NFO-106 (AV10609): US Farm Report: Ladies Talk NFO

us farm report a rural area public relations program brought to you the [music] us farm report a rural area public relations program brought to you the us farm report a rural area public relations program brought to you the interest of agriculture rural business and the well-being of our nation by members of the National Farmers Organization in this listening area and others interested in seeing the farmer receive a fair price for what he produces now here is mr. Herschel Ligon president of the Tennessee 4th congressional district NFO welcome to another NFO program from Nashville Tennessee NFO is a national organization of farmers who are determined to receive a fair price for what they produce by fair price we mean a price that'll cover cost of production and give us a reasonable profit today we have a beautiful program and when the camera gets off from me you will agree from Trigg County Kentucky Miss Mary Louise Jones from triazole County Tennessee Ms. William Stone from Sumter County Tennessee mrs. James Walker from Davison County Tennessee mrs. John J Hooker Jr. our lead off later today is going to be Miss Mary Louise Jones from Trigg County Kentucky Miss Jones's father is president of the national farmers organization and Trigg County she is a niece of Chuck Thomas who is a very large farmer in Trigg County a real strong NFO member and has appeared on this problem Mary Louise they tell me you are quite an NFO member tell us just what you want to about an F Oh Thank You mr. Ligon we're here now to discuss a rather mammoth problem the plight of the nation's farmer the success or failure of this man may well determine the success or failure of our country as a whole so the farmer has problems what we've heard this for a long time farmer has problems well we need a criteria to sort of evaluate and see why the farmers in the position that he's in is that his fault has he been a victim of circumstance what factors are acting upon the farmer to force him to be the way he is now in any business whether it be farming or something out in the real business world you have to be willing to meet certain things in other words you have to be efficient in your business you have to be willing to take a risk you have to work long and hard hours and you have to invest before you will have anything coming back in return now let's look and see if the farmer is doing his job along these lines one of the things I mentioned does the farmer have enough invested therefore you farm people you certainly know the answer to that but some of you might- might not but if you go out and price some some land some good land that you can raise some crops well go down to the implement dealer and just see how much one of those new diesel tractors costs or just think of all the pieces of equipment that you're going to need for your farm operation and you'll see that the farmer has a great deal of money invested usually when you think about people that have invested a lot for their jobs you think of the professional people such as doctors and lawyers and certainly we don't mean to take anything away from them they have invested a great deal but look how much the farmer has invested and how his salary compares with something like that it just doesn't work out now is it because he doesn't take the risk or is he chicken and shall we say in some respects not willing to go out on a limb oh no I think you'll agree that anyone who has to depend upon the weather for a variable in their means of making a livelihood certainly has to take risk of all sorts well here's one thing that a lot of people might have a question about what about the farmers efficiency is the farmer really efficient farm economists and people who claim to be farm experts have pounded this on the heads of all farmers you've got to learn to be efficient you've got to manage where you can produce more and this is going to be the key to the problem when I think you know the answer to that we're twice as efficient as we used to be look how many bushels per acre we're getting from corn look how many or well the weight we're putting on hogs or something like that per day that's wonderful but if the price remains the same we're just producing ourselves right back in debt and we're not getting anywhere let's look at something else I mentioned that you must put your heart in your work you must work long and hard and naturally that this question almost borders on being ridiculous for most farm people because you know how hard that farmers do work farmers aren't asking for an easy way out that they not have to work hard this is a part of it but what we are asking that in return for what we put out we get a fair price now we've looked at the same worn out questions that people have been looking at for years and it seems now that the farmer is not at fault in other words he's doing his share the thing that seems to be the trouble is that farm prices are too low in the relation of the rest of the prices that we are expected to pay you might find that your prices of some things about what they were ten years ago for your farm products in some cases lower and you know that you can't go downtown and buy the things like a car or some machinery for the same price you did ten years ago in fact I have some figures here that show over a 14 period- a 14 year period from 1950 to '64 they show that the food expenditures per person in the United States has increased from three hundred and twelve dollars to four hundred and seventeen now that is a one hundred and five dollar increase and you know where it went 104 dollars went to the marketing firms and the farmer got a dollar now that's less than 1% of this rise went to the farmer less than 1% so when the lady goes to the market and sees the high prices the farmer is not the villain now maybe you think well alright so farming so