OCR Text |
Show irrigation works is alone not sufficient to assure successful development. The conversion of arid and semiarid land to irrigated land poses many difficult problems for the settler, who often lacks both experience in irrigation farming and credit facilities adapted to his needs. Technical Assistance and Guidance.-An ade- quate program of technical assistance and guid- ance is needed by settlers, in connection with clearing and leveling land, laying out the farm irrigation system, and adopting irrigation meth- ods and practices. Advice is needed also in the selection of crops, crop rotations, and livestock. The importance of technical assistance is fully realized by all agencies, both Federal and State, and during the past few years through coopera- tive action on the part of the Bureau of Reclama- tion, certain other Federal agencies, and State colleges of agriculture, coordinated settler assist- ance programs on Federal irrigation projects have been much improved. But such assistance and technical guidance are still insufficient. The Agricultural Extension Service, which is financed from Federal, State, and local funds and which has authority to con- duct a comprehensive program of educational assistance, should have more funds and person- nel to adequately service new irrigation areas in addition to meeting the demand of mature agri- cultural areas. In addition to technical assistance as outlined above, settlers on many projects are in need of advances of funds to assist them in land clearing, rough leveling, and the roughing-in of farm irri- gation and surface drainage ditches on a reim- bursable basis. Such assistance may be furnished by the Bureau of Reclamation as part of project construction. The credit facilities of some agen- cies in the Department of Agriculture may also be adapted to this purpose. Financing AgriculturalDevelopment.-Financ- ing the early developmental years when farm in- come is low is a major problem which makes financial assistance of some sort indispensable. This has been emphasized repeatedly by various official groups over the past 25 years. The Com- mittee of Special Advisors on Reclamation, com- monly referred to as the Fact Finders' Commit- tee, in 19247 recommended that "Loans for de- velopment should be made a part of the reclama- tion policy," and President Calvin Coolidge in his letter transmitting their report to Congress stated: "The establishment of a credit fund by the Gov- ernment from which farmers on projects may secure capital to make permanent improvements, buy equipment and livestock should be consid- ered." In the report Economic Problems of Reclama- tion, published in 1928, Dr. Alvin Johnson and Dr. E. C. Branson propose: * * * the creation of a loan fund under the reclamation budget, to advance improvement loans to settlers, the settler putting his own money along with the borrowed money in approved proportion. It would obviate the years of hardship the settler is now destined to undergo and bring forward the time of full production. It would bring to the projects many valuable farmers who are unwilling to put their families through a prolonged period of inhuman privation. The continuing need for developmental capital and credit is amply demonstrated in later settler- progress studies.8 The need for financial aid stems from the com- bination of the high cost of establishing a new farm on irrigated land, the extremely limited in- come from a new farm enterprise during its de- velopmental period, and the limited capital pos- sessed by most settlers. While the irrigated farm may reasonably be expected ultimately to pro- vide an adequate family living and to return the cost of development, outside financing usually will be necessary during the first few years. Credit Facilities.-The Farmers Home Admin- istration has the authority, though not at present 7 P. 97, S. Doc. No. 92, 68th Cong., 1st sess. 8 (<z) "Repayment of the Construction Costs of Federal and Indian Reclamation Projects," H. Doc. No. 673, 75th Cong., 3d sess. (b) C. P. Heisig, and M. Clawson, New Farms on New Lands, Report No. 4, Migration and Settlement on the Pacific Coast, U. S. Department of Agriculture, January 1941. (c) Walter U. Fuhriman, Settlers Progress, Vale- Owyhee Project, Oregon, U. S. Department of Agriculture, April 1946. (d) "Financial Aid for Settlers"-Problem 14, Colum- bia Basin Joint Investigations-U. S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation. 168 |