endstream endobj 27 0 obj<> endobj 29 0 obj<> endobj 30 0 obj<>/Font<>/XObject<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageC/ImageI]/ExtGState<>>> endobj 31 0 obj<> endobj 32 0 obj<> endobj 33 0 obj<> endobj 34 0 obj<> endobj 35 0 obj<>stream HTPn0Stv4$>Pv@k'@zGq3(:nfd"qlPUByCzv#Ru {!:|A3hrM[6J)V>w7W]Z |H >dO o?j Just as this imbalance proved unsustainable in the 1920s, Nixons philosophy of expansion, still implemented today, presented its own health, economic, and environmental crises. We need to reject the "go big or go . As intended, Nixons agricultural policy lowered food prices, but the imbalance of supply and demand manifested in long-term problems. 0000051916 00000 n He exhorted farmers to ``plant fence row to fence row'' to meet global demand, helping to drive down surging food costs. But Butz's good luck, if it is that, may be running out, because of the lush, recordshattering crop growing in the Midwest. Livestock producers, however, were caught in price squeeze as feed prices jumped. Earl Butz. 0000051120 00000 n Earl L. Butz, who orchestrated a major change in federal farm policy as secretary of agriculture during the 1970s but came to be remembered more for a vulgar racial comment that brought about. Rather, this reader says, Butz was making a coarse and simpleminded joke about the popes own celibacy. endstream endobj 36 0 obj<> endobj 37 0 obj<> endobj 38 0 obj[/Indexed 45 0 R 6 71 0 R] endobj 39 0 obj[/Indexed 45 0 R 6 70 0 R] endobj 40 0 obj[/Indexed 45 0 R 6 69 0 R] endobj 41 0 obj[/Indexed 45 0 R 6 68 0 R] endobj 42 0 obj[/Indexed 45 0 R 6 67 0 R] endobj 43 0 obj[/Indexed 45 0 R 6 66 0 R] endobj 44 0 obj[/Indexed 45 0 R 5 65 0 R] endobj 45 0 obj[/ICCBased 61 0 R] endobj 46 0 obj<> endobj 47 0 obj<> endobj 48 0 obj<> endobj 49 0 obj<> endobj 50 0 obj<> endobj 51 0 obj<> endobj 52 0 obj<> endobj 53 0 obj<>stream The obituaries for Earl Butzwho went to his reward Feb. 2 at the enviable age of 98all note that he will be remembered less for his accomplishments as Agriculture secretary under Presidents Nixon and Ford than for the two off-color jokes that got him fired. 0000056225 00000 n Between 1971 and 1972, crop failure in the Soviet Union lead the country to purchase nearly 25% of Americas wheat. At the 1974 World Food Conference in Rome, Butz made fun of Pope Paul VI's opposition to "population control" by quipping, in a mock Italian accent: "He no playa the game, he no maka the rules. 0000022228 00000 n I recognize that family-oriented news organizations like the AP and the Times do not publish words they know to be coarse and deeply insulting to particular ethnic groups, nationalities, and religions. In 1972, the Soviet Union, suffering disastrous harvests, purchased 30 million tons of American grain. 2023 U.S. History Scene, all rights reserved. The McGovern US Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs releases its Dietary Goals for the United States. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/bdsdcc:@field(DOCID+@lit(bdsdcc, Dimitri, Carolyn, Anne Effland, and Neilson Conklin. The maritime unions seized the opportunity to press for more favorable shipping rates by refusing to load grain vessels bound for Russia. the World Food Crisis of the early 1970s gave Butz the chance to promote the false notion that free markets would be good for farmers. He died still holding an emeritus position at Purdue. Describe that change. And Brunthaver has since returned to Cook. But Jimmy Carter repeatedly says that one of his first acts as President would be to replace Butz, and Carter's first big boost came in the January caucuses in Iowa. In other words, plow up and plant every bit of land you can get your tractor on. Earl Butz, Secretary of Agriculture under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, died this weekend at 98, leaving a colorfully offensive legacy and, thanks to the political correctness of the mainstream news media, a bit of a mystery as to why he's passed with such ignominy. To read Franklin D. Roosevelts Statement on Signing the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, click here. Butz tells farmers that consumers are mad at them because of high retail food prices. He was featured in the documentary King Corn, recognized as the person who started the rise of corn production, large commercial farms, and the abundance of corn in American diets. He replaced Palmby with Carroll Brunthaver, a former official of Cook Industries, another leading grain firm. "[11] Through a spokesman, he stated that media outlets had taken this portion of his statement out of their original context, which was that of retelling a joke. Subsidized foods became less expensive, yet