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Cornell University Library 
 HD1411.T42e 
 
 Agricultural extension service in econom 
 
 3 1924 014 051 795 
 
AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE IN ECONOMICS, 
 
 (Paper read at the meeting of the Directors of Agricultural 
 Extension, meeting with the Association of Land Grant Col- 
 leges, at New Orleans, Louisiana, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 1°;21.) 
 
 \ A) 
 
 Henry C\ Taylor. 
 
 ********* 
 
 Extension work in agricultural economics has for its objec- 
 tive the teaching of farmers to think in terms of economic facts 
 and forces. An important function included under this general head- 
 ing is the supplying of the facts in terms of which the farmer 
 should think. Thinking may be defined as "seeing the relations of 
 facts to problems" . Farmers usually lack sufficient facts in 
 terms of which to think effectively on economic problems. This 
 leads to thinking in terms of assumptions or scanty information. 
 This explains many conclusions, which, when acted upon, lead to 
 misfortune. While providing facts is of first importance, exten- 
 sion work should not stop with the dissemination of information. 
 The larger task is to teach the farmers to see the relation of facts 
 to the questions of what to produce, how to organize production and 
 how to market the product. Here is a large task which can be ac- 
 complished through the persistent effort of men who understand econom- 
 ics forces in action and who have the backing of competent research 
 
 workers . 
 
 \ ' 
 This backing of the research workers is important. "She materi- 
 als for extension work on economic problems should be the results of 
 researches which have been matured to the point where they may be 
 
^ 
 
 Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924014051795 
 
* 2 - 
 
 extended, or carried, to those who may benefit by them in their every- 
 day work. Likewise, the farmer's problem as seen by the extension 
 worker is the starting point in research. Hence, the importance of 
 the closest possible relation between research and extension workers. 
 This is necessary if research is not to become sterile and if exten- 
 sion work is not to be superficial. 
 
 In order that we may more clearly understand the importance 
 of this close cooperation between the two groups of workers, let us 
 outline some of jdae classes of economic problems which challenge the 
 attention of the farmer. The question of what to produce is an ever 
 recurring one. The history of American agriculture shows that re- 
 adjustments have been forced upon the farmers f ran time to time due 
 to the growth of great cities, to changes in the cost of transporta- 
 tion, to variations .in demand, and to the introduction of new crops. 
 At times these questions seem to be settled and then again they 
 come into the foreground. 
 
 For example, the growth of manufacturing cities in New England 
 transformed the agriculture of New England from a self-sufficing 
 economy to a commercial econony during the early part of the last 
 century. Following this the development of the railways made it 
 necessary for the New England fanner to reorganize his farming by 
 largely omitting wool and beef and other articles which, because of 
 their durability and specific value, could be shipped from the West, 
 and devoting himself to the balky or perishable articles such as hay, 
 vegetables and milk. Today a change in the freight rates again sug- 
 gests the necessity of new shifts. Furthermore, the question of 
 
- 5 - 
 
 choice of crops arises every time the crop specialists frm the col- 
 lege, or the advertisements of seedmen, propose the introduction of 
 a new hay crop, or a new variety of corn, wheat or oats. 
 
 For example , the efforts to introduce alfalfa in the corn 
 belt were carried forward without sufficient attention to the in- 
 fluence the crop would have on the farmer's labor program or his 
 crop rotation. The big story was "large yield" and "fine feed", 
 without ascertaining whether it meant larger total income and great- 
 er profits,, This leads to the suggestion that not only must there be 
 cooperation between the research workers and the extension workers, 
 but also that there should be the closest cooperation between the 
 croj> or livestock specialists and the economic specialists. 
 
