0000072272 00000 n 0000045878 00000 n " Sometimes my quotes may be too colorful. Blustering, boisterous, and often vulgar, Butz lorded over the U.S. farm scene at a key period. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. - Secretary Earl Butz was Presidents Richard Nixon's secretary of agriculture. Let Them Eat Ketchup In, Roberts, Paul. 0000051702 00000 n 0000056005 00000 n 0000052562 00000 n 0000012251 00000 n Earl Butz stayed on as Secretary of Agriculture after Nixon was impeached and engineered legislation sharply reducing federal subsidies for farmers. 14. In King Corn, Butz argued that the corn subsidy had dramatically reduced the cost of food for all Americans by improving the efficiency of farming techniques. Author: Earl L. Butz The American Food Machine and Private Entrepreneurship Earl L. Butz | December 1977 The modern American Food Machine is perhaps the greatest single source of strength undergirding the unparalleled level of American living. 0000017516 00000 n Ford discusses many of the painful decisions he had to make during his presidencyincluding the firing of Earl Butz. Farm income stayed high for most of the decade. Later, as technological innovations increased crop yields and international demand declined, policy curtailed production to regulate supply and demand. Butz and . Out of the unsettling agricultural and economic events of 1972, the beginnings of a robust agricultural monitoring program were born. But Butz is more interested in private trade (which usually means trade by a halfdozen large grain companies) and cash sales than in humanitarian giveaways, a view that has led to charges that he is oblivious to world hunger. 1. Feb. 3, 2008 12 AM PT. 24 Since subsidized crops are less expensive, and therefore more sought after, farmers who grew subsidized crops saw the most success, while those who did not fell behind. One Iowa land excavator told the Journal that farmers are trying to squeeze everything they can out of their land. YouTube. So if youre tempted to feel sorry for the guy for getting torn up by historical forces he never understood, give it a rest. Design and build by Upstatement. 0000054094 00000 n 0000058450 00000 n A reflection on the lasting legacy of 1970s USDA Secretary Earl Butz Industrial agriculture lost one of its greatest champions last week: Earl "Rusty" Butz, secretary of the USDA under. He received a B.S. Earl Lauer "Rusty"[1] Butz was a United States government official who served as Secretary of Agriculture under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. This benefits farmers and the American agricultural industry as a whole, as the nation doesn't have to import corn grown in another country. The move worked dramatically. 0000063693 00000 n Argued Nov. 7, 1977. . Jesse Jackson learned the latter lesson in 1984 when a black reporter for the Washington Post passed along to another reporter the news that hed heard Jackson refer to Jews in private as Hymie, and refer to New York City as Hymietown.. Eighteenth and nineteenth territorial expansion had tragic consequences for displaced Native American populations, and many still face the ramifications of mass removal. I went to Syria. Now lets face it, they are. By 1976, though, most whites in positions of influence were learning not to say such things. 10Despite a surplus of agricultural commodities, farmers increased production to compensate for low prices, worsening the imbalance of supply and demand and further devaluing their crops. 0000060715 00000 n 0000071753 00000 n We hit your inbox once a month and never abuse your personal information. %PDF-1.4 % The "Great Grain Robbery" was not really a robbery, but it was a major turning point in the history of agricultural monitoring.. The analysis presented in that case cannot be limited to . " Earl Butz 4. Butz encouraged farm production and promoted exports of surpluses. 0000066617 00000 n University of Washington researcher Adam Drewnowski found that one dollar purchased 1,200 calories of cookies, but only 250 calories of carrots. in Agriculture in 1932 with a major in animal husbandry. 0000061644 00000 n 0000071240 00000 n 0000059949 00000 n He was married to Mary Emma Powell. On the other hand, heavy exports can lead to domestic shortagesand rises in consumer food prices, as they, indeed, did in 1972. how much corn is grown with this fertilizer? in agriculture (1932) and a Ph. The problem was that most of the countrys grain production was in areas subject to severe winters and droughts. The government would also buy excess grain from farmers and store it. He was the eldest of five children and worked on his parents' 160-acre (65ha) farm while growing up. But domestic consumption was only 11 million tons greater; so the rest must be disposed of abroad. US Presidential Cabinet Member. On June 19, he was sentenced to five years in prison. 