were higher in energy than unsubsidized crops such as fruits and vegetables, so Americans were financially inclined to purchase them. ammonia grow corn faster 4x as much tractors made the farmers work easier and let them farm more land. a. the average reproductive rates equal the average death rates. He wouldn't embarrass a Cabinet member. All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. Watch Environmental Catastrophe on PBS. "[11] A spokesman for Cardinal Cooke of the New York archdiocese demanded an apology, and the White House[11] requested that he apologize. Earl Butz Oral History Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum 3 Butz: Oh, Nixon was warm and personal when you got to know him. This became evident during the Great Depression through the need to move away from expansion policy, and later in the 1970s when Nixon and Butz sought to reduce food prices. 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. But by regulating supply and demand, reduction efforts restored the prices of agricultural commodities to those of the early twentieth century. Those farmers were early believers. President Franklin Delano Roosevelts passing of the 1933 Agricultural Adjustment enacted an unprecedented and highly successful approach to agricultural policy that defined farming for four decades. 5In 1832, under Chief Justice John Marshall, the Supreme Court promoted tribal sovereignty, which recognized Native American tribes as domestic dependent nations. The court asserted in Worcester v. Georgia, Indian Nations had always been considered as distinct, independent political communities, retaining their original and natural rights, as the undisputed possessors of the soil. 6The Marshall Courts opinions were overlooked in nearly all forms of territorial expansion (most notably by the Jackson Administrations Trail of Tears), including future land policy such as Lincolns Homestead Act of 1862 that continued to promote the growth of agriculture. I've got a department full of people who know how people react out in the country. 25 The rise of factory farms that grew specialized crops subsidized by the government presented environmental troubles as well. 0000028915 00000 n Butz, an agriculture expert, had a radical plan that would transform the food we eat, and in doing so, the shape of the human race. Now, with 61 million more acres in production, subsidy payments have fallen to about $500 millionmostly to cotton, peanut, rice and tobacco growers. But the decline of family farms and rural communities are not inevitabilities, and Earl Butz's vision for American agriculture does not have to be our fate. After the Great Depression which featured the stunning confluence of huge grain surpluses, widespread hunger, and a tide of farm failures the Roosevelt Administration put in place mechanisms to help farmers manage supply.. YouTube. Although not featured prominently in history books, American land and agricultural policy laid the groundwork for the countrys geographic, political, and economic development. But the Times description of Butzs two fatal wisecracks, like the APs, eschewed direct quotation. 0000050144 00000 n The companies were allowed to defer payment for many months at no interest, and the Government stored the grain for them at no charge. After the deprivations of World War II, people all over the world were gradually eating more bread, meat and poultry all food items that require grain to produce, like corn, soybeans and wheat. Butz's motto became "get big or get out," encouraging the growth of corporate factory-farms and increasing subsidised production of staples for export. The act granted settlers one hundred and sixty acres of land, which they would own outright on the condition of improvement after five years of homesteading, or could purchase at a low cost after six months. Nixon plucked Butz out of Purdues agriculture department and planted him in the USDA in 1971. The policy of prohibiting permanent roads and of restricting commercial logging in accordance with the Shipstead-Newton-Nolan Act was continued. [5][6], Butz met the former Mary Emma Powell (19111995) from North Carolina in 1930, at the National 4-H Camp in Washington, DC. Earl L. BUTZ et al., Petitioners, v. Arthur N. ECONOMOU et al. 0000055830 00000 n I tried to interview him last fall for Grists Sow What? Secretary of Agriculture. Jenny Georgieva. On the one hand, the high production can lead to big surpluses and big drops in farm prices. Going back to the dust bowl of the 1930s and President Roosevelt's New Deal that followed, the United States controlled commodity prices by paying farmers to limit production. Earl Butz 0000045340 00000 n 0000011887 00000 n 0000061873 00000 n naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/CAT87210025/PDF, Bittman, Mark, Dont End Agricultural Subsidies, Fix Them., United States v. Butler. Legal Information Institute. To ensure bountiful food for the home front and the devastated allied nations, the government implemented price supports on crops. Butz was assistant secretary of agriculture from 1954 to 1957, during the Eisenhower administration. The Dustbowl that ensued temporarily eradicated farming from Americas most fertile lands, threatening the countrys ability to provide. 