Give Us This Day (1954)

[Music] que the staff of [Music] life in biblical days the life of the people moved in the rhythm of the fields the planting cultivating and at last if God will the golden fulfillment of the Harvest the Harvest and each man and woman works that they may eat God Has Smiled upon the land and there is plenty bread for the man PO for his cattle and the certainty that this year then a man could produce only enough wheat with his crude tools to feed himself and his [Music] family now one man can grow enough wheat to feed a thousand families or 10 times a [Music] thousand this is wheat country Durham wheat from the dtas for spaghetti macaroni and noodles also from the dtas and from Montana hard red spring [Music] wheat Hard red winter wheat from Kansas Nebraska Colorado Oklahoma and Texas bread wheat and Eastward the soft red winter wheat food for man and Beast and Westward white wheat for crackers and cookies pies and cakes from the Texas panh handle to the Canadian border from the Atlantic tide water to the Pacific Northwest this is wheat country here where the mighty Columbia River flows from the roof of the continent is the wheat country of Eastern Oregon the high dry Upland country a country of mild Winters and long hot summers this is a typical Oregon wheat Ranch it isn't large nor is it small 1 12200 Acres about average for the Pacific Northwest this is Floyd root a typical American wheat farmer a graduate of Oregon State College he works the same land his father and grandfather farmed before him bill is the eldest son next year he will follow his Father's Footsteps to Oregon State a wheat Farmer in the making both combine and truck keep moving during the loading for when the wheat is ripened to full dry hardness there's not a moment to be lost take it away take your time but hurry back [Music] Bud the younger son is a member of the 4 club with a beef cattle project during the Harvest he supervises storage of the wheat at the farm Granary where it'll be held for Trans shipment to the big elevators along the river [Music] Now The Hectic days of dust and Heat and the clatter of Machinery are at an end the Harvest is over and All That Remains are the fields of stubble which will lie fallow for a whole year resting and res energy of course the farmer's wife bakes her own bread with all that wheat on the property and here she is Bobby Ruth wife of a farmer and mother of two Future Farmers she first laid eyes on her husband at Oregon State and she hasn't taken them off of him since she's a very important member of this wheat growing team her men will tell you the most important [Music] member oh Heavenly Father give us this day our daily bread and accept our humble thanks for thy endless Bounty amen while Floyd root prepares for next year's crop where is this year's Harvest moving always moving along the intricate and complex route to Market by truck by train and by [Music] barge moving to the flower mills of distant lands by ship to England and the ports of Western Europe to Japan and the still free lands of the Orient to India and Africa and the islands Beyond the [Music] Sea wheat eating peoples all over the world are taller heavier and healthier than the people who depend on rice for their basic [Music] diet in it is early fall now in the wheat country and the time has come to think of next year's [Music] crop a firm seed bed is formed as the spring tooth Harrow claws the Earth breaking it down to small small pieces although these fallow Fields have rested for a year they are hungry for plant food so Floyd supplies it in the form of anhydrous ammonia the gas hissing through these shoes goes directly into the Earth fertilizing an area about 2 to 4 in wide on each side of the shoe in the Oregon wheat country an average of 30 lounds of nitrogen per acre is used to build up the soil and increase the yield the graceful sweep of the ancient se's arms has been replaced by this grain drill which releases the seed and gently covers it with just the right amount of Earth so that it may begin its life cycle in the last warm days of Indian summer locked in the Tiny Seed is the ability to reproduce itself many fold in a good crop year 60 lb of seed per acre May yield about 1200 lb of golden [Music] grain The Mystery of Life to which no man has the answer moist and warm this Tiny Seed responds to the deepest Instinct the powerful but quiet command of God let there be [Music] life by Miracle the tiny green choots appear and in the shortening days of autumn develop a hardiness to withstand the rigors of the winter to come winter in the wheat country although nature knocks off work until spring Floyd root does not during the winter months equipment is built and repaired time-saving gadgets are worked up to increase [Music] efficiency weeds like these are a fire hazard burned off during the winter the risk is lessened a neat Barnyard is an indication of good farming practice well-kept fences help appearances and protect the crops