Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 19, Number 18, DeMotte, Jasper County, 1 April 1949 — Farmers May Lose Millions On Their Crops [ARTICLE]

Farmers May Lose Millions On Their Crops

Hoosier farmers have lost more than $1,600,000 through failure to take advantage of government price support machinery and yesterday faced the loss of an additional $12,000,000 on their corn crop. Hassil E. Schenck, president of the Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc., warned corn growers they risk the loss on their produce unless they apply for the support loan or purchase agreement programs before June 30. He attributed the loss of more than 7,000,000 bushels of soybean porfits to ignoring the loan deadline, as well as lack of information about the support program. For the first time since the start of World War 11, he said, it is becoming necessary for farmers to protect their incomes from falling prices through the government’s crop insurance facilities. The loss of soybean growers was estimated at a minimum of $1,610,000 because only 349,586 bushels were protected by the Dec. 31 deadline. Support price offered by the government was $2.18 a bushel in the state. Purdue University agricultural statistics estimated the crop at 10,000,000 bushels as of Jan. 1. If 3,000,000 of that amount were used for seed and other purposes, including the amount protected than, the remainder is for sale at the market price. The present market price is $1.95, or 23 cents a bushel less than participation in the support program would have brought. Government support price for corn in the state ranges from $1.43 to $1.47 a bushel and the deadline for filing is June 30. Current corn prices have averaged sl.lß a bushel on the open market. Slightly more than 11,000,000 bushels of Hoosier corn have been protected so far by loans or purchase agreements, according to government figures. It is estimated approximately 50,000,000 bushels of an extremely large corn crop in Indiana will be sold through commercial channels. Schenck said if a sizable portion of this surplus corn is placed under government support loan or purchase agreement protection before the deadline, farmers will receive at least $12,500,000 more than by placing the corn on the market now. Support price machinery cannot be made effective unless farmers participate in the various commodity programs, Schenck said. Detailer information concerning the loans is available at any county AAA office, usually situated in county seat towns.