonard. Hard work in and raising those those children kind of a few years apart. Well I want to thank you very much for coming by the play and talking with you. It's been a pleasure talking with you and I sure do wish you and the other NFO members and Kay County Oklahoma the very best of luck and I know with that kind of leadership you're able to offer your county that only good can happen. Good luck to you in the future. Well thank you sir. And that was our visit with Leonard Harnick of Oklahoma. U.S. farm reporters seen each week at the same time on this same station until we meet again so long. Everybody.