3^1 ^y- Cornell University Library S 21.C9T2 Future plans of the "ni'^dStftes bureau """ 3""l"924 06l""T01 983 mJTOHE FLANS OF THE PHIIISD STATES HT- HEA.U C3F M&EKETS Aib 'CROP ESTMtl'j.'ES . (Head at the Meeting of the National Association of State Marfcating Officials, .Tuesday, November 29, 1921, at 9:30 a.m., ai Chicago, Illinois.) - By Henry C. Taylor. My purpose in coming to this meeting is to consult you regard- ing methods of improving the v/brk in v\3iidSi we- are imtually interested and to get tetter acquainted with you in order that our cooperative work may move forward with proper understanding, I told Mr. MuzKon that it was not ny desire to Mdress the meeting, bat to be present throughout the sessions, ready to participate, in committee meetings and answer such questions as migtit be raised in general sessions re- garding the work in the Department of Agriculture and its relation to the State Bureaus of Marksts,' but, since I" have been asked to dis-^ Guss future plans, -I will devote a few minutes to that topic. The' purpose of thereorganis^ed and exilarged bureati is to deal in a c<5n$»rehensive.way with all the economic problCTss of interest to the .American farmer^ including the ecpnomics of production and market- ing, the farmer's share in distribution, land ownership and tenancy, and .the improvement of .country life. The following tentative sub- ,.. divisions of the work of the Bureau give a general witiine ^f tb©' y. subgect matter to be included.' -,-& <,' ' ■ ' f •it:il r ■■--' ' '■ t~ 2 t~ BUHEftU OF AGRICULTUBAL ECONOMICS . Cost of Production and Distribution Agricultural Prices and Statistics Marketing divisions (as now constitut- ed - these include) Marketing Cotton Marketing live Stock, Meats and Wool Marketing Dairy Products Marketing Fruits and Vegetables Marketing Grain Marketing Hay, Feed and Seed Agricultural Competition and Demand in Foreign Countries Land Economics Agricultural Finance Agricultural Readjustment or Agri- cultural History and Geography Farm Organization and Management Country Life and Rural Organization Extension Service Research work is fundamental in each Qf these divisions* Edu- cational vifork, through htilletins, press notices and other extension agencies is to "be pushed as rapidly as the basic information is available . In the marketing subdivisions service and regulatory work will be continued and improved. Without in anyway minimizing the inportance of the work which has been daie and which is being con- tinued, the new stress in this field will be on economic research. It is believed that the searvice and regulatory work can best be im- proved by Careful study of economic facts and forces involved. - 3 " The regulation of commerce in farm products has for its object the placing of trade on a higher plane where justice is more easily secured and where fair dealing is the rule. The aim of the Govern- ment regulation is tr establish justice without interfering with the • efficiency of those who assemble, precess and distribute farm products. In order that both of these goals, justice and efficiency, may be ob- tained, it is essential that detailed information be collected, sifted and analyzed as a basis of a more perfect loxowledge of what transpires from the time the products leave the farm until they reach the consumer. This same research ivork forms the basis for more intelligent action on the part of those who participate in the marketing of farm products, whether they be private individuals operating for profit or. cooperative undertakings through which farmers are seeking better markets for their products. In addition to the analytical study of the marlteting processes, the present plan contemplates the assembling and making available of much more coirplete statistical information relating to the production and the prices ©f farm products. If adeq-uate funds can be secured it is the purpose to imprcve greatly and extend the livestock statistics for the United States. It is hoped also to improve and expand the statistics on stocks of farm products in storage and on farms. The importance of securing more information regarding production in foreign coiintries with which we cccpete in selling our staple products has led to the giving of especial attention to agricultural conpetition and demand in foreign countries. This information regarding production and distribution throughout the world is quite as important as a guide m k •* to the farmer in knowing what to produce as it is iiaportant to him and to others in passing judgment vipon the possible trend of the mar- ket and the proper time to sell tlie products he has on hand. In this day when there is so iwich dissatisfaction with our system of marketing, which ra&y or may not he due entirely to the sys- tem of marketing itself hut to the great changes which have taken place in the demand for farm products, the question may well be asked, What will be done to help in the movement on the part of farmers to inprove their marketing facilities? I