[U.S. Government Campaign to Promote the Production, Sharing, and Proper Use of Food]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

THE U. S. GOVERNMENT CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE THE PRODUCTION, SHARING, AND PROPER USE OF FOOD
' ’ PROGRAM
TO HELP FARMERS UTILIZE FULLY THEIR FARM MACHINERY, EQUIPMENT, AND STRUCTURES,
As One Means of Accomplishing 1944 Farm Goals
Prepared by the Office of War Information and the War Food Administration with the cooperation of The War Production Board, The Petroleum Administration for War, The U. S. Office of Education, and the Office of Defense Transportation
September 1943
PROGRAM TO HELP FARMERS UTILIZE FULLY THEIR FARM MACHINERY, EQUIPMENT, AND STRUCTURES AS ONE MEANS OF ACCOMPLISHING 1944 FARM GOALS.
CONTENTS
Page
The Problem___________________________ —	________________ 2
Government’s Function_______________________________________	3
Farmers’ Function__________________________________________ 6
Industry’s Function_____________________r------------------ 6
Local Dealers’ Function____________________________________ 7
Copy Themes________________________________________,_______ 7
Copy Slants________________________________________________ 8
Time Table______________,---------------------------------- 10
Details of the Government Program----------*--------------- 11
What the Farmer is Doing to Help Himself___________________ 15
The Problem.
The supply of new farm machinery, equipment, and tools, lumber and other materials for farm construction, the number of transportation vehicles and the quantity of fuel for operating them, are limited by war—yet full and efficient utilization of all existing as well as new machinery and equipment is essential to guarantee the food production needed in our war effort.
The year 1944 will set an all-time peak for food production in the United States. It will witness the most gigantic planting program in the Nation’s history: 380,000,000 acres—16,000,000 more acres than were planted in 1943.
However, production of farm machinery and equipment has been restricted since 1941. During the current production year—beginning July 1, 1943—machinery can be produced at a level averaging 80 percent of the high 1940 output. There are no quota restrictions on replacement parts. Farmers are willing to buy—and they need— greater amounts of machinery and equipment, but steel and other materials are needed in record quantities for making the weapons of war. This accentuates the need to get maximum results from both new equipment and that already on farms.
Oli the Nation’s farms there are 1,100,000 trucks, 4,250,000 automobiles, 1,500,000 trailers, and 3,000,000 to 3,500,000 wagons which make up the farm transportation fleet for getting products to market after they are produced, and for moving supplies to the farm. Very few new vehicles can now be added to this fleet. Gasoline and tires must be made to last as long as possible. Farmers are faced with the
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double problem of moving record quantities of food to market while at the same time conserving on the use of rubber and fuel.
Lumber, structural steel, and hardware for essential new farm construction is also limited. The 1943 national need for lumber, for example, is 36 billion board feet—for military and essential civilian requirements. Of this, agriculture—^a large user of lumber—needs a minimum of 3.5 million board feet for minimum new construction, maintenance, and repair of farm buildings and structures.
The task of meeting the highest food production goals on record and moving the produce to market demands maximum use of every productive farm acre. It requires vast increases of production with less skilled labor. It calls for efficient utilization of farm machinery. It calls for labor-saving equipment to compensate for labor which has been taken from the farmers. It calls for new machinery and equip-. ment to replace that which has worn out. It calls for the all-out continued use of every item of machinery now owned by the Nation’s farmers. It calls for constant repair and maintenance of farm buildings and storage facilities. It calls for conservation of vehicles and critical supplies of gasoline and rubber to keep the farm transportation fleet in operation.
We must maintain and use farm machinery and equipment, transportation vehicles, and farm structures, to obtain maximum food production with minimum expenditure of labor, steel, petroleum, farm building materials, rubber, and other critical materials.
Government’s Function.
