0000019559 00000 n Rather than use federal policy as a check on farm output, Butz saw it as a lever to maximize output. 0000058679 00000 n [4] In 1968, he was promoted to the positions of Dean of Education and vice president of the university's research foundation. Twitter, Follow us on Five years later, he received Purdue's first doctorate in . Butz was furious. Earl Lauer "Rusty"[1] Butz was a United States government official who served as Secretary of Agriculture under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. 0000070129 00000 n In Iowa, bin-busting harvests gave rise to an explosion of massive concentrated-animal feedlot operations (CAFOs). 3By the end of the nineteenth century, agricultural policy contributed to the settlement of 80 million acres of farmland. ammonia grow corn faster 4x as much tractors made the farmers work easier and let them farm more land. Grist is powered by WordPress VIP. In 1973, Nixon's agricultural secretary, Earl Butz, oversaw a change in the philosophy of the U.S. farm program. The successes and failures of each installation of land and agricultural policy emphasize the understated influence each wave of policy has extended over American welfare. The obituaries for Earl Butz who 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. The man was a creep. The government would also buy excess grain from farmers and store it. He was the one who pioneered the fundamental change in farm subsidies. His only real friends are the big farmers, and, if this summer's expected bumper crop on the Great Plains affects their income as some anticipate, he may soon lose them, too. 0000052925 00000 n Earl Butz, who served as Secretary of Agriculture under presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, is widely regarded as a pioneer in modern American corn policy because he emphasized selling . " Earl Butz 3. 0000059437 00000 n The program that Butz inherited worked like this: When farmers began to produce too much and prices began to fall, the government would pay farmers to leave some land fallow, with the goal of pushing prices up the following season. 0000059949 00000 n [3] Butz issued a statement saying that he had not "intended to impugn the motives or the integrity of any religious group, ethnic group or religious leader. It was also epochal. 0000071573 00000 n Blustering, boisterous, and often vulgar, Butz lorded over the U.S. farm scene at a key period. 0000009377 00000 n http://www.stanford.edu/group/west/cgi-bin/pager.php?id=49. Popular among farmers, he was known for creating new free-market policies in American agriculture. 0000062082 00000 n 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. There are those who regard him as the leader of the Great American Farm Revolution, those who regard him as Gerald Ford's greatest political asset, and there are political experts who can't decide whether Jimmy Carter is being smart or being dumb when he says he would dump Butz if he were elected President. With his closely cropped gray hair and self-assured drawl, Earl Butz was the spitting image of a Southern patrician. 0000029355 00000 n Earl Butz has, in other words, clearly become the country's most controversial Agriculture Secretary since Ezra Taft Benson, and, after his recent behindthescenes struggle with Henry Kissinger, he has probably also emerged as the most powerful in history as well. The abundancy associated with land expansion policies remained intrinsic to the nations success through World War I, as America provided for the home front and the allied nations. Butz had a similar view, "Get big or get out." Butz believed farm consolidation was inevitable. The dust bowl was a fresh memory. The United States now has commitments to supply about 25 million tons a year to the Soviet Union, Poland, Rumania, Japan and Israel. ), And despite the rise of organic this and local that a trend that annoyed Butz to no end the old campaigners vision of maximum-production agriculture has become more entrenched then ever. 0000009419 00000 n 12The Agricultural Marketing Act of 1929, like the Agricultural Credits Act of 1923, sought to resolve low prices through the distribution of loans, but similarly failed to regulate supply and demand. After some indecision, Dean used the line in Rolling Stone, attributing it to an unnamed Cabinet officer. Butz . Earl L. BUTZ et al., Petitioners, v. Arthur N. ECONOMOU et al. http://millercenter.org/president/monroe/essays/biography/8. . While somewhat dated, this work is unique in that it comes from the source. Instagram, Follow us on Agricultural policy has supported Americas greatest triumphs. We need to reject the "go big or go . The Agriculture Department is estimating that grain production will roach 255 million tons, 13 million more than last year's. We believe in our ability to come together to shape the future through policy change. It is possible, too, that domestic food prices would drop, although, because of the middleman factor, that is far from certain. During his leadership from 1964 to 1982, Premier Leonid Brezhnev made it official Soviet policy to maintain steady growth in the livestock industry. 