can best state the policy of the Department of Agriculture on this point "by quoting from the Secre- tary' s address before the Farmers' Grain Marketing Committeel "There is" just as much reason why the Ilepar fcment should assist the fanner in developing methods of mar- keting his crops efficiently as that it should assist him in increasing his production. The study of im- proved systems of marketing, as well as the study of conditions the farmer should understand to produce, in- telligently and to adjust his production to the needs of consuBiption, are proper fianctions of the Department. The Department should inquire into all problems which bear ■'jpov. the distribution of farm products,. , and the efficiency, and fairness with which these crops are handled aill the way from the farm to the cons-umer. " Aid for gann Marketing . "This does not mean that the Department should assune the leadeir- ship in the organization of marketing or any other associations of farmers. - 5 - Neither does it mean ttiat the Department sho-ald have any active part in carrying forward the work of such -organizations , It.meszis sJmpiy that we shotL!,d follow exactly ^ the .same policy with reference to marketing that we have followed with reference to prodacfcion. The Department does nnt send men to plow the fields or breed and feed the animals or harvest the crops. It tries- to make available the most advanced knowledge concerning such operations in order that the fanner may iix!- pj'ove his methods. So. in the case of marketing it is not the bisiness of the Departjjoent to organize marketing associations, hut it is.'prc^er- ly- its .business to make available the most reliable information it can obtain concerning the crganization and operation of such associations. As it .has searched., the xvorld -for improved varieties of plants and animals which can be introduced with profit to. our people, so it^ should search the world for new and improved msthods of marketing farm crops and make available this information for the guidance of the-se farmers who desire to organize marketing associations, "The i7,rork of the Depai'tmant of Agriculture in helping the- farmer to solve his marlketing problem does not stop when he has been shown the .best forms of organization for marketing farm products. These market- ing organizations need inf ormai,tion with regard to narket conditions. In the case, of perishable products such as fruits and vegetables, they need daily information from the principal markets in order to know how freely, to ship so that tJiere may be an adequa-te supply evenly distributed instead of gluts in seme markets and scarcity in othox^,. Here again is a case where the. Department furnishes the information bit leaves it to the farmers and the farmers^ organizations to act with freedan as they may see fit in the light of the informatirai furnished by the De- partment. «• 6 *- ' Must Bhow World Conditions . "Infonnatlpn is needed, also, with regard t© the less perish' able prodaots, even with regard to 0uch products as wheat and wool wMdi are recognized as conmodities having a market that is world- wide and bring Jimerican farmers into cenpetitican wit^ the farmer? who are producing these pr©ducts in the southern hemisphere a»d in Europe and in Asia. If farmers are to act intelligently in prqdao- ing and selling these products it is very injperliant that they have ior formation, with regard to th^ conditions of prpdaction and thp s^jpply available in all Qf these c©rapeting countries. Ihey need, also, to be kept inf oitaed as to the rate of consumption of the various farm products in different parts of the world, !Phe Departanent of A^ri- ctjiture should furnish thjs inf oimaticn, both as to the s-upply and thQ demand.. , "In its studies of the marketing of farm creps the Department should make thorough inquiry into the costs of marketing at every stage from th$ time the crops leav^ the farm until they reach the cons-umer. It should turn on the light. If there are points alqng the way at whiclx there is unnecessary vraste that should bs made kn@vm> If tlpBrp ewe ipen alwag the way who are taking too much toll for the service they render, that also should be made known. A plentiful sx^ply ojf f 004 atf prices which are Just to both producer and constaaer is vital to our national welfare and it is a proper function of government to do wh^t ^t can to instire %t^ ^ .?o some it may seem difficult to draw the line between the werlc whicb should be undertaken Ic the research and educational forces of th^ Federal and Stat? GovQ|?iments and the pai-t which should be ief^ to - 7 - private initiat.ive. I can bsst illustrate the way in vAxicb. this may work out in the practical case by referring, briefly, to the stoiy of the Wisconsin Cheese Producers' Federaticn. In the sunmer of I912 the fanners in the. neighborhood of Plymouth, Wisconsin, became very mach dissatisfied with the way in which the Plymouth cheese market was operated. Owing to this dissatisfaction the Department