0000062543 00000 n In order to profitably mass-produce convenience fare for a growing middle class, the food industry needed unchecked access to cheap inputs. 0000046978 00000 n Butzs great policy change had given rise to the deepest rural crisis since the Depression. 0000046621 00000 n Butz's motto became "get big or get out," encouraging the growth of corporate factory-farms and increasing subsidised production of staples for export. 0000057943 00000 n Popular among farmers, he was known for creating new free-market policies in American agriculture. 0000009251 00000 n 11Subsequent government policy implemented to save farms failed because it provided only short-term solutions. 0000022228 00000 n 0000008397 00000 n American land policy began in the wake of the Revolutionary War, designed to bolster agricultural production to support the expanding nation. In 1970, the Government was paying farmers $3.7 billion in subsidies, mostly as an incentive not to plant. Known as one of the greenest commercial buildings in the world, since it opened its doors on Earth Day in 2013 the Bullitt Center has been setting a new standard for sustainable design. "Get big or get out," Butz told farmers in 1973, and boy, did they. 0000047333 00000 n Subsidy System. Butz started by telling a dirty joke involving intercourse between a dog and a skunk. Ulrike Butz, daughter of television presenter Hermann Butz, grew up in the Bavarian district of Miesbach. While conservatives have consistently pushed more aggressive, pro-agribusiness policies, liberals have often responded with pro-agribusiness policies of their own, even when that meant undermining their own natural allies: small and mid-sized farmers, farm workers, rural minority . Many were dismayed the government paid farmers not to plant and even destroy crops while much of the country struggled to purchase food and waited in line at soup kitchens. Butz was vice president of what has become the American Agricultural Economics Association (1948), and he was . 0000071573 00000 n Butz resigned within days, saying that "the use of a bad racial commentary in no way reflects my real attitude." Earl Lauer Butz was born on a farm near Albion, Ind., on July 3, 1909, and grew up guiding horse-drawn plows. Throughout the Grain Belt, abandoned farmhouses were burned to the ground, cleared, and incorporated into ever-larger corn and soy fields. Earl Butz. He has antagonized or alienated food shoppers, environmentalists, labor leaders, social reformers and religious and ethnic groups. You are the peacemakers! Congressional investigators established that, in the massive 1972 grain sales to Russia, the Agriculture Department did not inform farmers about the pending sales and permitted the few large grain exporters handling the sales secretly to buy up huge supplies in the commodity markets at favorable prices. Earl Butz has restored grain farmers pride in proving their enormous productive potential, and they love him. And during his tenure he has played a leading policy role in the decisions which sent a disproportionate share of FoodforPeace aid to rightwing governments, including those of South Korea, South VietCambodia and Chile. It took a while to convert President Ford and Butz's remarks about that are revealing of the manner of this man who has become the nation's top agriculture policy maker: I told the President that a year ago we had the whole Midwest in the palm of our hand and we piddled it away with interference with grain exports. 0000050347 00000 n 0000059674 00000 n 0000041553 00000 n In 1971, President Richard Nixon appointed Butz as Secretary of Agriculture,[4] a position in which he continued to serve after Nixon resigned in 1974 as the result of the Watergate scandal. Produce all you can, and well the sell the surplus overseas! In addition, consumer food prices jumped. 1999-2023 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Rather than use federal policy as a check on farm output, Butz saw it as a lever to maximize output. 0000005254 00000 n Though he looks like a Depressionera banker foreclosing the mortgage on an impoverished farmer, though he speaks in blunt, sharp tones and phrases that infuriate his critics and delight his supporters, it is more his policies than his style that generate the heat, These policies, he maintains, are aimed essentially at transforming American agriculture from its longlamented position of dependence on government to a new healthy reliance on the world's free food market, and they have two principal new tenets for American farmers: (1) produce more (2) sell abroad. Blocked by White House budget officials and by President Ford's uncompromising stance against further Government regulation of business, Butz tried to patch up the graininspection system by adding more Federal supervisors. He wouldn't embarrass a Cabinet member. All rights reserved. 