The War Food Administration represents the farmer as a claimant for his fair share of the Nation’s production materials—steel, copper, farm building materials, fuel, lubricants, and other supplies—needed for manufacturing and supplying machinery and equipment essential to the farmer for maximum food production. The materials allocated to agriculture are consistent with the over-all war production program, but the war will continue to restrict the production of farm equipment and supplies. Consequently, the task of getting maximum use of existing facilities in food production—through care, share, and repair activities—is absolutely essential. Meeting this over-all problem requires the full cooperation of Government, industry, and farmers. Lach has a. role to play in helping to meet the 1944 production goals.
The Government will :
1.	Continue its programs to provide farmers with necessary supplies and equipment.
2.	Set general objectives for Government, cooperating industries, and farmers to follow in getting maximum use of production and transportation supplies and equipment.
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3,	Provide a symbol, slogan, and necessary materials for use in educational campaigns and activities.
4.	Carry out educational programs through its field agencies to inform farmers of the necessity for maximum use of supplies and equipment to obtain food production.
5.	Sponsor and support schools on the care, share, and repair of production and transportation equipment.
Specifically, these activities will be accomplished through :
1.	County Farm Rationing Committees of the County Agricultural War Boards who will assist in :
a.	Pooling and sharing of farm machinery and equipment, and custom operation of such equipment.
b.	Construction of needed buildings, and repair and maintenance of existing buildings and structures.
c.	Procurement of replacement parts for farm machinery and supplies to carry out repair and maintenance practices.
2.	County Farm Transportation Committees of the County Agricultural War Boards who will assist with :
a.	Pooling and sharing of farm cars, trucks, and trailers.
b.	Procurement of replacement parts for trucks and cars through assistance from the Office of Defense Transportation district offices.
c.	Procurement of gasoline, fuel oil, and tires for trucks, cars, trailers, tractors, and other farm equipment.
d.	Securing of motor transportation facilities to meet unfilled needs through assistance of O. D. T.
3.	State Agricultural Extension Services as members of State War Boards will assume responsibility for:
a.	Furnishing timely technical information and materials on the utilization and conservation of farm production and transportation* equipment, and repair, maintenance, and construction of other essential facilities to produce and save food and other agricultural products.
b.	Conducting visual instruction and demonstration meetings, repair clinics, neighborhood check-up and follow-up campaigns, and related press, radio, poster, tag and other campaign activities to reach all food producers.
c.	Cooperating with organizations offering to coordinate their educational programs with that of the War Food Administration through advice and assistance beneficial to farmers and other producers and handlers of food.
4.	The Agricultural Education Service of the U. S. Office of Education, Federal Security Agency, will:
a.	In cooperation with State Boards for Vocational Education conduct courses in the repair, operation, and construction of farm machinery and equipment. (The State Boards for Vocational Education conduct these training programs through local boards of education, utilizing personnel and facilities of the local public schools. Farmers enroll in these training programs for the purpose of developing skills in the repair, operation, and construction of their own farm machinery, equipment, and buildings.)
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b.	Administer funds allotted to the several State Boards for Vocational Education which may be used for cost of instruction in the repair, operation and construction of farm machinery and equipment. (The funds made available may be expended for the cost of instruction and supervision, for the purchase and rental of equipment, and for rental of space. These funds provide for a continuation of the program operated last year by State Boards for Vocational Educa-■ tion in which 20,500 training programs in the repair, operation, and construction of farm equipment were approved with 220,710 individuals enrolled in the courses.)
5.	The Office of Defense Transportation, in its connection with farm truck transportation, will assist :
a.	In maintaining as far as possible the orderly and continuous movement by motor truck of farm products from, and of farm supplies to the farm through :
(1)	A national program directed toward conservation and utilization of the 1,100,000 farm trucks owned by farmers. (This is basically a “good neighbor” program in which the County Farm Transportation Committees of the County Agricultural War Boards cooperate with O. D. T.)
