When it became apparent that our regular supply of manila fiber (abaca) would no longer be available for making rope and other cordage, the Government turned to American grown hemp ( Cannabis saliva). Iowa farmers, along with those of some other states, were asked to produce fiber, an essential war material.

Many thousands of acres of crops in Iowa were lost in 1943 because of inadequate drainage. And the situation was practically the same in 1942. What will be the report a year hence? The 1944 production goals call for over 14 1/2 million acres of intertilled crops. The large increase in cultivated crops confronts Iowa farmers with many critical production problems. Where will these extra acres be found?

One of the live topics of the day is whether the plow is ruining our land, whether farmers to save the soil for this and future generations must stop the age-old practice of plowing in preparing their land for cultivated crops. In this article the authors discuss the results of experiments conducted here in Iowa in which plowing is compared with other means of preparing seedbeds for corn. In general, we think many of you Iowa farmers who read the results of these tests will decide - if you haven't already - that perhaps you are not quite ready to junk your plows.

During the past 4 years, Iowa farmers have used over 5 million tons of ground limestone, approximately four times as much as in any similar period prior to the AAA Conservation Materials Program. This limestone is helping materially in producing record crops on several million acres of good crop land. But many million acres still need to be mobilized for maximum production by liming.

A new soybean variety that has “showed its heels” in yielding ability to every other bean with which it has been compared in Iowa for the last 5 years will be grown by a few Iowa farmers in 1944 and it should be in the hands of many who want to give it a try in 1945 and 1946. It promises to be one more vital aid to our farmers in their “ food battle” of this war period.