they're in trouble what's the point of this for the whole nation to be worried about well it's really something that goes a lot deeper than just farmers and something that we all should be concerned about we've been living in a sort of fool's paradise we've been just like Rip Van Winkle we've been asleep for twice as long and just as sound but we've got to pull our heads out of the sand and stop acting like an ostrich were the only people that can save ourselves I'd like to quote you some things from mr. Arnold Paulson who is a research analyst from Minnesota he's an all-around businessman who has done a great deal of independent research he is chairman of the committee for rural economic survival and these are some of the things that he had said about America's economy as a whole right now we are brainwashed into thinking that this is the most prosperous time in the world for America and that are you know everything's great and certainly we do we hear this from the newspapers from the radios magazines they tell us how much we're producing yes that's wonderful but look at your areas which are dying your rural towns that just seem like they just fade away that's sort of a dry up and blow away well that when something like that has happened you see that your economy is not quite balanced and we're not quite as well off as as we think we are we are producing more goods but here's the key with what are we buying these goods usually it's borrowed money sure America's prosperous America is so prosperous that we can't pay our medical bills so we have Medicare we're so prosperous that we can't educate our own children so we have federal aid education we're so prosperous that the industrial areas can't clean up their own slums so we have urban renewal and urban development did you know that in 1964 50 cents out of every dollar that was spent in America was borrowed money now this can't go on forever we're riding on the top of a crest the only thing is that the inside is hollow now it seems that if this is the problem but there has to be some answer somewhere and mr. Paulson does point to some answers he tells us that one thing is the key in the farming situation we've got to learn to do something for the farmer he's done something for the rest of us so it should be time that we do something for him but actually what the farmer would like better than anything else is to do things for himself and mr. Paulson reports that there's one way that we can do this and that's to organize your corporations and things are organized the thing that's been killing the farmer is this attitude of taking your goods driving up to the market and saying well you give me to the fella you're at his mercy you don't go to the shoe store and you go in you see a pair of shoes you'd like i'd like those and the storekeeper says oh well okay well you take for it that's not the way it works he says they're 10.95 and if you don't have 10.95 you don't get them what we shouldn't be content to do the marketing the way grandfather did it we're going to have to learn that organization is the key NFO is a new organization relatively speaking and many times you've probably heard a farmers say something like well you know we really should organize we should get together all of us band together in our efforts and this is true and what sort of organization would a farmer need he'd want something that only farmers can belong because this is a farm problem that the members actually control but more than this farmers need an organization which will meet a need that has never ever been met by anyone before and that is a fair price for the products for the numerous and this price would be a price that equals the cost of production plus a reasonable and I repeat a reasonable profit now this isn't all he wants this is that a price must be won and held and this price should be guaranteed under a contract now people organize for economic reasons they do it to get an increased profit or higher wages and to protect that certain amount of economic ground that might have already been gained these people are working in the same occupation and living and trying to enjoy what they're doing and these people are winning we must realize that if we are to survive we will take the nation's economy with us if we survive so with a nation but something must be done the key is through organization if we organize our production and production is the key when we show the processors that we are able to furnish them with the needed amount of production then they will be willing to sign our contracts and to guarantee us the price that is rightfully ours the price that we deserve thank you Mary Louise that was real good as usual I forgot something I should have said that you are teaching language arts here in Davidson County at Antioch High School I think they're most fortunate to have you out there too thank you we have Ms. William Stone from tousle County her husband is the only presence NFO in Charleston County has had they have two daughters and they have 500 acres miss stone is going to tell us just what a farmer's wife does on the farm of that size Ms. Stone thank you sir I'd like to start off by quoting old proverb I'm sure you've all heard over and over a man's work is from sun to sun and a woman's work is never done if you've ever followed the footsteps of a farm wife I think you would find this would be an understatement of the world I feel the farm wife is the backbone of a home and the most important of her duties are home making and a good housewife duties vary greatly from everyday duties of washing and ironing cooking and sewing to driving tractor the biggest problem today is providing proper food clothing and education by the family type farm no one realizes the price squeeze on the farmer more than the house wife first because our production has to be paid the purchase of replacement of animals