(2)	An industry transportation plan in which the half million for-hire trucks serving agriculture are efficiently mobilized through industry transportation committees. (The committees are composed of producers, haulers, and receivers, and recommend adjustments in routes and areas served by agricultural haulers to insure markets for producers and volume for receivers with the most efficient use of transportation. )
(3)	Every possible assistance will be rendered toward providing transportation in any area where local facilities are insufficient, especially to meet peak movements of perishable crops, livestock, and livestock products.
b.	In the maintenance of farm vehicles through :
(1)	Assistance in locating needed replacement parts.
(2)	Training of maintenance personnel.
(3)	Industry clinics for dissemination of new techniques.
(4)	Assistance in preparation and distribution of educational materials.
(5)	Compilation of a list of available shop and maintenance facilities.
(6)	Carrying on the activities of the U. S. Truck Conservation Corps.
This work is carried on through 142 maintenance specialists in the O. D. T. district offices throughout the country assisted by automotive maintenance advisory committees in more than 300 communities. Through these agencies, all truck owners have the service of trained people in all branches of the automotive industries. To bring their work close to the farmer, the County Farm Transportation Committees will be asked by O. D. T. to appoint a maintenance subcommittee in each county, which in turn will be invited to join with neighboring counties in naming a farm vehicle representative on the O. D. T. district maintenance committee.
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Farmers’ Function.
Farmers on the front line of food production hold the key to achieving our unprecedented 1944 production goals. They can help by :
1.	Cooperating in sharing pools affecting machinery, tools, vehicles, and other production equipment.
2.	Individual sharing of equipment with their neighbors.
3.	Checking their equipment and ordering replacement parts early and making timely arrangements for necessary repair services.
4.	Keeping equipment in constant adjustment to secure maximum efficiency and minimum wear and breakage.
5.	Servicing their equipment and vehicles regularly.
6.	Maintaining their equipment in constant repair by making use of training offered by service and maintenance schools.
T. Repairing, converting, and keeping in serviceable condition as far as possible under present conditions, all buildings used for housing livestock and storing crops.
Industry’s Function.
The direct aim of Government-industry cooperation is to tell the same story at the same time to assure maximum use of farm production and transportation facilities in meeting the 1944 food production goals.
Manufacturers and dealers who supply farm production and transportation facilities may coordinate their current programs of maintenance and utilization of farm facilities with the Governmentindustry program, in order that the most effective approach possible be made toward reaching 1944 food production goals.
This may be accomplished by :
1.	Stressing the objectives of the over-all campaign in advertising and literature directed at the farmer group.
2.	Assisting educational agencies with personnel and equipment in holding schools and other informative activities on service and maintenance of farm production and transportation facilities.
3.	Holding such schools under their own auspices, and in joining forces locally, as far as possible.
4.	Stressing through and by means of field forces and in all direct contacts, such as house organs and special mailings, with the farmers, the objectives of this maintenance and utilization campaign.
Through house organs, trade papers, and other means, industry can recruit its own members in the campaign. It will be essential that industry members be well informed on this campaign so that every contact with the farmer will be 100 percent efficient in promoting the program.
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The Local Dealer’s Function.
Implement, tire, petroleum, and farm building materials dealers, together with other farm supply businesses, are urged to fit into promotional programs of their own the objectives provided by the overall Government-industry care, share, and service campaign. Farm supply businesses, since the war brought shortages to the farm front, have conducted extensive educational efforts to urge and to help farmers carry out the principles of preventive maintenance on transportation, crop-production, and food-production equipment, to maintain and repair farm buildings, and to take other measures necessary for keeping agriculture’s production facilities in shape for its wartime job.
The many thousands of dealers handling farm equipment, farm building materials, petroleum, tires, and other supplies provide direct farm equipment service facilities for maintaining the farmer’s production .and transportation tools. Both industry and Government recognize the importance of the local dealer in the campaign. He is a local center of information about production and transportation supplies, and through his day-to-day contacts with farmers, can give vital help in meeting the objectives of the campaign.
Copy Themes.
The campaign to achieve utmost utilization of farm production and transportation equipment is part of the Food Fights For Freedom program. Therefore, it is proposed that the same slogan and symbol be used in conjunction with the subslogan, “Keep Your War Equipment Fit and Fighting.”