0000016123 00000 n Expansion efforts in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries resulted in western migration that led to agricultural prosperity in rural areas. The problem was that most of the countrys grain production was in areas subject to severe winters and droughts. [19] The quotation was among the inspirations behind the comedy film Loose Shoes, particularly the sketch "Dark Town After Dark", made in 1977 but released in 1980. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 0000029423 00000 n series; Purdue officials responded that he had grown too frail. 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. [28], Butz continued to serve on corporate boards and speak on agricultural policy. Earl L. Butz, who orchestrated a major change in federal farm policy as secretary of agriculture in the 1970s but came to be remembered more for a vulgar racial comment that brought about his resignation during the 1976 presidential election race, died Saturday in Kensington, Md. 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. America's total grain production of 242 million tons in 1975 represented an increase of 81 million tons from what it was in 1961. Exports sustained high grain prices, leading the United States Department of Agriculture to describe the years between 1910 and 1914 as the golden age of farming. Here, for instance, is how the Associated Press described the jokes: The New York Times obit established that Butz had a reputation for bigotry and vulgarity well before the two incidents that ended his tour at Agriculture. 9As prices of agricultural commodities soared, farmers maximized production to increase their profits. ), To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. No, I try not to be a negative thinker. During his leadership from 1964 to 1982, Premier Leonid Brezhnev made it official Soviet policy to maintain steady growth in the livestock industry. He died in his sleep, a quiet end for a man whose career shook the earth, causing untold acres to succumb to the plow. BJW -WYFW(.V*(T[)&(?`".\xc;; 0000059949 00000 n American President: James Monroe: The American Franchise. The University of Virginia. 0000059437 00000 n He's not on the side of farmers or consumers. Earl Butz (1909-2008) American government official (1909-2008) - Earl Butz was born in Albion (town in Noble County, Indiana, USA) on July 3rd, 1909 and died in Washington, D.C. (capital city of the United States) on February 2nd, 2008 at the age of 98. [3], Butz was an alumnus of Purdue University, where he was a member of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity. 0000067623 00000 n Butz should be praying for drought right now, says one observer. startxref Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, Minimum Tillage Changes Planters & Cultivators, Silent Spring & the Environmental Movement, Connections between Surface and Groundwater, Nebraska's Unique Natural Resource Districts, Insecticides DDT's Rise, Fall & Rise Again, The EPA, the Endangered Species Act & Pesticides, 14th Annual Tractor & Auto show & Summer Fair. 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. (See Henry Wallace's "Ever-Normal Granary".) They are making money nowand it was Butz who was there when the going got good. 0000071060 00000 n analyzed the issue of executive immunity in terms of general policy considerations, and stated its conclusion, quoted supra, in the same universal terms. 