70 Year Magazine Archive

What About the New Farm Bill?

by Robert Haney Scott

If you’ll just pay attention and read carefully, you, too, will understand how the Administration plans to straighten out the farm muddle

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Question: Mr. President, would you describe the present situation in agriculture?

Answer: Well, I’ll be very glad to discuss this problem. You see, “Early in this century there was a serious question whether agriculture could . . continue to meet the food and fiber demands of a growing population. . . Public policy emphasized resource conservation and investment, and publicly supported research and education were designed to speed progress in agricultural productivity. By the mid-1920s these efforts began to bring dramatic results. Agricultural productivity began to rise and farm employment began to decline. . . But in the 1950s, agriculture felt thé full effects of earlier programs to raise productivity. Farm output increased by more than one-fourth while use of labor declined by one-third.”

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