This utilization campaign, moreover, should be consistently and closely identified with the program of farm production goals inasmuch as the whole objective of “care, share, and repair” of farm production and transportation equipment is to enable farmers to meet production goals and transport their produce to market.
The utilization campaign has eight specific objectives which clearly indicate the eight copy themes to be emphasized.
1.	Establish the fact that reaching food production goals for 1944 depends on full utilization of all available farm production and transportation equipment.
2.	Urge farmers constantly to check, repair, and adjust their equipment for maximum mechanical efficiency.
3.	Urge farmers to check repair needs and order replacement parts so that delivery and installation can be completed before equipment is needed for operation. (Stress importance of ordering only needed parts.)
4.	Urge farmers to pool their equipment.
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5.	Emphasize the importance of utilizing equipment at top '	efficiency on a time basis.
6.	Urge farmers to sell surplus equipment or to make it available for use whenever it is needed.
7.	Bring to the attention of farmers facilities available for repair and maintenance of farm structures.
8.	Revitalize the idea of machinery as multiple manpower which now mûst be used more efficiently to compensate for acute manpower shortages caused by the war.
Copy Slants.
Of the innumerable copy slants which can be employed to urge more efficient use of farm production and transportation equipment, possibly the most effective are those which point up the farmer’s true function as a “fighter” by stressing the fact that his farm equipment is fighting equipment. The opportunities for making such comparisons are as broad as the combined range of kinds of equipment the farmer uses and kinds of equipment used by our armed forces.
Here are only a few examples of how appeals to stimulate the care and use of farm equipment may be dramatized in this way.
1.	Your tractor is a Tank . . . Keep it fighting.
2.	Military Objective: 1944 production goals.
Strategy: Maximum use of “mechanized divisions.”
Main Attack : By existing farm machinery and production equipment.
Is your equipment ready for the battle?
3.	The middle of the battle Is no time to fix a tank . . .
. . . and the middle of your busy season is no time to discover weaknesses in your farm equipment. Inspect it and order replacement parts you may need before your busy season starts.
4.	Why you seldom see destroyers in port.
Their job is on the high seas, convoying men and supplies, and stalking subs. Every hour in port is considered “wasted.” So they are refueled and resupplied in record time.
The war job of your farm machinery and production equipment is to help meet our 1944 production goals. Every day it stands idle is “wasted.” We haven’t enough destroyers, and we haven’t enough farm equipment. Keep yours working full time. Let neighbors us^ it rather than let it “loaf.”
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5.	Dear Dad:
Please get that P-40 out of the machine shed.
We need it.
Idle farm equipment is like an idle fighting plane. Both must be kept working full-time to speed victory. Rent or lend your idle equipment to neighbors if you are not using it. Help America meet her production goals for 1944.
6.	How many “guns” are idle on your farm?
Farm equipment is fighting equipment in our battle to meet production goals. Keep yours “firing.”
7.	Like good soldiers, good farm equipment should stand “inspection” frequently.
Check yours for:
Lubrication
Worn parts
Correct adjustments
Cleanliness
8.	The hay baler that licked a Tiger tank.
(Dramatize outstanding examples of how farmers can pool limited equipment. This is the same kind of cooperation as that used by our fighting men in destroying an enemy tank.)
9.	Your barn or storage house is your arsenal.
Save crops—protect livestock—shelter supplies—by keeping it repaired.
APPENDIXES
Timetable.
SEPTEMBER 1943
Announcement of campaign	(
OCTOBER
Preventive maintenance
Protection of machinery
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER
Protection
Inspection service
Ordering of parts
JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1944
Protection
Repairing and adjusting
MARCH-AUGUST 1944
Checking
Adjusting
Efficient use
Safe operation
Training machine operators
Following are the major points to be stressed in developing timetable schedule:
1.	Servicing.—This includes inspection, adjusting, repairing and ordering of :spare parts. Every machine should be thoroughly inspected at least once every year. The best time for inspection is usually at the end of the season in which the machine is used.
