Of the nation’s many small businesses, perhaps none has been so neglected by government as the forest products industry. This industry is often the sole source of industrial employment in many small towns and villages -- provides an important source of income in many localities -- and is the basis for much of the nation’s construction and paper industries.
Here in Wisconsin -- with more than half the State covered with large and productive forests -- the health of the forest products industry is of vital importance to the health of the entire state. Yet this industry is suffering from the lack of credit -- the lack of constructive government leadership -- and the lack of sympathy for the small businessman -- which has led to one of the highest rates of business failures in our history.
There is much that can be done to help this important industry.
First, under our Department of Agriculture we should encourage the establishment of central marketing exchanges -- where small producers could pool their individual quantities of various grades of timber -- and thus attain a more effective bargaining position in the industry.
Second, the forest products industry desperately needs accurate price reporting by a public agency. The lack of such impartial information often deprives small operators of a fair profit for what they produce. Our Department of Agriculture already collects and publishes such information on most farm crops -- but it does not do so for forest products. This information should be made immediately available.
Third, we need to step up our program of forest research. We must apply the abundant resources of modern science to the development of new and more economical methods of timber production -- and to finding new uses for the low-grade hardwoods and other timber which we already produce.
Fourth, we must establish uniform grading standards for forest products. Today’s diversity of standards has led to a great deal of confusion in grading -- and hurt the small producer who often finds his own standards unacceptable.
Fifth, we must increase the industry’s sources of long-term credit. Loggers and sawmills are often unable to get long-term financing -- and thus are forced to sell their timber in green and rough form -- and often in depressed market periods. Credit with longer maturity would lead to sounder marketing practices and sales of higher margin producers. The Small Business Administration, the Farmer’s Home Administration, and the Farm Credit Administration should unite in making long-term loans available to forest product producers.
These are the first steps in a program to strengthen our vital forest products industry -- an industry which has been deprived of many of the services freely given to other small businesses and to farming -- and an industry which has been the forgotten stepchild of most of our government programs. By strengthening this industry, we also strengthen the economic health of many of our rural areas -- and provide a sound basis for the thousands of American industries which depend on a steady flow of forest products.
Source: Papers of John F. Kennedy. Pre-Presidential Papers. Presidential Campaign Files, 1960, Box 1029, "Economics: Forest products industry." John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.