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The Rural Voice, 1981-10, Page 35GUEST COLUMN Farming in terms of efficiency Former U.S. ag. secretary, Bob Bergland says action needed to aid the family farm I was born in 1928 on a highly -diversi- fied subsistence farm in northwestern Minnesota. Mother and Dad produced a little of everything and not much of anything. They were highly independent and proud of it. There were six million such farms in the 1930 s. Times have changed. The structure of agriculture has changed. But Government policies in the United States are still rooted in the values of the 1930 s. Slogans such as "Give us 100 per cent of parity guaranteed prices to save the family farm," or "Get the Government off my back and out of my pocket," tend to dominate agriculture debate. There are now 2.6 million farms in the United States, two million of which have gross incomes of under $40,000 and produce only 18 per cent of the food and fiber for market. The myth is that these families live in poverty. The fact is they earn 30 billion dollars in non-farm income and enjoy, on the average, a decent standard of living. On the other end of the scale, there are 50,000 farms grossing over $200,000 a year which produce 40 per cent of everything that goes to the market -place. The myth is that these superfarms are all prosperous and effi- cient. The fact is that many of these are slaves to their debts. With the rising cost of interest and petroleum energy, these larger farms are the first to feel the sting because of their dependence on both. Between these two extremes we have a half million farms producing about 40 per cent of our food and fiber that are commonly called the family farms of the United States. They are large enough to have achieved the economies of scale and aggressive enough to use modern technology, yet small enough so they hire very little non -family labour. As a group they are probably the most resilient and resource- ful producers in our structure. The major failing with Federal agricultural policy derives front the mistaken assumption that all farms have tilt. same problems. This is, of course, not true. When 1 was in Government as President Carter's Secretary of Agriculture, 1 conducted and published a study on this question. It was clear from those results that the agricultural price support, tax, and credit policies have contributed substantially to the growth in farm size. For example, unlimited capital -gains tax subsidies granted to speculators in farmland have been a major reason for tripling of farmland values in the past ten years. Such inflation has destroyed the capacity of a family just starting to ever service the land debt from current income or pay the demanded land -rental fee. Price support and credit policies have created substantial protection for the large-scale farmer, but have been of little or no value to 80 per cent of the farms in the United States. The time has come to examine the Federal role in all this. I am strongly recommending that Federal Government programs target assistance to farms which are not yet large enough to achieve the economies of scale which are found at between $100,000 and $150,000 gross income per farm. This can be accomplished by placing a cap on capital gain subsidies granted to speculators in farmland, redirecting the Government credit programs and substantially re- structuring the Federal price -support role. Such actions would aid and encour- age families to get started, to expand to a size required to use modern methods and to achieve a respectable living. Those who wanted to expand beyond the optimum size in terms of efficiency could do so, but at their own peril. It's unlikely that any such initiative will be undertaken by this Administration, or this Congress, because of the preoccupa- tion with other matters, but I do believe in normal times these policy changes will be given serious consideration. BUTLER Ring Drive Silo Unloaders Big Jim Silo Unloaders Volume Belt Feeders Convey -n -Feed Cattle Feeders Single Chain Conveyors Barn Cleaners Oswalt Ensilmixers FARMATIC Blender Hammer Mills Blender Roller Mills Blender Mills for Ground Hi -Moisture Corn Augers Leg Elevators ACORN Cable Barn Cleaners Hydraulic Manure Pumps W ESTE EL-ROSCO Grain Bins -1350 to 250.000 bu. Bulk Feed Tanks ACME Fan -Jet Ventilation Systems ASTON Ventilation Systems B&L Complete Hog Confinement Systems SLURRY -SLINGER Liquid Manure Spreaders CLAY Parts and Service for Clay Equipment AERG-FLUSH Liquid Manure Pumps, Aerators. Separators WE HANDLE EVERYTHING — ALMOST leauq ?won dtetstd ,zed. J• at Amherley }R.R.111, Kincardine} Phone 395-5286 THE RURAL VOICE/OCTOBER 1981 PG. 33