(a)	New parts should be ordered promptly to insure delivery before the machine is again needed.
(b)	Machine service work, including the fitting and adjusting of intricate parts, should be done in service shops which have skilled workmen and the necessary tools. Farmers and service men both will find it advantageous to contract for service work when new parts are ordered, and with ample time allowance to ensure completion of the service work before the machine is needed.
2.	Maintenance.—Maintenance of machinery is necessary to assure long life and reliable service. Essentials of maintenance are cleaning, lubricating, checking, adjusting and repairing.
(a)	Most machines, particularly power equipment, require cleaning at frequent intervals to remove dust, grit, and grime which interfere with efficient operation.
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(b)	Correct lubricants and adequate lubrication of all mechanical equipment is invariably essential. This requires systematic lubrication at regular intervals.
(c)	Frequent checking is necessary to find improper adjustments, inadequate lubrication, and loose or damaged parts.
(d)	Rigid parts should be kept tight and moving parts should be kept in proper adjustment at all times.
(e)	Damaged parts should be repaired or replaced before a failure occurs which might cause a break-down or damage other parts.
(f)	Special attention should be given to the cleaning, servicing, and maintenance of special equipment such as rubber tires, batteries, carburetors, an? cleaners, oil filters, belts, pulleys, chains, gears, and other exposed or fast-moving parts.
3.	Protection.—Housing is one of the principal ways of protecting machinery, but addiAonal precautions should be taken. .Machines must be protected not only from sun and rain, but also from dust, debris, floods, rust, corrosion, condensation, freezing, insects, rodents, poultry, vandals, and livestock.
4.	Efficient Use.—To meet 1944 production goals all machinery and equipment must be “kept rolling” so that no farm production is left unharvested after it is planted and cultivated. This means maximum use at maximum speed in minimum time. This presupposes complete adherence to principles of care, share, and repair activities.
5.	Safe Operation.—This calls for skillful use of all machinery and equipment to accomplish the maximum amount of work in a timely ancT effective manner without damage to crops, machines, or operators.
6.	Farm Buildings.—Because of variations in seasons and need, no formal timetable is suggested on farm building repair and maintenance. Buildings and fences should be repaired as needed, but special repair and re-conditioning necessary to give winter protection to crops and livestock should be d®ne in the fall. Labor-saving conveniences can be built, and such existing facilities checked and repaired during the late fall and winter months. Maintenance of buildings—such as checking foundations; leak-proofing* roofs; rodent and weevil control ; protection from fire, wind, and lightning; and painting—is a year-round activity. Plans for essential new construction that can be provided should be made well in advance of need, and actual construction made when labor is available on the farm, as in slack seasons.
Details of the Government Program.
The Government has numerous programs in effect to help farmers obtain essential supplies for food production. Specifically, in the War Food Administration, the Office of Materials and Facilities has the responsibility for carrying out all programs dealing with supplies, machinery, and equipment needed for producing food on the farm, transporting it to market, storing it on the farm, and for processing it after it leaves the farm. This includes not only farm machinery, but also equipment needed by food processors, such as canneries and dehydrating plants, canning supplies, gasoline and other fuel, fertilizer, lumber, nails, other hardware, and many other items.
Outlined below are specific programs on principal farm supply items, with explanation principally on the procedure set-up to help the farmer obtain them:
Farm machinery and equipment.—The War Food Administration and the War Production Board are cooperatively expending every effort for the rapid production of new farm machinery. Production of new machinery during the current production year—which began July 1, 1943—is authorized at an average
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of 80 percent of 1940 output. There are no quota restrictions on the production of replacement parts. This program was provided after a thorough study by the War Food Administration of Agriculture’s need to produce food in 1944 at record levels, and for labor-saving machinery.
The program provides for these groups of machinery:
Planting, seeding, and fertilizing machinery.
Plows ajid listers.
Harrows, rollers, pulverizers, and stalk cutters.
