The Cross Section, Volume 7, Number 5, October 1960 Page: 4
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Page 4 THE CROSS SECTION October 1960
Nation's Farmers -
( Continued from Page 1)
time when all other prices were ris-
ing?
"Also,, isn't your family eating a
little 'higher on the hog' than it was
10 years ago? Chicken, perhaps, inr
stead of beans-eggs instead ;of oat-
meal--and meat 10 times a week in-
stead of seven? And isn't a great- deal
of your food already cut up or mixed
or sliced, and in some cases even
cooked? Don't you get a lot.of built-in
maid services which weren't available
a few years ago?
"We get the cheapest food in terms
of human effort of any major country
in the world. It takes six minutes of
the average worker's time to buy a
loaf of bread in the United States. In
France it takes nine minutes; in Ger-
many, 12; in Russia, 14. Working
time required to earn a quart of milk
is eight minutes in the United States,
but it's 16 in France, 20 in Italy, and
42 in Russia.
"Even with inflation, food prices in
the U. S. remained fairly s t a b 1 e
from 1952 to 1957. Why? Because the
prices received by farmers actually
dropped 20 percent during this period.
If farm prices had gone up at the
same rate as other cost-of-living items,
all of us would have paid 25 percent
more for food and clothing. A 20-
cent loaf of bread would have cost 25
cents. A $4.00 shirt would have sold
for $5.00. And so on. Altogether,
American consumers, that means all
of us, would have paid an extra 70 bil-
lion dollars for food and clothing dur-
ing this period. This means that farm-
ers, by receiving lower prices for their
commodities, subsidized consumers to
the tune of 70 billion dollars from
1952 to 1957.
"Subsidy? That sounds like a dirty
word, doesn't it? If so, then we have
been dirty for a long, long time. Sub-sides have been a part of the Ameri-
can political system for many years.
"Airlines get subsidies. So do-tip-
ping interests, the petroleum indus-
try, the housing industry-and many,
many others. In the last quarter of
1952, Life Magazine paid $1,273,000
postage, while the cost to the govern-
ment for sending this m a g a z i n e
through the mails was $3,424,000-a
loss to Uncle Sam of more than two
million dollars on this one publica-
tion in just three months. This is only
one of many examples that could be
cited.
Q. "But haven't price support pro-
grams caused a big increase in food
and clothing prices?" "Isn't it true
that I'm paying both high prices and
high taxes-all for the benefit of the
farmer?"
A. "This is a widespread opinion. Let's
take a look at it. Of every $1 spent for
food, about 64 cents goes to people
.who buy, handle, process, package,
store, transport, and sell farm pro-
ducts. Only about 36 cents goes to
the farmer.
"If the farmer in Kansas g a v e
awdy his wheat, you'd still pay 19 1/2
cents for a 25-cent loaf of bread. If
the cotton producer gave away his
crop, you would still pay $2.75 for a
$3 shirt. And if the tobacco farmers
gave away the tobacco they raised,
you'd still have to pay 19 1/2 cents
for a 25 cent pack of cigarettes.
"Price support programs have not
brought about a big increase in the
cost of food and clothing--despite
what farm program critics may say."
Investments-
the total cost of an irrigated farm in
the southern High Plains of Texas
can be earmarked as cost of the under-
ground water in storage beneath the
farm. This underground water is be-
ing depleted through the productionWELL DRILLING STATISTICS FOR SEPTEMBER
During the month of September, 61 new wells were drilled and registered with the District office;
iO replacement wells were drilled; and 6 wells were drilled that were either dry or non-productive
for other reasons. The County Committees issued'55 new drilling permits. The permits issued and
wells completed are listed below by counties.
Permits New Wells Replacement Dry Holes
County Issued Drilled Wells Drilled
Armstrong 5 3 0 0
Bailey 0 1 0 0
Castro 10 8 2 1
Cochran 0 1 0 0
Deaf Smith 7 12 3 0
Floyd 14 7 1 0
Hockley 2 5 0 0
Lamb 2 5 0 0
Lubbock 6 8 3 5
Lynn 2 3 0 0
Parmer 6 5 , 1 0
Potter 0 0 0 0
Randall 1 3 0 0
Totals 55 61 10 6We who make our homes in the
southern High Plains of Texas, recog-
nize that God endowed our land rich-
ly when he provided us with an abund-
ance of good soil and water.