 Indeed, it is a question whether the man who is to give spe- 
 cific advice to the farmer on crop production should not combine the 
 results of all the research specialists who deal with the physical , 
 the biological or the economic phase of the problem, in order that 
 he may carry to the farmer a well rounded result . This would reduce 
 the danger of misleading the farmer, but it puts a heavy load upon 
 the extension •wpr&ar. The alternative is to press forward with the 
 teaching of the principles of farm organization to the farmers and 
 then depend upon them to make such use of crop and livestock special- 
 ists as may fit into the plan of farm organization as decided upon. 
 This plan is perhaps the more feasible for a number of reasons: 
 (l) The extension agent cannot always be present to advise the far- 
 mer; (2) true teaching methods lead to independent thought, which 
 makes continuous help unnecessary; (3) economic conditions are ever 
 changing so that what is good advice at one time may be bad at another. 
 
For these reasons it would seem that economic extension work on the 
 choice of crops should consist of enunciating the principles to be 
 followed and in continually presenting through the press the facts 
 regarding production, demand and prices which give basis for deci-^ 
 sions as to what to produce at a given time in a given place. More 
 specifically, this means the carrying forward of the work now in 
 progress in farm bookkeeping and the analysis of the farm business, 
 which, being interpreted, is the application of arithmetic to the 
 problem of farm profits in a manner which will show which of several 
 competitive crops will add most to the total farm profit and how the 
 non- competing crops can be combined into a most satisfacotry system 
 of farming in the light of given marketing conditions and price trends. 
 
 But the arithmetic of crop selection is only the beginning of 
 farm economics. Close upon the heels of this problem follow the 
 questions of farm lay-out, size, of fields and the size of farms to 
 fit the combination of enterprises which has been decided upon. This 
 is another problem in arithmetic in which the amount cf work a man, 
 or a man and team, can accomplish in the different lines of production 
 becomes a basic factor in the calculation. Before these factors can 
 be used, however, in computing the size of fields or the size of the 
 dairy herd,' the old question of intensity of culture comes up for an 
 answer. Put in concrete form, this question is: "Should one man and 
 team undertake to produce 20, 30, or kO acres of corn, recognizing that 
 on the smaller area a larger yield per acre can be produced but that 
 on the larger area it may be possible to produce a much greater total 
 product per man?" This is, of course, not a question which can be 
 answered for farmers in general. Differences in soil and climate, 
 
-3- 
 
 as well as differences in the skill and energy of the men and the 
 equipment used, make this impossible. 
 
 The thing we should hope to do is to make our extension work 
 in faun arithmetic include a few new items from time to time. From 
 what to produce, we can move on to the methods of figuring proper 
 degree of intensity. These, together, give basis for figuring size 
 of fields and the proper size of farm for the given farmer who knows 
 his labor force and has measured the task with his own arm and knows 
 what he can accomplish. 
 
 Closely connected with the problem of farm organization are 
 the questions of farm labor, farm tenancy and ownership, credit and 
 insurance, in which the leading farmers are taking an intelligent 
 interest. But important as all these questions relating to produc- 
 tion are recognized to be, the farmers are more interested in mar- 
 keting than in anything else today. It follows, therefore, that 
 economic extension workers should give much attention to marketing 
 problems. The question is: "What shall we teach and what methods 
 shall we use?" 
 
 Shall we teach that the present price situation is due to un- 
 fair and inefficient practices on the part of middlemen and that the 
 remedy lies in displacing the present marketing system with one owned 
 and controlled by farmers, or shall we encourage more farmers to look 
 behind the price quotation to the conditions which account for the sup- 
 ply of farm products and the conditions which limit the purchasing 
 power ,and, hence, the demand of those who desire our products? The 
 latter line of procedure may be less popular but it is the basis of ad- 
 
- 6 - 
 
 justing production to the market conditions and is necessary if agri- 
 culture is to "be prof ita Die, whether the marketing is done cooperative- 
 ly or as a private undertaking. 
 
 Furthermore, the study of market demands leads not only to 
 the adjustment of production in quantity and quality to suit' the mar- 
 
 4 
 
 ket, hut it leads to proper gracing and packing, both of which are 
 important steps in the propel marketing of many classes of products. 
 