of Agricultur- al Economics in the College of Agriculture at Madison proceeded at once to make a detailed study of the market for Wisconsin chedder cheese. While attention was given to the marketing of this brand of sheese from all parts of the State and the movement of the cheese to its desti- nation throughout the United States, especial attention was given to the operation of the Plymouth Cheese Board and to the details of the existing methods of marketing cheese. This was all done quietly and the results wrere published in Bulletin 23I of the University of Wiscon- sin Agricultural Experiment Station, in April ^1913. But, during the time when this investigation was under v/ay Mr. Henry Krumrey, of Plymouth, the leader of the farmer movement , held meetings in the neighborhood of Plymouth for the p\irpose of arousing the farmers of that county to a knowledge of their marketing situation. Thus, while the college was carrying on the research work, Mr. Krumrey on his own private initiative v/as carrying on the agitation. Daring the winter marQr committee meetings were held in the State Capitol at Madison. In these meetings the men from the College of Agri- culture sat with Mr. Krtmrey and other farmers from the neighborhood of Plyirouth who desired to develop the new system of marketing cheese. The farmers took the initiative but the men from the college brought the re- - 8 - suits of research which guided the movement and the result was the Wisconsin. (Jieese Producers* Federation, which was organized in the su mm er of I913 scad which is now noted as one of the successful xmder- takings in the way of federated marketing. The Department of Agriculture is glad to "be of assistance in the same way as the College of Agriculture was of assistance in this case. For exanjple, within the last two weeks, a call name from the State of Vermont for assistance in the organization of a cooperative system for marketing maple sinip and maple sugar. Our response was put in the form of a series of questions vsdiich made clear to the representative from the State that he and the farnfirs interested in the product had too little knowledge of the production and distrihu- tion of their own product to proceed with an organization, without further investigation of the facts. Ihen this became evident, the Department agreed to send one man to work in cooperation with the men in the State, to assemble, analyze and interpret the availahle infoz*- mation as a hasis of deciding whether or not the farmers desired to undertake a cooperative systan of marketing and, if so, what form the organization should take and where the processing plant should he located in order that the products might he assembled, processed, and distrihited at the least expense. This work is now in progress and is an ezanple of the kind of work which it is believed will help put marketing on a sound basis. In offering assistance in studying the marketing of faira products the Department will not limit its efforts to those lines in which cor- eperative effort is being undertaken; the olgective in view is efficiency and fairness in the marketing of all farm prodticts. It is •• Q — entirely possible that as much can be done to bring about efficiency and establish fairness by working with private individuals and cor- porations who are parforming middleman service, as by helping far- mers to Tandsrtake this work cooperatively. In other words it is not our desire to discriminate in favor of any class of people who wish to participate in the work of marketing faim products bat to ren- der service wherever there is an opportunity to irjjrove the system through the accumulation and dissemination of facts which give a clear understanding of the work to be done. The new administration of the Bureau wishes to continue the policy of close cooperation with the State agencies. It is desired that cooperation with State Bureaus of Markets be extended, particular- ly in the development of the market news service. In the States of New Jersey, New Yt?rk, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Nebraska, the market news collected ly the Federal Department is re- ceived directly fron the leased wire and distributed throughout the State wftiere desired. Unfortunately, only a fraction of the States are within reach of the leased wire. It is to be hoped that after the present necessity for retrenchment is passed, the telegraphic basis of the market news service may be greatly extended. In the meantime arrangements can be made where "ty states not in touch with the leased wire system can secure special infoimation by commercial wire. It is our desire that the dissemination of this infonnation in the States be undertaken as largely gs possible ty the State Bureaus of Markets, It is only through the closest cooperation between the State and the feder- al forces that the marketing work in research, education, service ,and regu- lation can be carried on with best results. We ask for your cooperation and in turn we pledge oiars.