0000062821 00000 n Out of the unsettling agricultural and economic events of 1972, the beginnings of a robust agricultural monitoring program were born. After the 1973 farm bill, Americans spent a lower percentage of their income on food than ever before, purchasing more calories for less money, a trend that adversely impacted the nations diet. 0000050347 00000 n Earl Butz stayed on as Secretary of Agriculture after Nixon was impeached and engineered legislation sharply reducing federal subsidies for farmers. [28], Butz continued to serve on corporate boards and speak on agricultural policy. [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. 0000007619 00000 n in agriculture (1932) and a Ph. 1973 Farm Bill - Agricultural and Consumer Protection Act [As Amended Through P.L. Overall farm income jumped along with grain prices, from $2.3 billion in 1972 to $19.6 billion in '73. Now, with 61 million more acres in production, subsidy payments have fallen to about $500 millionmostly to cotton, peanut, rice and tobacco growers. Butz should be praying for drought right now, says one observer. Five years later, he pled guilty to tax evasion and served a short stint in jail. It was obvious, however, that policy decisions in this area were being made at the State Department. . 0000064144 00000 n Beginning in 1973, policy changes promoted by Nixon Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz deregulated the corn market. 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. Nixon plucked Butz out of Purdues agriculture department and planted him in the USDA in 1971. 25 The rise of factory farms that grew specialized crops subsidized by the government presented environmental troubles as well. At his death, Butz was the oldest living former Cabinet member from any administration.[30][31]. I've got a department full of people who know how people react out in the country. 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. Get big or get out, he routinely thundered. 0000044482 00000 n 0000053560 00000 n America's total grain production of 242 million tons in 1975 represented an increase of 81 million tons from what it was in 1961. Dean reports that this was Butz's response: I'll tell you what the coloreds want. A mere five years earlier, Nixon himself had been recorded in the Oval Office telling Donald Rumsfeld, Most of them, basically, are just out of the trees. 0000047333 00000 n 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. 0000008682 00000 n In 1954, he was appointed Assistant Secretary of Agriculture by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The success of expansion-based policy became increasingly evident in the early twentieth century as American agriculture supported global markets and wartime needs. Argued Nov. 7, 1977. . Farm income stayed high for most of the decade. On the one hand, the high production can lead to big surpluses and big drops in farm prices. And the best way to become a Senator is to get on TV and demagogue the food issue.. Design and build by Upstatement. While controversial, President Richard Nixons 1973 farm bill lessened acute hunger and malnutrition. 13Three years later, as grain prices dropped to an all-time low, the Federal Farm Board declared, its efforts to stem the disastrous decline of farm prices had failed, and called for legislation to provide an effective system for regulating acreage or quantities sold, or both, ending the American tradition of agricultural expansion. 0000000016 00000 n At one time, he headed the Purdue Department of Agriculture. An Administration official who has watched Butz during such White (louse meetings says, He's very quick, which is important in the infighting, And he knows how to lose battles so he can win wars. (One early victory was his outmaneuvering Nixon Administration economic planners so as to get the farmers and their products excluded from price controls. Earl Butz I challenged things that needed to be challenged at Purdue. 0000005075 00000 n In 1976, just weeks before a tight presidential election, he left the USDA in disgrace after making a stunningly crude racist remark. American Agricultural Economics Association, American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, American government official Earl Butz dies at age 98, "A reflection on the lasting legacy of 1970s USDA Secretary Earl Butz", "Former Purdue Agriculture Dean Earl Butz dead at 98", "Earl L. Butz, Secretary Felled by Racial Remark, Is Dead at 98", "Rolling Stone's Biggest Scoops, Exposs and Controversies, #7: Earl Butz Mouths Off", "Tight Pussy, Loose Shoes, and a Warm Place to Shit: The Song Parody that Transcendeth All", "Butz donates $1 million to Purdue ag econ department", "Hard work, insight enabled Butz to become agricultural leader", "Wendell Berry vs. Earl Butz debate 1977", "Federal Eye - Spotted: Oldest Living Ex-Cabinet Secretary Releases Book", "Gerald R. Ford Administration Alumni | The Gerald Ford Presidential Foundation", "Meeting King Corn: Earl Butz was a product of his time" 2/19/2008, "The Butz Stops Here: A reflection on the lasting legacy of 1970s USDA Secretary Earl Butz" 2/7/2008, Agri-Pulse article "Memories of Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz" 2/10/2008, High Plains/Midwest Ag Journal article: "Memories of Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz" 2/14/2008, Farm Futures article: "A Special Tribute to Earl Butz" 2/4/2008, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Earl_Butz&oldid=1136081838, Purdue University College of Agriculture alumni, United States Department of Agriculture officials, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2013, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 28 January 2023, at 17:21. 