 The teaching of the marketing processes by illustrated lectures 
 would result in more intelligent views of ' what can be done and what 
 needs to be done to improve present marketing methods. Thoughtful 
 study of the matter will lead to sane views of where cooperation 
 will improve the system of marketing and prepare farmers for coopera- 
 tion, when desirable, by making clear to them the' part they must, 
 themselves, play if cooperative marketing is to succeed. This same 
 educational work will point out where state and federal regulation 
 may prove the better means of improving market conditions. The gener- 
 al rule in dealing with the marketing, question should be to educate 
 but not to agitate, to sho»v the conditions of success and the causes 
 for failure in cooperative marketing, but neither to urge people 
 to cooperate nor to take the lead in the organization or operation 
 of cooperative companies. The same aid should be available for co- 
 operative and private •undertaking. The objectives are efficient 
 marketing and fair prices. 
 
 Having given thin much attention to the subject matter of 
 economic extension work, the next question is: "How shall we as 
 state and federal forces organize for extension work in economics?" 
 
■a 7 j- 
 
 In the farm management demonstrator working with the county 
 agent we have a nucleus which will make a good foundation for future 
 growth, While these men have been supposed to limit their work 
 to faun management, they have found by experience that they cannot 
 segregate the problems of farm organization from the problems of 
 marketing because of their intimate relation and because the farmer 
 is at present more interested in marketing than in fann management. 
 Naturally, the farmer would prefer to have the market adjusted to 
 his system of farming, rather than to adjust his farming to the 
 conditions of the market. 
 
 So far as I know, the extension work in marketing and in farm 
 management is quite generally in the same department of the college. 
 It is expected that in the future the two lines of work will be 
 combined in one bureau in the Federal Department of Agriculture. 
 It would seem therefore that the time is ripe to call the men doing 
 extension work in these fields " Economic Specialists" . In some 
 states there may be but one, in others there may be several, and the 
 division of labor may be worked out on commodity lines or certain 
 men may work on special production problems and others on marketing 
 problems, as the case may seem to warrant, 
 
 In any case the present plan of one or more jointly paid ex- 
 tension specialists, lodged in close connection with the college de- 
 partment of Agricultural Economics, functioning as a part of the 
 state extension system, drawing upon the results of research both 
 state and federal, should, I believe, be the central feature of the 
 extension work in agricultural economics. 
 
T 8- 
 
 This extension service centering at the agricultural colleges 
 should be supplemented by an adequate crop and market news service. 
 Cooperation in the News Service is developing between the federal De- 
 partment and the state Departments of Agriculture or Bureaus of Mar- 
 kets. The federal department is collecting crop and market news in 
 the competing countries and on the important markets. This infonna- 
 tion is furnished to the state departments of agriculture from which 
 it is distributed by radio and by circulars throughout the states. 
 In addition to this, market statements are prepared by the federal- 
 department for the press from day to day. The interpretation of 
 this news in terms of what the farmer should plan to produce in the 
 coming year and when he should sell the crops he has on hand is and 
 should be left to the farmer. The more completely the economic ex- 
 tension work of the colleges has been done the more satisfactorily 
 will the economic facts presented in the news service be understood 
 and the more successful will be the farmers in adjusting their pro- 
 duction to demands of the market. The extension service of the col- 
 lege, combined with the market news service, should in a few years 
 clear up some of the misunderstanding which is so common today on 
 economic questions and give a more intelligent basis for the efforts 
 which have for their goal "better farming, better business and better 
 living." 
 
EXTENSION SERVICE IN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS . 
 
 By Dr. H. C. Taylor, Chief Bureau of 
 Markets and Crop Estimates, U. S„ 
 Departaaent of Agriculture. 
 