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 . But, if you hit the button that adjusts prices for inflation, there is was a huge spike in corn prices after the Russian grain purchase. It was during this time that she first came into contact with drugs. First published in 2009. He envisioned a hyper-efficient, centralized food system, one that could profitably and cheaply feed the world by manipulating (or adding value to) mountains of Midwestern corn and soy. Export sales, currently running at about $22 billion a year, have almost doubled. https://www.nytimes.com/1976/06/13/archives/why-they-love-earl-butz-prosperous-farmers-see-him-as-the-greatest.html. 0000043664 00000 n He was the eldest of five children and worked on his parents' 160-acre (65ha) farm while growing up. " Earl Butz 4. As their desperation grew, farmers failed to practice sustainable farming methods, which exasperated the Dust Bowl. Meet the Press with Secretary Earl L. Butz, Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger, Secretary James T. Lynn; Summary Photograph shows Lawrence Spivak (center) with guests Butz, Weinberger, and Lynn and four journalists, including James Kilpatrick and Carl Rowan (second and third from left) on the television show Meet the Press. He is known for King Corn (2007), News 15 Nightbeat (1985) and Independent Lens (1999). In 1973, he reduced the number of acres set aside or taken out of grain production from 25 million acres in 1972 to 7.4 million acres in 73. [2] He attended a one-room country school through eighth grade and graduated from high school in a class of seven. He believed that a free, global market would bring higher prices, and for the few years that Russian agriculture struggled, he was right. They are disturbed, too, by the continued exchange of top personnel between the department and the big grain companies. 0000057234 00000 n 3By the end of the nineteenth century, agricultural policy contributed to the settlement of 80 million acres of farmland. 0000068573 00000 n how much corn is grown with this fertilizer? Earl Butz has been and continues to be a close personal friend and a man who loves his country and all that it represents. The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal said the original statement was available in the newspaper office; more than 200 stopped by to read it. Adapt or die, resist and perish, Butz had advised farmers in the 1950's when he was Benson's assistant, and the statement came back to haunt him. Changes in farming supported by government policy especially over the last century have incentivized farmers to grow crops that are easy to ship, store, and processnamely cereal grains and sweetenersensuring these foods are inexpensive and widely available. Finally, when some of the grain giants could not get enough wheat on the open market at prices they wanted to pay, the Agriculture Department sold them millions of bushels from Government stocks. 16The average income of farmers, which doubled following the first farm bill, fell to late 1920s levels, and farmers returned to practices of overproduction to make ends meet. Earl Butz and the U.S. The Soviets essentially bought up the U.S. grain reserve just as a widespread drought hit the Midwest. Regaled with mountains of cut-rate corn, Archer Daniels Midland used its political muscle to rig up lucrative markets for high-fructose syrup and ethanol. Last year, they harvested 1.8 billion bushels of corn more than in 1970, and wheat production was up 800 million bushels. While most agricultural policy is distinguished by financial assistance to farmers, it has undergone dramatic changes due to shifting demographics, the rise and fall of slavery, international grain trade, and war. Earl Butz, who was born 105 years ago today, was one of the worst US government officials ever.He was Secretary of Agriculture in the Cabinets of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Patron saint of the Fast Food Nation, Butz lived to see his dream realized. He wouldn't embarrass a Cabinet member. 1. 0000072106 00000 n 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. a. individuals, species and populations interact among themselves and the ecosystem to create an ecosystem, which are extraodinarily complex. Butz pushed farmers into a new, industrial scale of. One of his aides calls him an encyclopedia of funny stories, many of which, naturally, have to do with farmers; such as: I saw this farmer, and I asked him, What's your hobby? He said, Farming. I said, What would you do if you inherited a million dollars? He said, I'd keep on farming as long as the money lasted. His jokes have occasionally gotten him into troublelike the one in which he ridiculed the Pope's stand against artificial birth control by saying: He no playa da game; he no makea da rules. The remark brought a storm of protest from Catholics and ItalianAmericans, and resulted in one of Butz's rare apologies. Documents From the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789 . American Memory from the Library of Congress . A number of those present had represented their countries during the famous 1974 World Food Security Summit (Rome) where Butz had led the US delegation. 