Irony

Soon after Henry Wallace tackled the farm problem in 1933 with AAA, the God of Drought came to his aid. Drought as well as subsidy and legal restriction reduced wheat surpluses, corn surpluses, even cotton surpluses. But three years ago Drought began to withdraw its assistance. This year Drought turned its attention (selectively) to the Northeastern States: May was bone dry and July was desert (until rains came last week) and both did plenty of damage to truck and fruit crops. But eastern Drought did not reduce the crops that are Mr. Wallace's big problems.

So for a third year in succession he has a major surplus to fight. Last year wheat was the most acute headache, year before it was cotton, this year corn. This week he had to face the music. On August 1 came due the loans of 57-c- a bushel which he made to farmers who put under seal part of their last year's crop.

Last January Midwestern farmers were hoarding corn, holding out for higher prices. Last week, the price was down to 40-c-, the lowest in six years, and no one wanted any of it. This year's crop is huge (estimated 2,550,000,000 bu.). Besides, there is an approximated carry-over of 550,000,000 bu. This, added to the new crop, comes to over 3,100,000,000 bu., 350,000,000 bu. over the five-year average of "normalcy."

If the Secretary finds the crop exceeding the "norm" by 10%, he must assign marketing quotas (and penalties) to prevent market flooding, call a vote asking for 1/3 approval by farmers thus quotaed. Such umpiring on Wallace's part would put him in the usual umpire's spot. Last year Wallace slid out of calling a vote by estimating consumption and exports high enough to make the supply seem reasonable.

With corn at 40-c-, farmers who had borrowed 57-c- a bushel on 257,000,000 bu. started to unload about 100,000,000 bu. on Commodity Credit Corp. Hurriedly Secretary Wallace bought steel bins to hold 50,000,000 bu., hoped this would prop up the sorry corn market.

Irony of the Secretary's trouble is that most of it comes of his having struggled so long with the farm problem. Former farm editor, mathematician, agriobiologist, he spent 15 years before becoming Secretary of Agriculture in developing hybrid seed corn (through Pioneer Hi-Bred Seed Co., originally the Wallace family's), which increases yields 10 to 20%. In corn-growing Iowa, 79% of this year's acreage was planted with yield-increasing seed. Lately Henry Wallace on his daily walk to his office in Washington has taken to stopping in Washington Monument grounds to practice with a boomerang for exercise. But he never threw a better boomerang than his own hybrid seed, whose production economies and improved yield are no consolation to hopelessly overcapacitated corn farmers.

Wheat and cotton are cash crops. Not so, corn. Nearly nine out of ten bushels are used to feed hogs and livestock. The lower the price, the more feed for hogs; the more hogs, the lower the price of pork. With corn at 40-c- there should be many pigs in 1940. If next spring's pig crop reaches 80,000,000 little grunters, pigs and pork prices will nosedive, and Washington will have still another quota on its hands.

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