such expenditures to particular farm conditions on particular farms. Mr. JOHNSON. The fertilizer bill at the present time is approximately $1 billion a year. I can furnish additional information at this point in the record relative to your questions. (The information referred to is as follows:) Farmers' expenditures for purchases of motor vehicles and machinery, United States, 1946 to date Source: Bureau of Agricultural Economics. Compiled from the Farm Income Situation. Depreciation and cost of operation of motor vehicles and other machinery and equipment, United States, 1946 to date Source: Bureau of Agricultural Economics. Compiled from the Farm Income Situation. Estimated quantities available for use for 1952-53 are about 11 percent above those available the previous 1 Preliminary estimate. year. a Estimated. 1930 1931. 1932 1933. 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938. 1939 1940. 1941. Farmers' expenditures for fertilizer and lime, United States, 1930 to date 1 Preliminary. Source: Bureau of Agricultural Economics. Compiled from the Farm Income Situation. COMPARISON OF EFFICIENCY INCREASE BETWEEN FARM AND FACTORY Mr. MARSHALL. The farmers have greatly increased their efficiency of production as shown by your chart, and I am wondering if you have anything that would show the corresponding efficiency increase of the people that produce the items they buy, such as tractors and equipment. How does the farmer's increase in efficiency compare with the industrial increase? Mr. WELLS. We can get for you the estimated increases in efficiency per man-hour of industrial labor which comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is not per worker necessarily, nor per dollar of wages, but per man-hour. I am under the impression that, with the exception of 2 or 3 years during the demobilization period recently, industrial efficiency has been increasing at a rate of around 2 percent a year. That is industrial output per man-hour, actually worked. Roughly, over the last 50 years, Mr. Marshall, it has been my impression that the increases in agricultural and industrial efficiency have about offset one another in terms of hours worked or per man employed. Mr. JOHNSON. That is correct. But since World War II, I think the production per man-hour has increased faster in agriculture. Mr. WELLS. For 3 or 4 years the industrial productivity actually went down. It then turned up around 1947 or 1948. But from 1945 or 1946 into 1947 and 1948, we demobilized and during that process there was a letdown in industrial productivity. EFFICIENCY RELATED TO RESEARCH Mr. MARSHALL. As progress has been developed through research and through improved marketing, that brings an increase of income to the farmer. Do you have any figures that would show how that is related to how rapidly farmers put these practices into operation? Mr. WELLS. All I have there, Mr. Congressman, is a general observation. The really spectacular changes in yields per crop acre and yields per animal units came in the decade 1940 to 1950 when farm income was more nearly adequate than it had been for a very considerable number of years prior to that. Now, I am not saying there were not some increases before that time. There were. But American farmers accomplished almost a miracle in the early years of World War II, even when some supplies were short, as Mr. Whitten pointed out earlier. However, it was also a time when farm incomes were more nearly adequate, more nearly allowed farmers to do the things that the smart businessman who is able to sell his product does. I would like to insert here some additional information already prepared on the subject. (The information referred to is as follows:) RATE OF ADOPTION OF IMPROVED FARM PRACTICES The rate at which new and improved farm practices are adopted by farmers varies widely with the particular practice. The major factors appear to be (1) the simplicity or complexity of the practice, (2) the capital expenditures required, (3) the length of time necessary for the new practice to reflect itself in increased income, and (4) whether the practice, machine, or technique is adaptable and economical for small farms as well as large. An example of a simple, inexpensive practice where the returns are almost immediate is hybrid seed corn. But even here, the rate of adoption did not reach 90 percent in the main corn-producing area until about 12 years after its general introduction. In the case of machinery, particularly the larger, more expensive kinds such as tractors, combines, cornpickers, and hay balers, the rate of adoption is much slower. The first models are usually large and expensive and are adaptable primarily on the larger farms. As the machines are improved and smaller models are successfully developed, their use becomes more widespread. Grain combines were widely used on larger grain farms of the Pacific Coast States before 1920, but even by 1938 only 49 percent of the wheat acreage and 10 percent of the oat acreage was harvested with combines. Since then, with development of smaller combines and improved farm incomes, the rate of adoption has increased rapidly until in 1950 about two-thirds of the oat acreage and 94 percent of the wheat acreage was harvested with combines. Hay balers and cornpickers likewise were used by a considerable number of farmers in the 1920's. But only 12 percent of the corn acreage was harvested by cornpickers in 1938 and only 14 percent of the hay crop was baled in 1939. Again, the rate of adoption increased sharply during the last 15 years. In the case of milking machines an even longer period of time was required before they were generally adopted by dairy farmers. Milking machines have been in use for more than half a century. But it was in World War II and in the years following, that their use became widespread. Shortages of farm labor and favorable farm incomes had much to do with this recent rapid rate of adoption. In 1945 only 24 percent of the farms with five or more cows milked reported having milking machines, but this rate has about doubled in the last 7 years. Percentage of wheat acreage harvested by combines, United States and selected regions 1938, 1945, and 1950 Percentage of oats acreage harvested by combines, United States and selected regions, 1938, 1945, and 1950 Percentage of hay production baled, selected areas and United States, 1939, 1944, and Percentage of corn acreage (for grain) harvested with field type mechanized cornpickers, selected areas and United States, 1938, 1943, 1946, and 1951 Number of farms with milking machines, 1910–52, and number of farms by number of cows milked, 1952 Percentage of corn acreage planted with hybrid seed, North Central States and United States, 1938-52 1 Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Da. kota, Nebraska, Kansas. Total production expenses of farm operators current and 1935-39 dollars and their indexes, 1935-39=100, United States, 1930-52 |