NFO-68 (AV10475): US Farm Report: What NFO Is

[music] us farm report a rural area public relations program brought to you in the interest of agriculture rural business and the well-being of our nation by members of the national farmers organization in this area and others interested to seeing the farmers receive a fair price for what he produces now our moderator for today's program Bill Jay hello welcome to farm report we're happy to have you with us and hope you'll stay around for a while because we have some answers to some questions which we think are important to you the members of the national farmers organization who are here to answer our questions today are mr. M W Chuck Thomas he operates Thomas territories of 5,000 acre farming operation at Trigg line and Colville counties in Kentucky it's a general farming operation next to him we have mr. Richard Dickinson Jr who is from Todd County Kentucky has a 320 acre grain operation and is the president of the Todd County NFO our next guest is mr. bill Warren who hails from Humphreys County, Tennessee down near Waverly Tennessee as a livestock and grain operation and mr. Warren is the president of the Humphreys County NFO and mr. Robert McGee from Robertson County, Adams, Tennessee as a livestock and grain operation and as president of the Robertson County national farmers organization gentlemen we have a lot of questions which I think will be the answers to which will be of interest to our viewers and so without any further ado I'd like to just start asking questions and get each of you as you see fit to volunteer your answers and let's see what we can accomplish here in this half-hour program first question a very basic one that I think needs to be answered first and that is what is NFO who'll answer that for me? Bill, NFO is the abbreviation for national farmers organization and this is an organization of farmers banded together for the purpose of running their own business and bargain collectively for a fair price for their production I see I think the next logical question probably would be what conditions or what brought NFO into being a necessity bill while the cost of producing farm commodities continued to rise the prices of farmers were receiving for those commodities were falling and many many of them were far lower than they were 15 years ago something had to be done and we believe that NFO is the answer well now why didn't these farmers who were faced with this condition why didn't they let their farms just go idle and the farmer and his wife get a job in a factory well I think it goes deeper than just getting a job in a factory of course as you know the average age of the farmer today is 50 years plus and even though a factory was available it'd be hard for him to get a factory job but farming is more than just a way of making a living farming is actually a way of life the family farm certainly is essential in our society of our nation the boys and girls reared on these farms have good character and know how to work make a living and do a good job well now thank you mr. McGee do you mean to tell me that that farmers with hogs selling at $30.00 a hundred pounds but you mean tell me that farmers are going broke at these prices well bill back in Parison that seems like a high price but farmers will have to sell a lot of these $30 100-pound hogs to make up for the money that they have lost selling hogs at much less than this figure as you remember a year ago I believe hogs were something like fourteen fifteen dollars per hundred pounds and as far place far back as 1955 I believe in the middle of Iowa they were selling for something like $9 50 cents per hundred pounds so it'll take a lot of these $30 hogs to make up this money farmers have loss. hadn't always been like it right now well one question occurs to me is is has NFO made hogs bring $30 a hundred pounds no but it certainly helped I think anyone who is familiar with the activities of NFO would agree with that in fact one of the head buyers the head buyer for one of the largest packing companies in the United States stated that NFO was responsible for at least four dollars of the present price of hogs four dollars per hundredweight well now someone has said that in order for hogs to get into a balanced economy that the price of hogs would have to go to $41 a hundred pounds is NFO for instance gonna ask $41 100 for its hogs no NFO is not going to ask $41 100 for hogs the general asking price is 22.75 now the packers that we approach some time ago said they couldn't pay 22.75 for hogs but we've seen them pay $30 so we know that's a mistake but the price of hogs is based on our bargaining Committee's determination of a profit fair profit on our production ok mr. McGee let me ask this what what would you gentlemen consider the goal the ultimate goal of NFO and how does it plan to accomplish this goal well many people have been misinformed about the goals of NFO the goals of NFO believe simply stated it would be to establish a stability in farm operation the farmer today no way of knowing what his production will sell for when it is ready for market and since he does not know this he cannot go into a banker and explain his operation and expect a banker to let him have money on his operation because he has no way of determining the sale price the way things are set up to date so the NFO is attempting to provide stability in that we will have contracts which will guarantee us a reasonable profit for our production and we will know in advance at least 12 months in advance of the harvest date what our production will sell for when it is harvested in this manner we will provide stability and a businesslike