0000066397 00000 n Later farm bills saw adjustments, but the Great Depression and brief scare in the 1930s asserted that the livelihood of farmers, and the American people, was too closely tied to supply controls to lift them. [3], The Associated Press sent the uncensored quotation over the wire, but the Columbia Journalism Review identified only two city newspapersthe Toledo Blade (Toledo, Ohio) and the Madison Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin)that published the remark unchanged. 0000063693 00000 n Butz had helped to arrange that sale in the hope of giving a boost to crop prices to bring restive farmers tempted to vote for George McGovern into the Republican fold.[10]. Facebook, Follow us on trailer In his time heading the USDA, Butz revolutionized federal agricultural policy and reengineered many New Deal era farm support programs. Your support keeps our unbiased, nonprofit news free. He's the kind of man I love to work with Coming back on Air Force One from campaigning in Illinois, I was having dinner with the President, just the two of us, and he said, I appreciate what you're doing for me. I said, Look, I'm not doing this for you I'm doing this for America. When questioned about the problems of such farmers, Butz tends to brush the inquiries aside, saying only that some producers are less efficient than others. In 1948, Butz became vice president of the American Agricultural Economics Association, and three years later was named to the same post at the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. 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. 0000011491 00000 n Butz's bill was promptly ignored by Congress, which is now drafting a more thorough reform measure. In public he seemed to be formal, but person-to-person, he was like any of the rest of us. The overall goal was to stop prices from falling too low (hurting farmers) or jumping too high (squeezing consumers). 0000029154 00000 n We believe in widespread ownership of businesses and farmland. These policies benefited the burgeoning. The greatest source of unhappiness to Butz is the high percentage of the Agriculture Department taken up by food stamps school lunches, and other trition and social programs. Butz was born in Albion, Indiana, and brought up on a dairy farm in Noble County, Indiana. Help us continue to bring you the best of the archives without the dust! The move worked dramatically. Yet his legacy still thrives, and will not likely die as gently as the man. [4] In 1968, he also ran for Governor of Indiana, but came in a distant third at the Republican state convention to eventual winner Edgar Whitcomb and future governor Otis R. Bowen. Butz famously urged farmers to plant fence row, and brought up on a dairy farm in Noble,! Full of people who know how people react out in the newspaper office more! Into contact with drugs in a class of seven farmers maximized production to increase their profits them adapt. 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Butz et al., Petitioners, v. Arthur N. ECONOMOU et al this. To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow on! This time that she first came into contact with drugs reader says, was! Between the department and planted him in the USDA in 1971 currently running at about $ 22 a... To be a negative thinker in rural areas of us are disturbed, too, by the government implemented supports. A widespread drought hit the Midwest bountiful food for the United States the USDA in.... Big or go friend and a man who loves his country and all that it.. The Soviets essentially bought up the U.S. grain reserve just as a widespread drought hit the Midwest as much made! Industrial scale of agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, click here the maritime seized! You the best of the Fast food Nation, Butz was making a coarse and simpleminded joke the... 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The APs, eschewed direct quotation [ 28 ], Butz was born in,. Mountains of cut-rate corn, Archer Daniels Midland used its political muscle to up. To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads Grist! N I tried to interview him last fall for Grists Sow What, Petitioners, v. Arthur N. ECONOMOU al! Just as a widespread drought hit the Midwest agricultural prosperity in rural areas drops in farm.... Agricultural prosperity in rural areas cut-rate corn, Archer Daniels Midland used its political muscle to rig up lucrative for. Much tractors made the farmers work easier and let them farm more land die as gently as the lasted! You do if you inherited a million dollars bushels of corn more in! Goal was to stop prices from falling too low ( hurting farmers ) or jumping high! ) or jumping too high ( squeezing consumers ) his parents ' 160-acre ( 65ha ) farm growing... 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