NFO-92 (AV10498) US Farm Report: Farm Wives View

Welcome to another edition of US armed report brought to you today and each week a assess time by members of the national farmers organization in this television viewing area the national farmers organization is an organization dedicated to raising and stabilizing farm prices through collective bargaining today's u.s. farm report is entitled farm wives view of farming leading today's u.s. farm reports discussion is ivan Stravinsky from Oxford Iowa this is certainly a pleasure for me to have the opportunity to visit with leading ladies from Eastern Iowa or farm wives and they are very good leaders in the field of Agriculture it is my pleasure at this time to introduce to you on US farm report mrs. Jack fiscal of walesburg Iowa and to her right mrs. fern Crawford from Lone Tree and mrs. Elmer bursts ler from the Dora we will be visiting with these ladies this afternoon or today to talk about what parts women can play in the national farmers organization as well in the general field of farming we do know that the American housewives as these ladies are are also beat consumers of their own farm commodities now I'd like to have these ladies tell us a little bit about their farming operations where they're from and going to this little explanation now what type of farming they do in their area then we'll start this off with this is Jack Driscoll you tell about your farming operations please yes I'll be happy to I'm a homemaker we own and operate 650 acres in the heart of Iowa County near wins burg we have registered Angus cattle and Hampshire hogs general grain and livestock operation wheat in the Catholic Church in Lynchburg and we have two boys so we hope to carry on our farming operation I think you would you like to tell us a little bit about your farming operations in the laundry area mrs. Cochran we owned and operated farm in southeastern Johnson County near Lone Tree and have two sons we raise corn oats and beans and have stock cows that we feed out the calves also sows and we feed out the pigs and we have horses and ponies I see you have quite a farming operation there keeps you very busy and this is versatile would you tell us about your farm operations please we live in we own and operate a farm in the southwestern part of Iowa County we have five boys and two daughters we attend the Methodist Church in Millersburg Iowa we raised corn and soybeans we have cattle we feed out the calves and we raise hogs well this gives you a general cross-section of Eastern Iowa is needing farm ladies and as you see they are all producers of the most important commodity that the American people can use and that's food we're here in the in the Midwest but certainly Center on a farm problem this is what we're going to be talking about today that we do have a farm problem than our particular farm problem at this time is the lack of equity of income with the latest government statistics telling us that the farm producers are earning fifty three percent of the income of our non-farm friends that work in other industries and also a particle workers and so on so this is the general problem that we're going to be talking about today the national farmers organization is certainly gaining experience in the fields of marketing and selling our products and we have done this do marking arrangements for livestock we're doing this also for grain through in position sales as well as the marketing seem calm informed area we're trying to increase the income on the American farmer of course the ladies figure in this very heavily because if the American farmer I know personally I have the income that there are a lot of house furnishings and this little things that he's electrical gadgets if we ladies like they pick up you know there's always both for new linoleum in the kitchen things of this type something that these may even be interested in so we'll start a discussion with mrs. jack pistol and I'm going to ask her why this way did you join the any at home well in our farm I feel the production is on in half the operation the marketing makes up the other half and I feel that we have been very lacks and unrestricted in the dealings with the marketing officials but just the tremendous price spread between the farmer received from for his products and the prices that everybody lives off of us after it leaves our gate and I feel that the partner is the one that should do something about this and this is why we joined well you certainly have a lot of reasons there I'll move on with the same question to mrs. Furman Crawford why did you join the NFL we felt the need for some sort of a marketing plan to help us with this end of our operation the farmers have produced an abundance of products but has not received his fair share in a monetary return well I we're proud of our profession as farmers we with a family of five boys if we were going to keep them interested in farming we find it necessary that we must have an adequate income comparable to the non farmer if we are going to keep the boys interested in the farm okay thank you well moving on then with the question - again Kathleen would you tell us how is the NFL benefited you up to this point do you feel well I feel that time we have raised the price of hogs considerably and and has some needs many many friends in our organization and one thing I'd like to stress is the wife should go along to the meetings and keep up and what is going on and helping me I feel that it's here to help my husband and I can help him by taking care of all that marketing arrangements which requires many hours in the morning because you have to line up trucks and you have to is lots of people doesn't have a full load and it takes many hours of contacting him back out in the field and me it's a telephone and and I feel that we've