approach to the farmer you sign these contracts mr. Dickinson with processors is actually req with the processors the meatpackers the milk processors and the grain dealer tell me this why would uh why would a processor sign a contract for NFO production at a price well in the first place bill a processor has to have production to keep his plant going keep as many hundreds of employees at work and if NFO has the production they must have that production which NFO will control NFO can be a great help to the processor because once the processor does business with NFO he knows weeks and months in advance what his production will be and he is able to regulate his business and his labor force in such manner and we can- we feel that we can save the processor much money by marketing in an orderly procedure well now is it easy to sell the story to the processor or is it is it difficult to the processors to sign for their NFO production at one time it was difficult to get the processor to listen however that has all changed now since the processor can see that NFO is a powerful force at the market place and at the present time and as mr. Thomas just explained in order for the processor to operate efficiently he must have NFO production he's got to have production going through his plant or it is not worth anything and since they realize this they are more willing now to talk with NFO and sign master contracts our greatest problem at present is convincing enough farmers of the power that they possess in in the form of their production and convincing them that they must organize and bargain collectively in order to achieve equity at the market place so then getting enough farmers signed as there is the big problem rather than then they processes themselves speaking of NFO who can belong to this organization who can be a member anyone who has- a land owner or anyone who has farm production meat milk or or grain can belong to NFO now when you say any do you mean that that people of other professions can belong to NFO this brought to mind because I think it has been said that a big problem in agriculture today is having people control farm organizations who are not seventy-five to a hundred percent interested in agriculture no well this will not be the case even though any landowner or producer of milk grain or meat can be a member they must receive at least fifty percent of their income from farming as a result only people with a bottom interest in agriculture will be leading it- leading us now what about what about the offices of NFO the national farmers organization how are the officers elected in this organization the election of officers well in fact everything about the NFO was done in a very democratic manner there's no such thing as a nominating committee at an NFO meeting the officers are nominated from the floor by anyone and anyone who makes the majority of his income from farming is eligible to hold office and can be nominated from the floor and then is elected by the members present at the meeting the National Convention is a prime example of this democracy in action the president Lee Staley even though he has served I believe 11 consecutive years as president of NFO each year he must be nominated from the floor and is subject to opposition from anyone who might be nominated by any of the 10,000 delegates which we had it to last convention so it it's a very democratic organization and always subject to the wishes of its members I done when I'm not a very young man and most of my life the federal government has been active in agriculture in one way or another such as paying farmers not to plant and financially supporting prices of farm products I'd like to know how do the federal officials feel about NFO bill most of the senators and congressmen that I've talked to favor in NFO I think they're getting tired of doling out the money paying farmers to produce this or not to produce something I think that they feel that the farmers working together collectively can handle their business can control production and handle the affairs better on the local level then they can be handled from Washington you won't feel then that the the congressman and the Senators would be agreeable to the government getting out of the farm business that's right well I believe that as a matter of fact that this past year the congressional record showed something concerning NFO congressman oginski of whisk us Wisconsin came out with a report which went into the congressional record entitled farmers unite or perish a collective bargaining is the key to farmer success would one of you care to read from that record for us mr. Dickinson bill I have a copy here of the congressional record which was dated March 30th of 1965 and as you said was put out by Congressman of oginski of Wisconsin and he says quite a bit in here which would be of interest to any farmer who would like to read it however I'll agree at this time some of the high points contained on page 10 and then apportion from page 11 under an article headed NFO program meets farmers need the structure of NFO collective bargaining program meets all the basic requirements necessary to put a successful modern-day marketing system into operation the NFO collective bargaining program was developed by farmers and officers and offers all farmers the only opportunity they ever had to solve their pricing and marketing problems in a businesslike manner that will bring stability to their industry and then on page 11 an article entitled NFO for farmers by farmers the NFO was made up entirely of farmers and run by farmers only producers of farm commodities can be members of the NFO this means the NFO is truly a