WAUPACA COUNTY POST

April 29, 1920 or May 6, 1920

WAGES BLAMED FOR THE HIGH POTATO PRICE

Hearing at Milwaukee Friday Shows Fewer Potatoes Are Raised and More Are Used

Arthur D. Larson of Sheridan and Soren Jensen of Lind were among the witnesses called to testify at the hearing conducted by State Market Commissioner Ed Nordman, and Counsel Alvin C. Reis, at Milwaukee, April 23d.

The purpose of the hearing was to consider prices for farm products and farm conditions, cost of production and net profit, whether or not the farmer sets the price on his own product.

Ten leading growers from different parts of the state were present and gave testimony besides representative of farm associations.

The testimony went to show that farmers’ profits are on an average, less than 5 percent on their total investment.

Some of the growers said the profit would be greatly reduced if their wages and those of members of their families were included.

The facts and figures developed at the investigation will be tabulated, Mr. Nordman announced and given to the public in the form of a report.

Wants City Warehouses

The only remedy against profiteering in potatoes, according to A.C. Schmidt, president of the American Co-operative association, is centrally located municipal warehouses. The present high prices, he said, may be ascribed to a number of causes, chief of which are that the crop in many sections of the country has been a failure and that people are eating more potatoes than formerly.

M.O. Frovog, agricultural agent of the bank at Colfax, declared the scarcity of potatoes boosted prices. The average price per bushel in his section of the country he said was $1.20; the cost of production varied from 50 to 75 cents a bushel, an average of 62 cents.

In answer to the question as to who was getting the "long" profit, he said he thought it was the middleman.

Who Fixes Prices?

When asked who set the potato price, Arthur Larson of Sheridan, Waupaca county, said the prices were based on Chicago quotations, he understood, and growers received telegraph information as to prospective prices.

E.J. Delwiche of the agricultural experiment station at Spooner and Ashland testified that he shortage of labor contributed to the high price. This opinion was also voiced by R.T. Glassco, county agent of Rock county. He said the factories were paying more and offering shorter hours. Many farmers, he asserted, are putting their farms in grass, as they can not afford to pay the wages demanded by labor.

Predicts Law Curb

At the conclusion of the hearing Mr. Reis, who conducted the examination said the report may embody recommendations for some legislation calculated to curb if not entirely prevent profiteering in all foodstuffs.

Others who testified at the Friday hearing were: Chris Michelson, Hazelhurst; Edward O’Connor, Hancock; Jens Uhrenholdt, Hayward; B.J. Morse, Wautoma, and Fred Hertzfeld, American Society of Equity, Waupaca; Soren Jensen, Lind.

Mr. Larson has furnished us with the following summary:

Final Results

Average cost of producing last year’s crop, about $1.00 per bu., and that 50 percent of crop was moved out of growers’ hands by Nov. 1^st, at an average price of about $1.75 per cwt. or $1.05 per bushel.

The high prices paid during March and April has been a benefit to very few producers.

One witness reported the amount bought by one warehouse up to Jan. 20, was 6,246,500 lbs. of which 3, 428,088 lbs. were bought before Nov. 1^st, giving 16 growers an average price of $2.18 per cwt.

Proving absolutely that farmers do not set the price on their own products.