and necessary equipment along with the repayment of capital in business then the small amount remaining if any is left for we house wives we have to feed and clothe our families and maintain the home I think I biggest problem it's very simple it all boils down we just don't get a fair price for what we offer for sale the NFO is striving to help the farmer overcome this situation personally I think we are feeling their effects however some won't admit it as the farm family works strictly as a team and pull together to get things done I believe farmers as a whole can pull together with the NFO to even greater things I think we as farm housewife can do I share by playing a major part by attending the NFO meetings and your other speaking taking part in all activities we as housewives must realize being the member of the farm family that purchasing and purchasing most of the food and clothing we are very aware of the continually increasing cost of living and I think home management is most important and it's very important that if I'm managing usually done by our husbands we manage our food budget by freezing canning and curing a large portion of our meat and this is all not easy work most of our clothing we make I figure I have two daughters and I figured I save a third if I can buy i buy a dress for $15 when I can make three this savings can be applied to the education of our children I'm able to purchase that new long wanted combine that has been needed for so long this is only a few of the ways which we can help our husbands we cook for the extra hired labor that isn't easy either we gather everything from the garden or we're taking from the freezers and it's hot weather and it's no fun we- we bank- we make our bank deposits we buy the vet supplies we buy equipment parts and that isn't all we're usually wind up helping to vaccinate the cattle one of our greatest assets and that's one thing that I think you women get credit for they say a woman can't keep a secret well this is the time to talk girl we should take advantage of every opportunity to help the farm organization that can be the most step to earth and then I think is the National Farmers organization we can talk to our neighbors about NFO in my in- my neighborhood we have the community club we have home demonstration club anywhere you drop in for a cup of coffee come on let's talk about NFO don't ever underestimate the power of a woman we can spread the news just about as fast as a radio what will the NFO mean to me what will it mean to you it will simply mean better price but what we sell and then keeping proper relation with what we have to purchase I intend to continue helping my husband in every way I can and I will stand beside him to help make the greatest organization the NFO even greater and now the duties of a homemaker is knowing how to be conservative to be a good cook have patience common sense good management be an understanding mother and have pip in the problems of your children and be an understanding wife and a satisfied wife I think it would be very very fun to my husband to know that I was disappointed- that I wasn't disappointed and when he's doing the very best he can and also a little encouragement from the husband wouldn help the house wife nobody lives with this does just about all this she's talking about because when I was up to see him other day she helped her husband strip tobacco all day long we have the president wealthy from Sumner County the wife of the first president of the National Farmers Organization now they have she and James Wommack have grown daughter and a grown son they farm a thousand acres over there and this wife has done like many other wives including mine she feels like the way we can get out of this economic situation is not only to be a housewife but go get a job somewhere else so she is a clerk for TVA Ms. James Wommack or Rebekah what do you think about situation thank uou, Hershel. I'm glad to have an opportunity to have something to say on this subject that we're talking about today I'll answer your question and in maybe a roundabout way but first I want to say that most of us that were in business of farming back in the mid forties know this same story that you're talking about very well around that time in the 1940 middle 1940s farming looked real good we had 100% of parity and I'm no economist but it seems to me our economic situation like this would be very good for the entire nation yet I've heard some prominent farm leaders say that 50% parity is good enough for farmers in other words he's saying that it's alright for the farmers to have just half the buying power as the rest of the organized economy well of course we can't agree with that but soon after after 1946 things seem to take a different turn in the years that followed the picture changed very much the things that we farmers had to buy and the price that we received for our production became so out of balance that the- his financial status took a sharp decline and here I have in mind farmers who depend solely on farming not those who might have inherited likes on the money or received a large price for some land that they sold the government's for rural- for urban development other purposes farmers who saw the farm on the side whose primary interest is professional industrial I'm talking about the people who actually depends solely on farming all living in one a situation like this is brought about and I say brought about someone might question that but I think something like that doesn't just happen it is brought about and even an elementary school child can understand clearly oh what the result the consequence is you don't buy on a high scale and sell on a lower scale and stay in business at least not for very long every industrialist in this country can tell you the how essential sound business practices are but to get back to your original question about 