 Extension in agricultural economics has for its objec- 
 tive the teaching of farmers to think in terms of economic facts 
 and forces. Thinking may be defined as "Seeing the relations 
 of facts to problems." Farmers are usually short on facts in 
 terms of which to think, which leads to thinking in terms of 
 assumptions or scanty information. This explains many con- 
 clusions, that, when acted upon, lead to misfortune. 
 
 It is evident, therefore, that extension work should 
 furnish facts. But extension work should not stop with the 
 dissemination of information. The larger task is to teach the 
 farmers to see the relation of facts to the questions of what to 
 produce, how to organize production and how to market the product. 
 Here is a large task which can be accomplished through the per- 
 sistent effort of men who understand economic forces in action 
 and who have the backing of competent research workers. 
 
 This backing of the research workers is important, for the 
 materials for extension work on economic problems should be the re- 
 sults of researches which have been matured to the point where they 
 may be extended, or carried to those who may benefit by them in 
 every day work. Likewise, the farmer's problem as seen by the 
 
extension worker is the starting point in research. Hence, the 
 importance of the closest possible relation between research and 
 extension workers. This is absolutely necessary if research is 
 not to become sterile and If extension work is not to be super- 
 ficial. 
 
 In order that we may more clearly -understand the impor- 
 tance of this close cooperation between the two groups of workers, 
 let us outline some of the classes of economic problems which 
 challenge the attention of the farmer. The question of what to 
 produce is an ever recurring one. The history of American agri- 
 culture shows that readjustments have been forced upon the farmers 
 from time to time by the growth of great cities, the changes in 
 the cost of transportation, the variations in demand, and the in- 
 troduction of new crops. At times these questions seem to be set- 
 tled and then again they come into the foreground. 
 
 For example the growth of manufacturing cities in New England 
 transformed the agriculture of New England from a self-sufficing 
 econcmy to a commercial economy during the early part of the last 
 century. Following this the development of the railways made it 
 necessary for the New England farmer to reorganize his farming by 
 largely omitting wool and beef and other articles which, because of 
 their durability and specific value, could be shipped frcm the West, 
 devoting himself to the bulky or perishable articles such as hay, 
 vegetables and milk. Today a change in the freight rates again 
 suggests the necessity of new shifts. Furthermore, the question 
 
-3- 
 
 of choice of crops arises every time the crop specialists from the 
 college, or the advertisements of seedmen, propose the introduc- 
 tion of a new hay crop, or a new variety of corn, wheat or oats. 
 For example, the efforts to introduce alfalfa in the corn 
 "belt were carried forward without sufficient attention to the in- 
 fluence the crop would have on the farmer's labor program or his 
 crop rotation. The story was "large yield" and "fine feed" , with- 
 out ascertaining whether it meant larger total income and greater 
 profits. This leads to the suggestion that not only must tbere be 
 cooperation between the research workers and the extension workers, 
 but also that there should be the closest cooperation between the 
 crop or livestock specialists and the economic specialists. 
 
 The extension worker can scarcely be expected to represent 
 the combined results, of all the research specialists who deal with 
 the physical, the biological or the economic phases of the problem. 
 Moreover the extension agent cannot always be present to advise the 
 farmer and economic conditions are evsr changing so that what is 
 good advice at one time may be bad at another. 
 
 True teaching methods lead to independent thought which 
 makes continuous help unnecessary. It would seem that economic 
 extension work would consist of the teaching of the principles of 
 farm organization to the farmers, depending on them to make such use 
 of the crop and livestock specialists as may fit into the plan of 
 farm organization as decided upon. We must carry forward the work 
 now in progress in farm bookkeeping and the analysis of the farm busi- 
 ness, which, being interpreted, is the application of arithmetic to 
 
the problem of farm profits. 
 
 The thing we should hope to do is to make our extension work 
 in farm arithmetic include a few new items from time to time. From 
 what to produce, we can move on to the methods of figuring proper de- 
 gree of intensity. These, together-, give basis for figuring size of 
 fields and the proper size of farm for the given farmer who knows his 
 labor force and has measured the task with his own arm and knows 
 what he can acconplish. 
 