done a great deal towards we certainly appreciate the ladies taking over from part of our work actually this is a farming operation and we always have the widest assistance as they are the other half of the farming operation and they work well then to working in the national farmers organizations Kathleen that's pointed out here and when certainly we as farmers are busy producing that there are times during the busy season such as the planning season which we've just completed that we certainly appreciate any help that you can give us as you've told us that you've done here today and moving to firm how do you feel that the nfo has benefited you well it's Kathleen it said we do appreciate a little increase in the price for what we receive it helps get a few of the things that we feel we need to make things a little happier for ourselves and comfortable for our family it's broadened our scope we've met people from other parts of the country just this winter at the National Convention in st. Louis we talked to dairyman from Wisconsin we understand their their problems better than than just reading it in the paper when you talk to them in person you feel a more closer contact with them marketing occurs in the marking ranges caffeine's busy loading up getting the load straightened out I'm usually busy hauling a load into the desert he put it for our own personal operation I might thank you for it I might add at this point that Fernan also works as our first District of Iowa NFL secretary which released demands were other work we certainly appreciate the fine job that she's doing in this particular area let's visit with Louella for a while here just how do you feel that the national farmers organization is benefiting you well I think the NFL program has been a very educational program to me it's made me realize that it isn't only the farmers in our community that that have problems but basically the farmers all over the Midwest or all farmers in the United States have the same problem and that is they are doing a great job of producing their commodities but when they open the gates and selling they have little profit last and their problems is all the same and it's been a very educational program for me both in economics and history these of course are the secondary and also additional benefits that we have by enjoying the national farmers organization and also here we're hoping to explain to you that the national farmers organization has been instrumental in bringing about the greater competition amongst the presently buyers for our livestock commodities as well as grain by facilitating the I should say concentrate concentrating the production into a particular area of a particular quality this is cut down on of course a lot of cases that marketing costs are reduced and in many instances this has been passed on to the NFL members themselves now moving back into the lunes viewpoint which we've talked about earlier in the program is the farm wise outstanding leaders in each respective areas doing a lot of work towards getting an equity of income and as you heard them say that the reasons that they have done this is Reyes I'm sure that you agree with them we're going to ask mrs. Crawford at this point how she goes about purchasing groceries we talked about the changing of times we know that through the years that things have changed and the same is holding true in the food industry as you recall maybe possibly 10 fifteen years ago the methods of what we used as consumers purchasing our food items have changed considerably we moved from the independent one man unit to the super chain stores as we know them now so would you care to tell us a little bit about the changes in this respect this is coffee well shopping is no longer just a matter of going to the corner grocery store and buying food as it used to be we pick up hairdressing magazines socks drugs Hardware dishes and an endless list of things and then when we come to the cashier's counter these are all lumped into our mind and food items when they say my isn't food expensive these days when really it is largely a non-food items that we have purchased this is very true we've heard this many times I'm sure you have and the National Farmers Organization is always interested in bringing forth the facts that actually the people do whatever they put into this form around sack they call groceries there are a lot of things that aren't food items and this of course we like to point out because there are a lot of hard items also included in the grocery bill I like to have Kathleen go into little detail of how she feels that the farmers can and are raising their income through the program of collective bargaining designed by the National Farmers Organization well this always amazes me because we think of a large number well we all know that the farmer is only six or seven percent of the population and actually we have a hundred percent control of the foods produced in America through collective bargaining we can gain control of our own destiny we don't have to figure the numbers by the members we figured the members by their production and this is one thing our national president brought out and his speech the other evening and this is one thing that I'm real proud of that all the major farm organizations has endorsed the bargaining power of the farmers all right fine Thank You Kathleen along the same thoughts you were talking about the cost of food and of course the American housewife is the biggest purchases overall because she does the shopping for the entire family we'd like to bring to your attention here that there is a marketing and transportation situation printed by a quarterly by the Economic Research Service from which we've gathered our data here which we'll be showing to you in a moment but we're talking about the cost