0000043106 00000 n After Butz had regaled his travel companions with a dirty joke involving a dog fucking a skunk, Pat Boone asked him about why more blacks weren't voting Republican. Your support keeps our unbiased, nonprofit news free. 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. 18. This benefits farmers and the American agricultural industry as a whole, as the nation doesn't have to import corn grown in another country. A Short History of Agricultural Adjustment, 1933-1975. National Agricultural Library Digital Collections. [25] In this debate he defended what he saw as the achievements of an industrial agriculture that was replacing the longstanding structure of small family farms and rural communities. So he dangled the promise of foreign trade as a panacea. As part of our commitment to sustainability, in 2021 Grist moved its office headquarters to the Bullitt Center in Seattles vibrant Capitol Hill neighborhood. fanners were told: Reelect Nixon or Lose Your Butz. But it remains to he seen hew much help he can he. Earl Butz Ford was warm and friendly. Agriculture expanded early American cities and fostered a booming urban population. series; Purdue officials responded that he had grown too frail. On June 19, he was sentenced to five years in prison. Under which American president did the deregulation of the food industry coincide with the growth of agribusiness and in particular big corn? The deal came at the same time as the Nixon administration was trying to ease tensions between the worlds two super powers (at that time) and to bolster U.S. farm income to help win that years presidential election. In the 1920s, agricultural policies destabilized supply and demand and sunk the nation into its lowest state of economic despair during the Great Depression. Millions of hogs, cattle and chicken were sold for slaughter as producers reduced their inventories. Though many experts say he's whistling in the dark, he is predicting that bumper crops will be absorbed. 0000059674 00000 n 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. 10.How . As usual, the country dealers and farmers of Iowa got the short end of the stick, says former Iowa Senator Harold Hughes. He graduated from Purdue University in West Lafayette in 1932. 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. 0000048080 00000 n In order to plant fence row to fence row, farmers tore out shelter belts and other conservation land uses. In 1970, the Government was paying farmers $3.7 billion in subsidies, mostly as an incentive not to plant. 0000057943 00000 n Earl Butz: Father of the Modern Food Subsidy System. You are the peacemakers! Earl Butz While he was president, it was popular to be a Nixon hater. Dr. Butz graduated from Purdue University with a B.S. startxref 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. The policy sometimes paid farmers to not grow food in order to keep agricultural prices high and allow small farms to survive. 0000057693 00000 n The outrage over Butzs joke was, of course, entirely appropriate. 0000010640 00000 n But domestic consumption was only 11 million tons greater; so the rest must be disposed of abroad. 0000054680 00000 n The Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 (P.L. US Presidential Cabinet Member. 0000045147 00000 n While farmers scrambled to get big or get out, Butzs beloved agribusiness giants cheered. 17The threat of another depression hastened the reinstatement of crop regulation through the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, which restored financial security to farmers. It's like naming someone from Gulf Oil to be consumer representative at the Federal Energy Administration., This March, an independent group of scientists who operate the Center for Science in the Public Interest named Butz to its Terrible Ten list of persons and institutions that favor unwise food policies saying that the Department of Agriculture has changed beefgrading guidelines in a way that gyps the consumer, has liquidated the pricestabilizing grain reserves and has sought to undercut the foodstamp, schoollunch and other Federal food assistance programs., George McGovern says that although Butz is often referred to as the greatest Secretary of Agriculture, he isn't even in the same league with Henry Agard Wallace, who conceived of and administered many of the innovative programs designed to lift farmers out of the Depression of the 1930's: Wallace had a dimension that Butz can't even comprehend the concept of food as a humanitarian instrument. Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973. 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. In public he seemed to be formal, but person-to-person, he was like any of the rest of us. 0000049967 00000 n He told department officials to handle the sales to Russia quietly through the private grain companies. 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. Meanwhile, interest rates had spiked, making all of those loans farmers had taken out in the 70s into a paralyzing burden. 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. Farm costs, per unit of production, then would rise. 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