 Closely connected with the- problems of farm organization are 
 the questions of farm labor, farm tenancy and ownership , credit and 
 insurance, in which the leading farmers are taking an intelligent in- 
 terest. But important as all these questions relating to production 
 are recognized to be, the farmers are more interested in marketing 
 than in anything else today. It follows, therefore, that economic 
 extension workers should give much attention to marketing problems. 
 The question is: "TSbat shall we teach and what methods shall we use?" 
 
 Shall we teach that the present price situation is due to un- 
 fair and insufficient practices on the part of middlemen! and that the 
 remedy lies in displacing the present marketing system with one owned 
 and controlled by farmers, or shall we encourage more farmers to look 
 behind the price quotation to the conditions which account for the 
 supply of farm products and the conditions which limit the purchas- 
 ing power and, hence, the demand of those who desire our products? 
 The latter line of procedure may be less popular but it is the basis 
 of adjusting production to the market conditions and is necessary if 
 agriculture is to be profitable, whether the marketing is done co~ 
 
-5- 
 
 operatively or as a private ■undertaking. Furthermore, the study of 
 market demands leads not only to the adjustment of production in quan- 
 tity and quality to suit the market, "bat it leads to proper grading 
 and packing, both of which are important steps in the proper market- 
 ing of many classes of products. 
 
 Thoughtful study of the matter will lead to sane views of 
 where cooperation will improve the system of marketing and prepare 
 farmers for cooperation, when desirable, by making clear to them the 
 part they must, themselves, play if cooperative marketing is to suc- 
 ceed. This same educational work will point out where state and fed- 
 eral regulation may prove the better means of improving marketing con- 
 ditions. The general rule in dealing with the marketing question 
 should be to educate but not to agitate, to show the conditions of 
 success and the causes for failure in cooperative marketing, but neither 
 to urge people to cooperate nor to take the lead in the organisation or 
 operation of cooperative companies. The same aid should be available 
 for cooperative and private undertaking. The objectives are ef- 
 ficient marketing and fair prices. 
 
 The problems of farm organization cannot be segregated from the 
 problems of marketing because of their intimate relation and because 
 the farmer is at present more interested in marketing than in farm man- 
 agement. Naturally the farmer would prefer to have the market adjust- 
 ed to his system of farming, rather than to adjust his farming to the 
 conditions of the market. 
 
 The plan of having one or more jointly paid extension special- 
 ists, dealing with both farm management and marketing problems, lodged 
 in close connection with the college department of Agricultural Economics, 
 
functioning as a part of the state extension system, drawing upon the 
 results of research both state and federal, should probably be the cen- 
 tral feature of the extension work in agricultural economics. 
 
 This extension service centering at the agricultural colleges 
 should be supplemented toy an adequate crop and market news service. 
 The cooperation in this is developing between the federal Department 
 of Agriculture and the state Departments of Agriculture or Bureaus of 
 Markets. The federal department is collecting crop and market news 
 in the competing countries and on the important markets. This infor-' 
 mation is furnished to the state departments of agriculture from which 
 it is distributed by radio and by circulars throughout the states. In 
 addition to this , market statements are prepared by the federal depart- 
 ment for the press from day to day. The interpretation of this news 
 in terms of what the farmer should plan to produce in the coming year 
 and when he should sell the crops he has on hand is and should be left 
 to the farmer. The more conpletely the economic extension work of the 
 colleges has been done the more satisfactorily will the economic facts 
 presented in the news service be understood and the more successful 
 will be the farmers in adjusting their production to demands of the mar- 
 ket. The extension service of the college, combined with the market news 
 service, should in a few years clear up some of the misunderstanding 
 which is so common today on economic questions and give a more intelli-<- 
 gent basis for the efforts which have for their goal "Better farming, 
 better business and better living."