farm organization the bylaw the bylaws of the organization prohibited from going into business therefore it is a service organization it has only one service to offer farmers and that is the opportunity for farmers to join together to meet the one problem that has never before been met for farmers a way in which they can start pricing their products at the marketplace using the same principles and methods that everyone else in the economy uses to price their products or services fine Thank You mr. Dickinson I believe also that during this last convention that you had President Johnson did send a telegram which we'll see a little bit later on question of cost always comes up when you're discussing any kind- any kind of program and my question is just how much is this NFO going to cost the federal government the federal government won't- NFO won't cost the federal government anything actually the government could get out of agriculture when NFO starts work you mean say that the government will no longer take taxes out of my paycheck to pay farmers not the plant and financially support farm product that's exactly right when they're when NFO starts working under contracts the federal government could absolutely get out of agriculture and take this money that's being used in agriculture and put it to a different use or better use alright now let's get back to the farm problem if we hear so much about I understand that the farm problem is complex it's been a problem for a long time and nobody's been able to solve it and I've always heard that the best place to get a drink of water was at the spring so maybe the best place to go to find out just what is the farm problem is to ask you gentlemen who are farmers can you tell me plain everyday words what is the farm problem well the bill the farm problem is that farmers do not receive enough for their production to pay for the cost of production and the reason for this is that they sell their production at whatever price is offered and buy all their materials of cost of producing and to price the seller asks I believe that's just about as simple and answers anybody could give and even I can understand it so we ought to be alright on that when we hear about how serious a farm problem is and can you give me another simple answer it's just in your opinion how serious is the farm problem you know the farm problem really is serious and if the farmers were eligible for financial assistance under the national poverty program six to two percent of the farmers in Tennessee would be eligible for assistance I notice just this week in a publication put out by the Department of Agriculture from state of Tennessee is it average non-farm worker in Tennessee earned seven thousand eight hundred dollars while the average farm worker in Tennessee earned less than two thousand dollars so you can see there is quite a difference farm worker in the non farm worker does put it into proper context and it does show that the farm the seriousness of the of the farm problem well now if the farming situation is as serious as you say it is and as it appears to be I really can't see how the farmers are gonna continue to farm can any of you give me the answer to this well I don't think they can go on indefinitely under the present market structure I believe last year the parity ratio dipped as low as it has I believe since sometime in the 30s after we were when we were recovering from the depression and at present time it's up two points from a year ago up to seventy seven percent which is in my estimation disgraceful to think that the people who feed the most prosperous nation ever cannot devise a method to make a decent living providing this needed food and I don't think they can go on indefinitely and they must stop to realize that they can solve this problem quite simply by banding together and this is the problem at NFO must face well Mr. Dickinson they tell me that everybody is is in debt and maybe they're telling me just so I won't feel so bad being in debt myself but if this is true then it looks like it wouldn't hurt the farmer I keep on running on on borrowed money having farmers always operated on borrowed money well I know I have but I haven't farmed as long as a lot of people and I believe they will continue to farm on borrowed money when there's nothing wrong with this if their loans are made to finance a worthwhile expansion this is good but credit is getting tighter and I believe will continue to tighten on the farmer unless he can begin to show a profit off of his farming operation he has been able to borrow more money year after year because his land increased in value and was therefore able to borrow on this on his increased land value and his land will continue to go up but it was pointed out in a article I read yesterday where farm assets increased about six and a half percent last year which was reflected solely in increased real estate value but the farm debt increased nine and a half percent well this increase in assets was a paper value it's not money that I can put in my pocket and operate on my land went up in value but I did not have this money to operate on but the nine and a half percent increase in the farm debt and the farm operating cost had to come out of my pocket out of my operating funds so this money this this increased borrowing capability is strictly on a real-estate proposition and not on a production that the farmer is able come up with that is right well I've I've heard it said that we've got too many farmers wouldn't it would it be just as well to let many of these family farms go where you say we might let you in the public answer that question if the primary farm