of food and just what constitute the figures that go into the cost of food now first we'll start off with the farm food basket which you see there and this is what the average wage earner and clerical worker family is purchased in one year per household as you see the first quarter we have their January to March that at the yearly rate this will be something like a thousand ninety dollars at the per household that will be spent on the food basket now the farm value in this food basket is actually four hundred and fifty one dollars and they spread between what the farmer receives and what the consumer has to pay in this typical average food basket is six hundred and thirty nine dollars going a little further I saw through this article that farmers share of the retail cost on cigarettes and what the retail cost was in 1965 we see that the average retail cost of a pack of cigarettes was twenty nine nine ten cents almost say 30 cents a pack and yet the farm value in that pack of cigarettes was just a little over three point eight cents now this gives you a little idea of what variation there are in food costs and certainly this is the even more pronounced in a lot of the everyday items that the housewife purchases in the food basket I should say completes even more for example in this next chart that we're going to show you here where we pick up just a few the items that you do include in your everyday shopping see in the chart that we do have beef and I found the beef retail cost on the average is 84 and 6/10 cent per pound and yet the farmer receives 51.5 for this same amount of be upon the pork as you see in this chart retail cost is seventy eight point one and the net farm value of this part of the pork when you purchase it is only forty six point two cents going on milk a half gallon will retail costs forty eight cents and the farmer receives twenty two point eight for the same amount of milk the loaf of bread you see an X there that the retail cost of it is twenty one point five and the net farm value of in this loaf of bread is three point five there's quite a spread there corn flakes for example 12 ounces of these retail cost twenty nine cents and the net farm value is two and a half cents going on potatoes ten pounds of you paid sixty eight point one for EM and the farmer receives twenty one point six tomatoes a pound it will cost you thirty five and eight tenths cent whether the farmer received twelve point eight margarine a pound will cost you two on the average 28 one ten cent and the net farm value in this is eight point seven this are just some typical items that are included in the farm food market basket by no means can we time in this program to include them all but they don't want to bring out the a few to give you an idea that the American farmer isn't receiving a terrific price for his commodities we are having report that we are in peace in your income but we're also working very hard at the moment to keep the good prices that we have now is there anything that you would like to add at this point missus versa since these are a woman's viewpoint I I don't want to take up a lot of time in the program but I'd like to have you make a few comments if you will please well I know that American once said that there is only three ways that a nation can increase their wealth that is by war and taking over another nation by force or by trade and by through agriculture they could plant a seed and create new wealth as if by a miracle and I think that that the farmers and the their wives should work together and work just as hard on marketing this production that we have as we do in producing it there isn't a wife that won't help their husband any day in the fields when they're busy and I think that they should work just as hard marketing it and getting an adequate income and creating the new wealth that the nation deserves thank you well is there certainly interesting remarks and we'll move on Kathleen do you have anything that you'd like to add on to this in this vein well population may be down drastically from what it used to be but the farm still carries much of the weight in the overall job picture city folks among many others are badly in need of a refresher course I think they think the farmers is just taking in all kinds of money and they don't realize how much our expenses have gone up and I think it would be interesting if they would just sit down and analyze the capital investment in one medium-sized farming operation and then it would be very comparable to the one of a small industry in town and it might challenging to know that the help situation is quite badly on the farm and the truth is a sizable slice of the nation's economy strength still lies in the farm fields I am assuming here Cathleen that the reason that we do have a problem of getting help on the farm is seems that we're competing for the should I say wage earners and they are all I would say this this is determined by the city an industrial worker and when you apply for a worker to work on the farm he's looking something in these price ranges and to tell the truth at this point is this a little difficult to music competition that they can't have shorter hours working in town and will receive a higher income I assume that this is what you're talking about tell me that's right the manager the owner for many many more hours and then the hired labor does this is - I have no doubt that you participate do you have anything at this point that you'd like to add the firm that's we've been talking about that we haven't met you well we all know that the family farm is perfect spot to raise children they can have pets without too much worry about infringing on another feature up people's right they have we're gonna have fresh air and it's a perfect spot for children and grandchildren yeah as long as