The Palo Alto County Agricultural Planning Committee is 1 of the 99 similar committees in Iowa and of several thousands throughout the United States. Practically all counties in the United States now have agricultural planning committees consisting of farmers and other local people interested in agricultural affairs, who' are studying problems of land use and in some counties farm tenure. These committees are discussing questions of agricultural policies and programs critically, frankly and with refreshing open-mindedness. The findings and recommendations of the county committees are tabulated and intepreted on a state basis by the State Extension Service. The state results are then transmitted to the United States Department of Agriculture for summarization on a regional and national basis. It is significant that the results of last year’s work of these county committees were definitely taken into consideration in formulating the 1937 AAA program; and it is hoped that in the future the judgment of the local people will contribute and guide the formulation of agricultural policies even more directly and forcefully than it has in the past.

The Palo Alto County Agricultural Planning Committee chose to study the farm tenure problem. In this county, 62 percent of the farm families are tenants operating 72 percent of the total farm land.