Cultivators and weeders.
Sprayers, dusters, and orchard heaters.
Harvesting machinery.	।
Haying machinery.
Machines for preparing crops for market or use (Examples: Peanut pickers, silo fillers, feed grinders, and feed crushers).
Farm elevators and blowers.
Tractors.
Farm wagons, gears, and trucks (not motor).
Domestic water systems.
Farm pumps and windmills.
Irrigation equipment.
Dairy farm machines and equipment.
Barn and barnyard equipment (Examples: Feed carriers, cattle stanchions, livestock drinking cups, stock tanks).
Farm poultry equipment.
Miscellaneous equipment (Examples: Beekeeper supplies, horseshoes, power shearing machines, wind-driven farm electric plants).
How the farmer gets machinery.—Some of the kinds of machinery listed are rationed. When a farmer wants a rationed item, he applies to the County Farm Rationing Committee of the County Agricultural War Board. If he meets the standards set up for release of machinery, the rationing committee will issue him a purchase certificate, which he takes to his local dealer to make his purchase. Machinery is rationed with the basic idea that it be placed with farmers who need it the most and who can make the most of it in producing food. The farmer needs no priority to obtain machinery. For unrationed items, the farmer makes his purchase as usual.
Replacement parts.—There are no quota restrictions on the manufacture of replacement parts during the present manufacturing year. Neither are replacement parts rationed, and the farmer need make no application to obtain them. The only caution regarding these important farm supply items is that farmers check their machinery and place orders for needed parts as early as possible. Farmers should be cautioned against overpurchase of parts.
Small engines.—About 37,000 air- and liquid-cooled internal combustion engines of 20 horsepower and under will be provided for farmers during the 1943-44 machinery production year. Distribution control is at the county level, where the County Farm Rationing Committee will issue preference rating certificates to farmers for engines needed for essential food production. The certificates will bear a preference rating of AA-2, the highest given a civilian product. When a farmer receives such a preference. rating certificate, he takes it to a local dealer to make his purchase.
Electrical equipment.—A good many electrically operated items of farm equipment are provided under, the farm machinery and equipment production order— WPB Order L-257. These include such equipment as milking machines, cream separators, incubators, electric floor brooders, electric fence controllers, electric fence accessories, and wind-driven farm electric plants.
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Copper wire for farmstead wiring is provided under the WPB controlled materials plan. Its distribution is handled under a special program being carried out through the County War Boards. This applies to both new and old users of electricity.
Farmers may obtain a power line hook-up necessary for essential food production purposes by obtaining from "the County War Board a certification that his farm meets certain production standards set-up under provisions of WPB Order U-l-c. In general, this order provides that to qualify for an electrical extension, the farm must have a minimum number of animal units.
When a farmer receives approval for a hook-up, or qualifies for an extension of electrical service when he already has it on his farm, he may obtain -the necessary copper wire for approved uses by applying to his County War Board. If he meets the standards for essential permitted uses, the Board will give him a Copper Wire Allotment Certificate. The farmer then presents this certificate to his local dealer to purchase the wire. Under this program, new users of electricity may obtain up to 75 pounds of copper wire for any one farm, and old users may obtain up to 50 pounds.
In addition to this, a farmer may obtain under WPB priorities regulation No. 19 small amounts of copper wire (up to 75 feet) and certain types of equipment by certifying that he is a farmer and needs the equipment for the operation of a farm. Besides the wire, this regulation covers electric motors under 1 horsepower, motor starters under 1 horsepower, brushes for motor repair, safety switches, and certain kinds of wiring materials and fixtures.
Larger electrio motors.—For electric motors of 1 horsepower and over, a farmer must file a priority application. This is WPB-541 (formerly PD-la), which can be obtained from the County War Board.
v Miscellaneous farm tools.—In addition to the small electrical equipment mentioned above, other types of materials and tools are available to farmers under a program put into effect by the War Production Board through Priorities Regulation No. 19 and General Preference Order No. 330.