convenient water hydrants save work mechanical skills learned in a engineering really pay off when you overhaul your own [Music] tractors Bobby is a skilled bookkeeper [Music] like any other business or professional man the wheat farmer must keep up with the latest Technical and economic developments The Long Winter evenings provide time for catching up with 4H Club pamphlets market reports Department of Agriculture bulletins brain work can make you hungry too so skull practice is topped off with a bedtime snack The Fluffy layer cake is made naturally of the finest white flour ground from Oregon [Music] [Applause] wheat with the changing season come hazards to Floyd Roots crop one of the worst is erosion this Gully is a menace to the entire field left as it is the winds will work on it blowing the top soil away the rains will come again and the water will wash through it eating away the edges widening the usess scar chewing away the field how to stop it plant it not with wheat but with grass whose roots go deep and hold the soil in place proper soil conservation practices are the salvation of the farm and the farmer it is a NeverEnding task then there are [Music] weeds this innocent looking plant left alone will flourish in the weeks to come for perfect wheat growing weather is perfect weed growing weather this is tarweed and there is another enemy that can strangle a wheat field to [Music] death that's right the morning glory to the poet a love flower to the wheat farmer a Scourge if the weeds aren't killed the field will look like this at Harvest Time spraying kills the broad leaf weeds without injury to the wheat the cost is about $2.25 per acre some Farmers take to the air and cover about 400 acres per day if there's no [Music] wind the ground rig operates even if there is a little wind no matter the method the results of the deadly 24d are always the same with one hand nature gives man the miracle of wheat with the other sends enemies to destroy it these grasshoppers travel on the wind and devour every blade in their path woe to the wheat field in their way poison is the only known way to control them the aphids loome mites suck the juice from the colonels leaving them shriveled and worthless summerow the land that has been resting while the other half of the farm has produced a harvest now it must be tilled and cultivated before it goes to work again in the early spring the stubble from last year's Harvest must be turned under and the 600 acres of fow worked during the summer in preparation for next year's [Music] crop this machine is a rod weeder a strong Square Rod is pulled through the Earth at the required depth to uproot the weeds which Rob the soil of the moisture and nitrogen it is built up during its long [Music] rest may we take your application for this job now that this year's wheat is approaching maturity let's see what is happening to last year's wheat some of it is now reaching the flower [Music] Mill here it is ground and sifted to the degree desired as another step in the process of bringing good food to your table but long before these large scale operations are begun the milling and baking characteristics of various strains of wheat are determined in wheat quality Laboratories the Western wheat quality laboratory at pulman Washington uses this micro Mill in which a handful of wheat may be ground at a time this tiny portion of grain was taken from a small plot of experimental wheat before it's put into fullscale production this new strain is carefully tested to determine its milling and baking characteristics [Music] [Music] the flour in each of these cookies came from a different variety of wheat although the amount of flour was the same in each case the cookies vary greatly in size and taste the results of these experiments are carefully tabulated the work of years sometimes is telescoped into months and when a satisfactory new strain of wheat is developed recommendations for its use are made to to the entire industry benefiting Growers Millers Bakers and users these benefits are passed on to you in the improved wheat products you eat nothing goes to waste after the fine white flow is made what's left is sold for animal feed but the best of the wheat the pure white flour is destined for further processing here in a modern Bakery flour is mixed and the dough kned in batches that weigh a ton in this precise and endless process is the result of the wheat farmers's [Music] labor here each day is your daily bread [Music] but since man cannot live by bread alone wheat comes to you in many another eye-catching and mouthwatering [Music] form a 100 years ago no King on Earth could command such morsels from the Royal kit [Music] but wheat's goodness is not limited to baked goods every one of wheat products everyone loaded with energy penny for Penny Your Best Buy the whole family starts the day with some form of wheat did you ever stop to think how many of the dishes you prepare are made in hole or part of wheat products yes