NATIONAL DEFENSE MIGRATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1941 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MORNING SESSION The committee, having met at 9:30 a. m. in the Federal Building, Detroit, Mich., Representative John H. Tolan (chairman) presiding, and having heard testimony of R. J. Thomas and Lt. Comdr. Walter F. Eade, United States Naval Reserves, called as the next witness Prof. E. B. Hill, of the farm-management department, Michigan State College, East Lansing, Mich.' Present were: Representatives John H. Tolan (chairman), of California; Laurence F. Arnold, of Illinois; Frank C. Ösmers, Jr., of New Jersey; and Carl T. Curtis, of Nebraska. Also present: Dr. Robert K. Lamb, staff director; John W. Abbott, chief field investigator; Francis X. Riley and Jack B. Burke, field investigators; and Ruth B. Abrams, field secretary. The CHAIRMAN. Our next witness is Professor Hill. TESTIMONY OF PROF. E. B. HILL, FARM MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT, MICHIGAN STATE COLLEGE, EAST LANSING, MICH. The CHAIRMAN. Congressman Curtis will interrogate you, Professor Hill. Mr. CURTIS. You are Prof. E. B. Hill? Dr. HILL. Yes, sir. Mr. CURTIS. Of the Michigan State College? Dr. HILL. Yes, sir. Mr. CURTIS. What department? Dr. HILL. The farm management department. Mr. CURTIS. Where is the Michigan State College located? Dr. HILL. At East Lansing. Mr. CURTIS. And it is an agricultural college? Dr. HILL. That is right. Mr. CURTIS. Professor Hill, you have prepared a paper which will be received in its entirety in our hearing, including some rather lengthy tables and figures. ! Testimony of Mr. Thomas, Commander Eade, and all other witnesses on nonagricultural phases of migration covered in the Detroit hearings appears in a separate volume, under the title, "Part 18, Detroit Hearings (Industrial Section)." Dr. Hill was followed on the stand by Earl Raymond, whose testimony appears in pt. 18, followed by other witnesses in the order of their appearance. 7767 (The paper referred to is as follows:) STATEMENT BY PROF. E. B. HILL, FARM MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT, MICHIGAN STATE COLLEGE The huge defense program, the operation of the lease-lend law, and other phases of our present-day economic life are all causing decided changes in American agriculture, and particularly so in Michigan agriculture. Some of these changes in our agriculture, such as increased mechanization, have been taking place in the past, but are being speeded up very decidedly under present conditions. Other changes, such as part-time and self-sufficing farming, may be slowed up for the present. As a result of the many and rapid changes in our economic structure, partienlarly in regard to the defense program and to the expansion of the urban industries, the American farmer, and the Michigan farmer in particular, is faced with many new problems. A listing of these problems would include the following: (1) Producing an increase in the essential items of our food supply for home use and reports; (2) obtaining prices for farm products which will enable him to meet present-day farm and living costs; (3) the difficulty of obtaining adequate amounts of capable farm help; and (4) the conduct of his farm operations and personal program which will enable him best to cushion the post-defense or post-war period. In an analysis of certain of these problems and of the changes in Michigan's agriculture with special reference to the defense program, it is desirable to look back sufficiently to enable us to get a better view of the entire situation. This procedure will throw light on both the predefense period since 1910 and also for the defense period involving particularly the past 12 months. CHANGES IN MICHIGAN AGRICULTURE During the past 30 years the following significant changes have occurred in Michigan agriculture: (1) The type of farming has become more intensive; (2) commercial farming has increased; (3) subsistence and part-time farming has increased; (4) the number of larger farms and the number of smaller farms have tended to increase, whereas the number of medium size farms has tended to decrease; and (5) an increasing number of farmers have found it more difficult to obtain farm incomes sufficient to enable them to maintain their farm, to make the principal and interest payments and to provide for a satisfactory standard of living. TYPES OF FARMING IN MICHIGAN Michigan has quite a number of different