The priorities regulation sets up a simple procedure for farmers to follow in buying what they need in more than 144 different lines of small supplies and enables farm supply dealers to replenish their stocks of this equipment.
The general preference order directs manufacturers or distributors to produce or set aside for sale to farmers specified quantities of 66. most urgently needed items.
To buy up to $25 worth of this equipment all a farmer need do is furnish his dealer with this statement: “I certify to the War Production Board that I am a farmer and that supplies covered by this order are needed now and will be used for the operation of a farm.” Purchase of any item at one time which costs more than $25 must be approved by the County Farm Rationing Committee of the County War Board. When the farmer obtains such approval, the rationing committee will endorse his certificate, which the farmer takes to his dealer.
This special program covers a wide range of small farm supply items. Examples are: Auger bits, batteries, chains, cold chisels, forks, small tools like pliers and wrenches, grease guns, nails, fractional horsepower motors, wire, rope, shovels, axes, bolts and nuts, hand sprayers, drills, corrugated roofing, welding rods and electrodes, knives, etc.
Plumbing and heating equipment.—The Government program makes provision for obtaining plumbing and heating equipment for essential purposes needed on farms—both for dwellings, barns, and other buildings.
Where the installation of plumbing and heating equipment does not cost more than $200, the farmer applies for such equipment on form WPB-2631 (formerly
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PD-851), which can be obtained from the County War Board. The farmer applicant sends this form, when filled out, direct to the nearest WPB district office, where it is given final consideration. If he wishes, the farmer may obtain County War Board recommendation which usually facilitates action on his application.
When plumbing and heating installations will cost more than $200, not including the cost of equipment and materials applied for, the farmer fills out WPB form 2570 (formerly PD-200c) which he obtains from the County War Board. Both the County War Board and the State War Board must approve such an application before it is sent to the WPB regional office for final consideration.
Farm Construction.—All farm construction is governed by the provisions of WPB conservation order B—41, whi^h in general limits new construction to only the most essential projects.
Under the terms of this order, new farm construction projects costing less than $1,000 for any one year, and farm dwelling construction not in excess of $200 a year, may be constructed without WPB approval. On construction under these limits, the farmer may proceed as he always has, except that he may seek priority assistance if he has difficulty in locating materials—lumber, brick, hardware, and other items.
When a farmer wishes to provide essential construction costing more than $1,000 a year, he must have the approval of the War Production Board. To obtain this, he applies to his County War Board for permission to begin construction, and the necessary priority assistance in obtaining his materials. The War Board has the necessary forms and will give the farmer assistance in obtaining approval. The War Boards must approve all on-farm construction before the farmer’s application is sent on to the proper WPB office for final approval.
Since lumber for new farm construction is necessarily limited, repair and maintenance of existing structures becomes all the more important. There are no restrictions on the use of materials for repair and maintenance of farm buildings.
Trucks, and Automobiles.—A farmer is 'an essential user and will be given rationing preference on vehicles needed for essential farm work. For a truck, the farmer applies to the Transportation Committee of his County Agricultural War Board. For a passenger car, he applies to his local War Price and Rationing Board.
Tires.—Farming equipment and cars are eligible for tires that are needed for food production and other essential farm purposes. Applications for tires are made to the local War Price and Rationing Board, except for tires to convert tractors and other equipment from steel to rubber, when the farmer applies to the County Farm Transportation Committee.
Gasoline.—Gasoline for essential farm uses has been given preference over all other civilian uses—ranking with military requirements. For gasoline needed in nonhighway uses, the farmer applies to the War Price and' Rationing Board, which sends the application to the County Farm Transportation Committee for recommendation. Gasoline for trucks is issued on Certificates of War Necessity, and the farmer files such application with the County Farm Transportation Committee. Passenger car gasoline is obtained on rations applied for at the War Price and Rationing Board.
Kerosene and Fuel Oil.—Farmers are given preference for kerosene and fuel oil to be used for farm work. Application for kerosene and oil is made at the local War Price and Rationing Board. If the Board wishes, it may ask the County War Board for recommendations on such fuel applications.