In overall conservation programing,
to try and separate the two resour-
ces, soil and water, is impossible. They
go together. They are both necessary
to sustain plant and animal life.
Because of the tremendous growth
taking place within our nation and
around the world, a proper attitude
by our people toward the conserva-
tion of soil and water is becoming in-
creasingly important. This ever-in-
creasing number of people requires
food and fiber to exist. They also re-
quire land for schools, churches and
other facilities.
The resulting urban expansion will
take more and more farm land out of
production, thereby placing an even
greater requirement to produce larger
yields from the cropland that remains.
If we are to continue to increase total
crop production f r o m a decreased
number of acres, it will be absolutely
imperative that our soil be maintained
in a fertile condition and that good
water be available in adequate sup-
ply.
In the High Plains of Texas, if we
are to maintain our intensive and ex-
tensive irrigated-agriculture economy
we must commence to make better
use of rainfall.
The High Plains area receives about
70 percent of its annual 19 inches of
rainfall during the growing season
m o n t h s May through September.
Much of this amount falls in brief but
heavy downpours.
Most of our cropland slopes only
slightly; however, some of our land
slopes excessively and thereby allows
such rapid runoff during heavy down-
pours that proper penetration into the
soil is impossible. To make the best
use of rainfall, the need for leveling
some farmland is thereby apparent.
The addition of organic material to
the soil is to be encouraged. This prac-
tice improves the texture of the soil
and increases its water-intake rate.Organic matter can be supplied to
the soil in many ways. When shredded
and plowed into the soil, grain sor-
ghum stubble is an excellent source
of organic matter. It makes an excel-
lent mulch. Also, wheat stubble makes
a good mulch. Cotton, our area's
number one money crop, grows in a
bur. These burs are excellent for the
soil as organic matter and they alsoof agricultural crops; consequently,
one cannot argue with the slogan-
"Water Is Your Future-Conserve It."supply potassium to the land.
Regardless of the provisions made
by individual farmers f o r holding
rainfall on their land, at certain times
rains will fall with such intensity that
some water will inevitably run into
depressions and lakes. When this oc-
curs, the rain water can still be sal-
vaged and put to beneficial uses. Re-
cognizing this fact, many individuals
are installing centrifugal pumps at
the edge of lakes and are pumping
water back to farmland and using it
for irrigation. Others should com-
mence to utilize lake water. In instan-
ces where cropland does not need
additional water but the lakes are fil-
led with runoff, the water can still
be salvaged before it evaporates by
using it to artificially recharge the
underground water reservoir.
To prolong the supply of stored un-
derground water, water produced for
irrigation should be transported from
the well to the crop through closed
distribution systems rather than by
open surface ditches. Tests have shown
that as much as 40 percent of water
transported in open ditches can be
lost through evaporation and seepage.
More pipelines should be installed on
our farms in order that all the water
pumped from the wells can be used
to produce crops.
If the present economy of the Texas
High Plains is to be maintained an
adequate supply of good quality water
is absolutely e s s e n t i a 1. If we are
to facilitate increases in our agricul-
tural and industrial production, water
users must commence to obtain the
absolute maximum from both rainfall
and available underground water. Im-
proved seed varieties must be develop-
ed that will produce larger crop yields
per inch of water required. Willful
and habitual waste of water during
the irrigation of crops should also be
minimized. Water that is pumped
from the underground r e s e r v o i r
should be used in as efficient manner
as possible. Water and soil conserva-
tion must become a way of life for
each of us.
The result of water and soil conser-vation will be continued prosperity
today as well as prosperity for future
generations that must look to us for
the resources which will be in even
greater demand tomorrow.
We have said that the future of this
area and of our nation depends to a
large extent on an adequate supply
of good quality water and on fertile
soil-this is true. So what about it,
"Mr. and Mrs. High Plains?" Are you
going to do your part to assure a
prosperous future for yourself, your
children and your fellow man?FROM THE EDITOR'S INK WELL
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October 1960
Page-4
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High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1 (Tex.). The Cross Section, Volume 7, Number 5, October 1960, periodical, October 1960; Lubbock, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1532827/m1/4/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.