we can keep this type of a home for families this is what we're working for this of course is the what we call a way of life and a culture that we've been used to just something that you've grown up with I think it goes back to the old saying that you can get the out of the country but you just can't get the country out of the boy and there is by nature being human beings that we do take pride in producing and everybody even if they do move to Thailand have the basic things that they like to plant a garden and watch things grow so this is a very strong point in obtaining a better income for our farmers we realize that we're losing there's fewer and fewer farmers in fact this recently I attended the meeting in Iowa City and they were telling us about the trends in agriculture they made it sound as if it was impossible to do anything about these trends and I'm happy to report that the national farmers organization feels that there is something we can do about this we don't say that we can completely turn that culture around the exodus that we're speaking of when they're losing farms for example at this meeting they told us that their own County of Johnson County that during the years of 45 through 50 that 3 and 2/10 percent of the farmers in that in our County were displaced and we had a reduction in the years fifty to fifty five of seven and one tenths percent and through the years of 55 and 60 we had a reduction of seven seven tenths percent and from the year 60 through 65 there was a twelve point zero seven reduction in the number of farmers in Johnson County as you see the trend is growing larger we don't say that lack of income is the entire problem there are other but it's it's a very high percentage that causes the American farmer to leave the farm and go to the city when this also will create new social problems we do know that any social changes political changes of this kind create problems and what we're trying to do is keep as many farmers as we can out on the farm when we feel that the farmer if he is given a return of and on his investment that is comparable to other segments of society that certainly will at least slow down the trend now the projection even further going to the US as a total 1965 we've got something like 3 and 2/10 million farmers are projecting in 1918 to one and a half million farmers and then only 750,000 of these will be commercial farms and at the present time out of these 3 and a half million farmers they consider that 1 million of these farmers produced 80% of the total output of the food that we raise here in the United States and that the other two and a half million only raised 20% of the output so though we do have changes we need changes in marketing as we've been talked about here today and I promised the ladies that I give them all the time they they wish to tell about their viewpoints of Agriculture is there anyone here that would like to add some more to our program you know the farmers spend several weeks riding a tractor to produce a crop and we must all spend some time and effort to get a price for our crops this takes assistance and determination on a homemakers part as well as the best ahead of the family when she says many hours and as a homemaker I realized that if we keep our determination we cannot lose to me it is not the not the important one who wins the first battle but the one who went the last and I think that if all the homemakers and the rural areas of America would stick together and get behind this play there's no reason why we can't bargain for our products we raised them they're ours and we should have a price for it well certainly our inspiring words Kathleen I see that why you're the outstanding leaders in your era I certainly have to agree with you there's something you like that at this point well well I work in fo I try to do everything that I can to to raise the our income and as I said this has been an educational program for me and looking back at history in every country of the world where the the country has lost their family type agriculture they have also lost their form of government so I think that the housewife it should be reading finding out what is happening and get behind their husband and try to get a better income I think is there anything that you'd like to add and quickly here fern I'm very proud of being farm life it's very rewarding to see a crop of hay out there and means a lot of sweat and toil and hours but and seeing a newborn calf and going through the pastures I mean maybe this isn't very exciting minutes but to me it's very rewarding we should be proud of ourselves and I think this is very true I know it's very hard to convey in words you over all we'd like to say and there's a limited for time certainly I'd like to say at this point has been indeed a pleasure to be visiting with you ladies this afternoon or that I shouldn't say today certainly appreciate the opportunity of having this chance to chat with you and certainly we want all of you ladies to learn to know your nfo lady members they certainly do a lot to help us an organizational work and as well help yourselves farmers for a healthy and stable farm economy join the nfo the national farmers organization is an organization dedicated to raising and stabilizing farm prices through collective bargaining tune in again next week at the same time for another edition of us farm report a weekly program they'll defend the many vital issues affecting American agriculture today US farm reports a rural area public relations program is 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 television viewing area for more information on the national farmers organization contact the county organization in your county or write nfo Corning Iowa farmers remember collective bargaining is the key to farmer success join the nfo today