Palmer, Alaska Dorothy M. Bell, Editor
Published every Friday at Palmer, Alaska, for the Matanuska valley
Farmers1 Cooperating Association for .the purpose of giving news of the
Associations Work, Problems, and Accomplishments.
SUBSCRIPTION BY: MIL '' #1.75 feoX' $1.00 SINGLE COPY 10
-s—i-—A-—-____
•• ■... v,. .
PLANNED PRODUCTION
• •• * »
..During and following the first
World War some 40. million acres of
Farm land in Europe had been aband
oned. To off set this about 31
million acres had been reclaimed foi
cultivation in the U.S. However, aj
soon as land had been reclaimed
from the ravages of the War in
Europe and was again producing',,
the United States soon found then
selves wi th, an enormous surplus o_f
'f food. The depression years that
ollwoed will never be forgotten by
hose who lived throxigh them.
As a' result of our experiences
during those years, various econom
•ic plans have been suggested and
tried in order to control product
ion and prevent if possible .any
reoccurpnce of another such cafcas
trrohy. Of all industries—agricul
tural production has probably'been
carried onwith the least control
and pimping.. The Farmer has been
an Independent individual, raising
whrthe liked and wanted to produce,
He hes watched the market trends,
but only by himself. How could he
know what the other farmers were
goi/ig to do. Potatoes are a good .
price one year—therefore, hp will
ralsp potatoes the next. That is
the same idea tha-t. thousands o?
other farmers have and what is the
re suit; The potato market is
flooded arid the price falls to al
most nothing. Had'he known that ’
there would be a shortage of onions,
he would ho'ye raised those—but how
could he know? :
A ciinvu a uu vc X t;?ui6CU 1 Ui' a .LUIlg
’.me, the need of more planning.
< a result of this need to work
ogether, they approached the msr- .
keting angle first. Cooperatives
developed rapidly between'the years
of 1920 and 1940i The have helped •
the farmer immensely in marketing
and dealing collectively with the
markets, but they could ntot con
trol the tfllobdtng of the markets
with surplus products.
During'the Depression years when
fammers were required to fallow
much of their ground, the Land Use';
Planning Committee did much through
out the* States to start the idea ojr
Planned Production. The one flaw
with planning is the' dictatorial
policies of s>ome of the. leaders in
this movement. Farmers, of all :
classes, take dictation with the
least grace. This planning does net
have to be done that way. It can
oome from the farmers themselves :
ahpuld*. When the producers themselves
realize tthe absolute necessity of
planning with other farmers, they
can decide for them selves-allot
the amount to be raised by each ‘and
decide who till raise each type of
'product needed. Unless some defin
ite plans are made-and followed,all
farmers stand to suffer. Planning
must be Incorporated into the
agricultural plans for Alaska if
agriculture is to be successful.i
The first step to bo .taken is vo
find out how much thetmarUet demands
or can handle. That part of the
work belongs to the Association.
Then it becomes the part of the *
producer to supply that market with
top quality produce. This might
best be done by.-the - Contract method
in which the producer agrees to
furnish, so much*and the Association
'■agrees to by thp-t amount.. This is .
not an easy problem to handle- ‘for
other factors out of-the control
of the producer enter -into it.
Cutworms can soon cut a crop in
,half "or destroy practically all* of
6t. The season may not bo too
favorable far some crops, but .
nevertheless plans must be made
and adhered to and the sooner the
better.;
PALMER MAY-ORGANIZE CHAMBER 0/
COMMERCE »
Last Friday 2l representatives
'of thd V?illey people met in the
Grange Hall to discuss plans for
a Chamber of Commerce.or similar
organization. This Organization or
Club will be open to all people of
the Valley (residents) who are in
terested, however, and is nfrt bo be
confined only to the town of Palmer.
A1 ^ogen was chosen temp .rr rv
chairman and Mrs, Walter Huntley
acted as SecretRI'y*. There will be
another meeting on Monday evening
at the Grange Hail at 8:00 P.M,
, °ome of the problems disoussed at
the last meeting.included: Veterans
problems. Valley Beautification, a
Federal Building for> Painer, the
/\ir 'Port, and Better Roads, It v/as
suggested that, "the organization
publish a phmphlet oh'the. Valley
entirely. . There is a' great deni of
demand for information about .the
Valley and this would be very'; help
ful ip answering these requests.
. Dean Gasser was a guest at the
last meeti-ng and was able to offer
many- he"■ rv .3 suggeetions s