from wheat and wheat products come at least 25% of the proteins and calories in the average American diet yet the cost is only one/ tenen of the food dollar indeed penny for Penny wheat is your Best Buy good for you you bet it's good for you gives you the energy you need to keep going all day long and although you're not concerned about it at the moment Junior wheat contains many of the vitamins and minerals which are essential for vigorous health for people who eat wheat products are building strong bodies active bodies and alert Minds wheat products provide energy and power to forge ahead to be a champion and to be happy whether you play or merely watch the game [Music] in the perfect days of late spring in the warm days of early June the wheat heads out soon very soon the green wheat will ripen soon the Harvest will be at [Music] [Music] hand the Tempo quickens on the root Farm the equipment is rolled out of shadowy idleness it is assembled and serviced checked and made ready to wait the exact moment when the wheat is ready for the Harvest the warm summer winds sway the heads of wheat in perfect Unison as though nature herself were tuning a master Symphony now man must wait until nature is ready wait and wonder and Floyd root Waits gazing across his ripening Fields he wonders whether the careful planning the hard work the teamwork between himself and nature may be wiped away before the wheat is ready will a sudden storm [Applause] [Music] strike and leave his Fields like this or will hail shatter the heads so they look like this instead of this or has smut The Dread disease attacked his Acres turning firm golden kernels into worthless smelly powder or will fire possibly from the flipped cigarette of a careless motorist destroy his crop in a blind and Searing summer noon no wheat farmer is free from the fear of these hazards but few there are whose Faith does not tell them it will not happen to me this year [Music] so at last Floyd root tests his crop not by science nor Machinery but as the grower has done since time Beyond record when it's hard to the teeth its dry and brittle Kels taste the way they should it is time to [Music] harvest yes time to harvest all through the Northwestern wheat country across Western Idaho down the banks of the columb IA River in Oregon and Washington the huge combines clatter across the rolling Fields Gathering the staff of Life on they roll each machine harvesting about 50 acres per day 4 million acres to harvest no time to lose 20 bushels per acre 60 lb per bushel and that adds up to a lot of Pies cakes cookies and crackers a Year's careful planning a Year's hard work climaxed in a few weeks of hectic activity here maintenance work done during the winter months pays off no breakdowns nothing worn out everything rolling at top speed wheat the ammunition of a free world more powerful than guns and bombs the stuff of which strong bodies and alert minds are made this is the answer to empty stomachs and Confused ideas of half the people on Earth yes on and on they roll around the fields Gathering wheat the only stop is to reach Fuel and service both machine and [Music] man yes it's hot dry Dusty and itchy [Music] work and thus the Harvest rolls across the Uplands what you've seen here is the result of the accumulated toil and tears of father son and grandfather 27 Mule Team hitches once pulled the combines that harvested these lands men bent to axe hoe and walking plow to clear the land in 1930 it took nine men to run a combine today two or three do the job but fewer men mean more machinery and Machinery means heavier investment the technological revolution of the last century has affected farming as well as industry in 1820 7 out of 10 workers in the United States tilled the soil in 1950 only one out of 10 were on the farm thus 10% of the population produces food for all the people yes a great industry from a grain of wheat a multi-billion dollar industry farming milling and baking giving work to hundreds of thousands of people a payroll of tens of millions of dollars a year here is no sudden accumulation of worldly Goods like the wheat he grows the wheat farmer is progressing to bring to your table the greatest food value ever known for one1 of the food dollar you get 25% of the essential vitamins proteins and minerals to keep you healthy active and happy what a bargain For All Mankind why because the American wheat farmer is on the very Pinnacle of production efficiency from the 24 Cent loaf of bread you buy the farmer receives only 4 cents the grain of wheat is truly the storehouse of countless treasure one can hardly believe that all all this goodness came from a grain of [Music] wheat today we who live in America are thankful for the greatest abundance of food man has ever known in ancient times by virtue of the hardest labor and the grace of God a man could grow only enough wheat to answer this prayer give us this day our daily bread [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Laughter] [Music]