types of farming as a result of much diversity in the climate, land, and markets within the State. The accompanying map presents the outlines of the 17 different type-of-farming areas into which the State has been divided. The name assigned to each of these areas is indicative of the predominating types of farming found within each area. Migrant farm labor is found mostly in type-of-farming areas 1, 3, 8, and 11. In areas 3 and 11 fruit and vegetables and areas 1 and 8 sugar beets and vegetables are the crops which, because of their need for much hand labor, have a heavy seasonal labor load that cannot under usual conditions be handled by local labor. The dairy is the major and most widely distributed farm enterprise. Dairy products, exclusive of meat from the dairy herds, contributed about 30 percent of the total income from farm production in Michigan in 1938 and 1939. Income from poultry and eggs was about 10 percent and income from all meat animals, including dairy cattle, was about 20 percent. All crops including grains, fruit, and vegetables made up approximately 35 percent. The remaining 5 percent was from Government payments and other sources. CHANGES IN TYPES OF FARMING In general, the most significant changes in Michigan, as measured by the crop and livestock enterprises, is the trend toward more intensive, specialized, and commercial types of farming. The trend has been to have more dairy cattle, more poultry, more fruit, and more vegetables in place of the more extensive kinds of livestock and crops such as beef cattle, sheep, and hogs and wheat, rye, and oats. The numbers of livestock and acreages of crops in Michigan since 1910 are shown in tables 1 and 2. TABLE 1.-Livestock numbers on farms in Michigan, 1910-41 1 Cows and heifers 2 years old and over kept for milk. TABLE 2.-Corn, oats, barley, wheat, and rye acreage harvested in Michigan, 1910-401 1 Estimated by Bureau of Agricultural Economics, U. S. Department of Agriculture. Hay, alfalfa, potato, bean, and sugar-beet acreage harvested in Michigan, 1910–40 The trend toward more intensive and specialized types of farming has been the result of the rapid expansion of the local markets for farm products, particularly in the southern part of the State. The population of Michigan has about doubled since 1910 and on January 1, 1940, was about 5,250,000. At the same time there has been a decrease in the number of persons on farms. The trend toward a more commercialized and mechanized type of farming has been under way since the turn of the century, but it has been gaining impetus during the past 20 years. The process has been speeded up at an even higher tempo during the crop season of 1941. The trend toward the more intensive farm required more farm labor. The trend toward mechanized farming has been to diminish the demand for labor. MECHANIZATION OF MICHIGAN AGRICULTURE The mechanization of Michigan's agriculture has occurred mostly during the past 15 years. The numbers of tractors, trucks, combines, corn pickers, pick-up hay balers, potato diggers, and milking machines on Michigan farms has increased much since 1925. The accompanying chart (p. 7772) shows graphically some of the changes in farm power. The decrease in numbers of horses and the increase in the numbers of tractors since 1920 has been very marked. In addition there were 33,095 trucks on farms in 1940, and many thousands of electric motors. The introduction of (1) the general-purpose, more flexible type of tractor; (2) tractors of greater range in sizes; (3) rubber tires; (4) machinery adapted to tractor use; and (5) shortage of farm labor have all been factors causing the increase in the numbers of tractors on Michigan farms. Data on harvesting equipment is not as complete as those for farm power. Sauve, of the Agricultural Engineering Department of the Michigan State College, reports 7 grain combine-harvesters in Michigan in 1927; 86 in 1930; and about 3,000 in 1941. The development of the smaller combines, together with the shortage of farm labor, has done much to increase the numbers of these machines in Michigan. Pick-up hay balers in small numbers have been used in Michigan for the last 5 years. This year the machine has appeared in large numbers. Corn pickers have been in more common use, but their numbers are rapidly increasing. The mechanization of Michigan's agriculture has been much speeded during the last half of 1940 and the present portion of 1941. Farmers as early as the summer |