0000068003 00000 n 0000061409 00000 n YouTube, Follow us on The October 18, 1976, issue of Time reported the comment while obscuring its vulgarity:[13]. [2] He attended a one-room country school through eighth grade and graduated from high school in a class of seven. No, I try not to be a negative thinker. (The habit of stuffing the USDA with industry cronies has proven hard to break. Butz had a similar view, "Get big or get out." Butz believed farm consolidation was inevitable. Facebook, Follow us on The San Diego Evening Tribune offered to mail a copy of the whole quotation to anyone who requested it; more than 3,000 readers did. 0000029154 00000 n The Dustbowl that ensued temporarily eradicated farming from Americas most fertile lands, threatening the countrys ability to provide. The Secretary tells American farmers that high price guarantees, or supports, would lead you backward to the days when Government controls dictated what you planted and how much, and in the long run, lead to overproduction. 0000051337 00000 n 0000065262 00000 n Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. They pointed out that he was leaving the board of Ralston Purina Company to become Secretary of Agriculture, while Hardin was departing the Agriculture Department to become vice chairman of the same firm. When major corruption at the grain ports first was revealed publicly early in 1975, Butz's initial reaction was to minimize it and to stress that only a small percentage of inspectors had been accused of crimes. 0000061181 00000 n Under which American president did the deregulation of the food industry coincide with the growth of agribusiness and in particular big corn? The man was a creep. Many of the farmers themselves are beginning to agree with the criticisms. 2023 U.S. History Scene, all rights reserved. Instagram, Follow us on fanners were told: Reelect Nixon or Lose Your Butz. But it remains to he seen hew much help he can he. 25 The rise of factory farms that grew specialized crops subsidized by the government presented environmental troubles as well. 10.How . Butz famously urged farmers to plant fence row to fence row, and told them to adapt or die. 23The farm bill succeeded in lowering food prices as intended, but it reinstated a new era of imbalanced supply and demand. Food and food production is no exception as now only 2% of Americans are farmers and most live in urban spaces where they have limited access to food in it's natural form. That is one of the most outrageous things I've seen, but it's typical of the way Secretary Butz operates, says Foreman. Farm income has shot up from $14 billion in 1970 to $26 billion now, and even after these figures are adjusted for inflation, they still reflect a nearly 20 percent increase. 0000040653 00000 n In 1973, Nixon's agricultural secretary, Earl Butz, oversaw a change in the philosophy of the U.S. farm program. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); In addition to providing lifelong history lovers, teachers, and students free access to premier digital research, the editors and writers of U.S. History Scene are available for freelance or consulting work. [5][6], Butz met the former Mary Emma Powell (19111995) from North Carolina in 1930, at the National 4-H Camp in Washington, DC. It later was shown that, with help from Continental officials, Palmby was making arrangements for establishing his residence in New York, where Continental's headquarters is, even before he went to Russia. https://www.nytimes.com/1976/06/13/archives/why-they-love-earl-butz-prosperous-farmers-see-him-as-the-greatest.html. [28], Butz continued to serve on corporate boards and speak on agricultural policy. The Agricultural Credits Act of 1923, which The Quarterly Journal of Economics reported would save farms through long term loans available on farm mortgages andshort term credits available through banks, provided limited financial relief, but did not reduce surpluses. By the government presented environmental troubles as well and told Them to adapt or die print,. A check on farm output, Butz lorded over the U.S. farm scene at a key.... The decade quot ; Get big or Get out. & quot ; Get big or Get out. quot. To adapt or die, did they limited to in positions of influence learning. 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