15 years ago I went to town and assumed a full-time job in spite of the fact that as Mrs. Stone pointed out as a farm wife and a business partner with your wife is on the farm I already had a full-time job but I did this for one reason that was to help to hold on to our farm and deal the situation that we were facing with apparently accumulating debts my husband and I felt like this was a wise decision to help as I would be able to by adding to the income in our part of the country in our immediate community in an area there well we have good fertile land we have about 33 farmers who own their farm and out of those 33 families 28 of the farm wives have gone to town and assumed a job just as I have done to help hold on to their farms and their mortgages and to help educate that children and now it's present time after about 15 years of having been away from my home and although our children are grown and married it would seem that we could both let up a little and we would like to and I would enjoy very much being at home besides having satisfaction of knowing that I was feeling a real need my husband needs me there and I need to be there and that would be true that we could do that except for one thing and that is that we haven't quite fully recovered from those years of more outgo than income now Herschel told you something about our operations and I mentioned this only to show you that the more you work and the more you- the bigger your operations doesn't really you know it doesn't ensure your being able to be feel secure on having sufficient income we fatten out pigs too for the market from about 150 hogs and we have a good many cattle and also sheep and we both my husband works very hard at it but even in spite of this I think that speaking for myself no farmer really has any illusions about getting rich I don't- not that they would object to the idea of a little wealth but I don't think they have any illusions about really getting rich I think what they really want to do is to be able to pay their bills and enjoy perhaps a fair share the good things with life over and above the bare necessities of life Rebecca I have another quote I have a question I want to get to you in a few minutes let me talk to one of our other guests and I have a loaded question for you I'd like to make a statement for introduce our next guest she is the wife of the unsuccessful candidate for the primary nomination for governor of this state in the recent election and I want to make a statement to everybody the day after he was defeated his strongest opposition made the statement that four years from now if he wants to run for governor there's nobody in the state of Tennessee then can beat him Miss Hooker you've heard us cry about the farm situation you've heard in there fall in this setting the other I have a loaded question for you I invited you because I didn't think you knew anything about NFO I didn't think you know anything about farming I wanted you to hear us cry and then I was gonna throw this question at you oh I know you have three children I'm sure you do a lot of entertaining so I imagine your grocery bill is reasonably large I want to ask you this question would you be willing to pay a fair price for groceries provided we farmers got a fair price of what we produce well first of all let me say that unlike these ladies whose husbands or families are daily involved in farm problems being married to a lawyer into a politician I of course I'm not aware of the problems as they are being a mother of three small children and having a husband and having to feed them I must admit this when I do go to the groceries and I reach up on that shelf to get down a box of pablum or cereal I don't stop and think about the farm price I think about the food price and I think gosh here this is cereal has gone up or the breads gone up so I must say that I really am not aware of your problems but after listening to you all today one can't help but come away realizing that the squeeze is and has been put on the farmers and as a honest citizen I must say that I think you all are being mistreated and it as a housewife I do feel that I certainly would not mind paying more for a product as long as I thought the farmer was getting his fair share of the price I have another one for you you know it's much easier when you on the outside to look inside and see what's going on it is when you're surrounded by your problems and less times as they say you can't see the woods for the trees you have heard our problems and know about your campaigning for John Jay you can pick this thing up readily what would you recommend is the best way for us farmers to get out of the situation we in well I'm sure everybody would like to be able to just put their finger on one thing and say that was the solution but I believe after listening to the ladies today I believe that the only choice you all have is to band together and organize a group such as the NFO which has you know is a organization but it's just- it's just in a very beginning and I think the farmers have to go out and and such people as you Mr. Ligon and try to enlighten the other farmers and the farmers house- farmers wives and show them that other groups organized lawyers are doctors manufacturers so why not you all and I believe that you will find that this would probably be the most beneficial way to help you, help your people ladies I'm positive this has been a beautiful program I want to make this one statement before we close we on NFO know everybody will be for NFO when you understand thank you very much you've been wonderful. us farm report a rural area public relations program was brought to you in the interest of agriculture rural business and the well-being of our nation by members of the National Farmers Organization in this area and by others interested in seeing the farmer receive a fair price for what he produces