The agricultural situation is improving. The gross farm income as estimated
by the Department of Agriculture for the crop season 1926-27 was
$12,100,000,000; for 1927-28 it was $12,300,000,000; for 1928-29 it was
$12,500,000,000; and estimated on the basis of prices since the last
harvest the value of the 1929-30 crop would be over $12,650,000,000. The
slight decline in general commodity prices during the past few years
naturally assists the farmers' buying power.
The number of farmer bankruptcies is very materially decreased below
previous years. The decline in land values now seems to be arrested and
rate of movement from the farm to the city has been reduced. Not all
sections of agriculture, of course, have fared equally, and some areas have
suffered from drought. Responsible farm leaders have assured me that a
large measure of confidence is returning to agriculture and that a feeling
of optimism pervades that industry.
The most extensive action for strengthening the agricultural industry ever
taken by any government was inaugurated through the farm marketing act of
June 15 last. Under its provisions the Federal Farm Board has been
established, comprised of men long and widely experienced in agriculture
and sponsored by the farm organizations of the country. During its short
period of existence the board has taken definite steps toward a more
efficient organization of agriculture, toward the elimination of waste in
marketing, and toward the upbuilding of farmers' marketing organizations on
sounder and more efficient lines. Substantial headway has been made in the
organization of four of the basic commodities--grain, cotton, livestock,
and wool. Support by the board to cooperative marketing organizations and
other board activities undoubtedly have served to steady the farmers'
market during the recent crisis and have operated also as a great stimulus
to the cooperative organization of agriculture. The problems of the
industry are most complex, and the need for sound organization is
imperative. Yet the board is moving rapidly along the lines laid out for it
in the act, facilitating the creation by farmers of farmer-owned and
farmer-controlled organizations and federating them into central
institutions, with a view to increasing the bargaining power of
agriculture, preventing and controlling surpluses, and mobilizing the
economic power of agriculture.