should go out of the existence then corporate type farms would have to take over and when they do that there's no telling what price you would have to pay for pork chops then so proud in our society we think we need to family type farm it's been the backbone of our nation but this publication I mentioned a minute ago from the Department of Agriculture from state of Tennessee said that last year Tennessee lost 10,000 family farm workers so it is serious yeah I can see what you mean mr. McGee well let's talk about the prices again for a minute speaking of the high prices I'm beginning to understand how powerful that NFO can get and what I want to know is what is to keep you NFO farmers from getting unbearable price is unbearable from monic consumer standpoint for your production when you get completely organized and when you are selling under contract well we are allowed to bargain collectively under the capper-volstead Act of 1922 and this same Act as well as allowing us to bargain collectively also prevents our pricing our production above parity so there are control yes there are and as I've said haven't been reared on a farm I know and hear a lot about the farmers having to become more efficient and say that's the only way for the farmers to get bigger to increase their efficiency could you set me straight on this problem would you any of you gentlemen care to care to answer that one mr. Thomas talking about farmers getting bigger and the only way for them to become more efficient is for the farmers to get bigger would you purchase that has been the theme of certain farm economists for some time that we must become bigger and more efficient and that we must squeeze our neighbor out of his 80 acres and add to ours but gentlemen that is not our problem farmers are the most American farmers are the most efficient group I think in the world and I like to back that statement up by saying that to prove that the statement is true by saying that a smaller percent of the American workers dollar goes for food then it does in any other nation in the world we are the world's most efficient group and that has not been the answer we are efficient all the way until we get to the marketplace and once we become efficient once we become efficient at the marketplace and learn how to market as well as we have learned to produce I think our problems will be in hand well you fellas are about to convince me that NFO can become quite powerful would you agree to that yes I agree bill I don't think this is bad however if the organization is powerful in the proper attitude has a proper attitude toward the problems which we face you know most of the problems which the cities face all of a sudden is due to this tremendous overpopulation they have not been able to grow fast enough to handle the people who have left the rural areas and come into the cities well these people will not have left the rural areas if the economy of the rural towns had been what it should be and NFO if we're able to accomplish what we are trying to do will solve the economic ills of rural America and this drain and the fact that so many are leaving the countryside and going to the cities will be stopped and we will take our rightful place in the economy once again well we speak of NFO being powerful the tower how big is it a Bill, NFO is solidly organized in 25 states that it includes the great farm states we have grown by leaps and bounds because we are working on a sound principle and since the recent national convention we are under we are involved in the largest organization effort that American agriculture is ever seen and I think we're mushrooming as fast as it's safe and sound for us to grow I am extremely pleased with the size and strength of NFO okay mr. Thomas now mr. Magee maybe I could call on you I've already said that the only people that give NFO credit for anything or NFO members and you give me some concrete evidence as to what NFO has done well we have a statement from one of the dials one of the largest packing companies said that he gives us credit for having put about two cents a pound on cattle and four cents on hogs we have a telegram from President Johnson that he sent to our National Convention I'd like to read that to you said December the first temporary White House Johnson City Texas or at least a that president national farmers organization convention key laudatory the farmer is wrapping up his best year since 1952 his success represents our nation signal progress towards the parity of income Progress which will continue years ahead and on through the decade the work of the members of the national farmers organization has been instrumental in this achievement with your continued support our productive family farm system can't successfully respond to the agricultural challenges of our times and Lyndon b Johnson gentlemen we've got time for just one more question so mr. Thomas I'll call on you if I may how soon will NFO go to setting' under contract I think that we will go to selling under contract as soon as we have enough farmers production signed up and we've gone a long long way I think the answer to that would be that will be selling under contract not soon enough to satisfy many of our members but much much sooner than our opposition believes gentlemen we're on our way mr. Thomas thank you very much thanks to you mr. Dickinson mr. Warren and mr. Mcgee and thanks to you for being with us for this program [music] this program has been brought to you by members of the National Farmers Organization in this area and others interested in seeing the farmer receive a fair price for what he produces this program was the channel 5 videotape production