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What the Farmer Is Doing to Help Himself.
While prospects for new machinery and repair parts are brighter for 1944,. there still is paramount need for Nation-wide care and sharing of machinery and parts now in the hands of our American farmers. We are still faced with the major problem of. keeping machinery and production equipment in repair and general repair activities going at full blast. Farmers realize that proper care of machinery and equipment will do much to prevent the need for repairs, and that this will be another step forward in the production fight.
The following examples are given as an indication of what action farmers are taking to utilize fully present machinery and equipment:
In the Redland community of Nevada County, Arkansas, a farmer solved a farm machinery problem by using scrap iron and other materials to rebuild a cultivator and construct a wagon. A broken-down, one-row walking cultivator that was ready to be discarded for scrap valued at $10 was repaired from scrap material found on the farm, and put into operation. The axles were built up by having the bearings rebabbitted. The foot lifts were welded and the holes redrilled. U-bolts were made out of scrap iron and a new tongue and handles installed. No new repair parts were used in rebuilding the cultivator, which is now valued at $50. In addition to the cultivator, a home-made farm wagon valued at $150 was made for a cash outlay of $12. The farmer paid $2 for scrap iron, $5 for bolts and nuts, and $5 for two wheels. Timber cut from the farm and made into lumber in his own sawmill was used for all woodwork. The two farm implements were rebuilt during spare time in the winter months and resulted in the saving of over $200 to the farm . . . and most important of all put more usable fawn equipment into the food production fight.
In Illinois, three farmers devised a method of speeding up operations which had been delayed by weather conditions. A four-row corn planter, available on one of the farms, was kept in constant use to plant a total of 200 acres of corn on the three farms instead of only 83 acres on the home farm. Three tractors from the other two farms made it possible to tandem-disk the soil twice, harrow the seedbed, and keep the planter operating. Last year it was found in the cooperative use of the planter on two of these farms that one tractor was not enough to keep the soil prepared ahead of the planter. The third farm made two more tractors available, and the three had to operate only about 10 hours a day to keep the soil prepared. In addition to this work, 70 acres of soil for soybeans were tandem-disked during a period of 6 days. Two tractors operated on all 6 days and the other two were used only 4 days for a total of 190 hours required to complete this work.
Reports reaching the office of the Kansas State Agricultural War Board indicate that considerable progress is being made in working out practical schedules for pooling farm machinery. In some counties machinery pools are in operation, while in others the local Agricultural War Board is acting as a clearing house for custom work. The board furnishes all farmers in the county with a list of persons who are willing to do custom work with their equipment during this emergency.
Reno County reports an unusual plan.
There was but one pick-up hay baler allotted to Reno County. The problem facing the farm machinery rationing committee was to place the baler in the hands of someone who would keep it fully employed throughout the haying season. This was no small job, for there were many applications for the baler.
The application finally accepted by the rationing committee was filed by five men who acted together and formed a company. These farmers, all stock-men, had 300 acres of their own alfalfa to bale. However, in addition to baling
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their own hay, this machine was put to custom work. To assure the rationing committee that this would be done, the newly formed company hired a manager whose job it was to keep the baler busy until every acre of hay in Reno county had been baled.
In Kansas also, two farmers worked out an exchange that saved not only-machinery but also considerable time and labor. One farmer owned a field hay baler and baled all of the other farmer’s hay while his neighbor did all the listing and cultivating of corn on the former’s farm. This arrangement saved one farmer the necessity of owning or hiring a hay baler and the other from owning a lister and cultivator.
Noth.—The examples mentioned apply principally to repair and maintenance' practices on farm machinery. Farmers have been equally active in carrying out measures to conserve trucks and other vehicles through pooling, and repair and maintenance practices. Similarly, they have done much on their farms to fit their buildings into the wartime food production picture, such as repairing and converting existing buildings into shelter to care for increased livestock and poultry production, and for storing crops.
U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE; 19«