923 



oced- 

 epre- 

 rd of 

 Grain 



ic. Is 

 lation 

 r the 

 irpose 

 mem- 



cor- 

 stock 

 8 in- 

 ndllns 



own 



16, 1923 



The DEbom AgricnltiinJ Associatioa Record 



Peg* 3 



You Can't Tell Stephenson Co. Farmers 

 That Dairy Co-operation Doesn't Pay! 



Among the co-operative dairy 

 marketing associations, which 

 the I. A. A. has assisted in or- 

 ganizing, there is none that 

 has served the' district in which 

 it is located to better 'advan- 

 tage than has the Stephenson 

 County Co-operative Marketing 

 Company. ' • 



When producers can point to 

 the fact that a Freeport con- 

 dfnsary Is paying one dollar per 

 hundred for milk over what it 

 paid Ibetore the "co-op" was well 

 established witl) the price of 

 ondensed milk it practically the 

 same level, you can't tell them 

 that co-operation doesn't pay. 



Likewise when farmers living 

 near ttie marketing company lo- 

 cal unit of Dakota consider that 

 they were paid $.90 per hundred 

 for milk at that point by a local 

 dealer in February, 1922, while 

 ne year later they received 

 2.10 from their marketing com- 

 pany, they are willing to "stick" 

 to co-operative marteting. ' 

 Serves Conununity 



The Stephenson county "co- 



" has proved, among other 

 things, that the big idea in co- 

 operative marketing is not espe- 

 cially to allow producers to get 

 stock dividends or a share of the 

 profits, but it has shown that the 

 big thing in farmer marketing is 

 to create a market which the 

 farmers themselves r'^ntrol, to 

 serve a communii;- ,y assem- 

 bling a large quantity of a com- 

 modity, grading it, standardizing 

 it, and putting a product on the 

 market that the public wants at 

 the time that it wants it. 



Where there was a poor mar- 

 ket for .milk and creami the 

 Freeport co-operative has manu- 

 factured the surplus into butter, 

 sweet cream, cheese, casein, and 

 other dairy products. Its fa- 

 mous "Vita Gold" butter, scor- 

 ing 90 and better, commands a 

 premium of at least one cent 

 over the Chicago market, simply 

 because the compiwiy makes 

 enough butter — and makes it 

 good enough — to create a de- 

 mand for it. 



Organizadon 



The Stephenson County Co- 

 operative _^ Marketing Company 

 was formed by the Stephenson 

 County Farm Bureau and the 

 Dairy Marketing Department of 

 the I. A. A., February 3, 1921, 

 after several preliminary~ meet- 

 ings. " It opened for business on 

 August 15, 1921. 



Building and equiptfient of the 



000. It is capitalized at $75,- 

 000 and shares have a par value 

 of $50. No member may hold 

 more than five shares. At pres- 

 ent there are nearly 1,000 stock- 

 holders in the co-operative. At 

 the close of 1922 lousiness, a div- 

 idend of six percent was declared 

 on all stock. 



1022 Statement 

 A brief statement of the 1922 

 business of the company follows: 



SALES 



Butter $263,661.75 



Milk 145.929.25 



Cheese 46.082.49 



Cream (sweet) 61.522.69 



Butter and. SklmmUk 4.693.47 



Miscellaneous 16.474.90 



'518.364.55 

 DISBrRSEMENVS 



Toul fiald patrons (411.164^6 



Butter and Cream pur- , 



chased 21.48134 



Riinning expense* 61,742.57 



Miscellaneous purchases . 11,268.36 

 SinklnB fund 12.705.72 



1518.364.55 



■ The average monthly business 

 for 1922 was $43,197.05. A to- 

 tal of 13,129,766 pounds ot milk 



HERE'S one of the illuminated signs of the Stephenson County Co- 

 operative Marketing Company on display at Rockford. This "co- 

 op" made 631,597 pounds of butter in 1922, which sold for $253,661.75. 

 A large part ot this was print butter, advertised and sold under the 

 brand name "Vita Gold." They're making nearly twice as much this 

 year. - - . 



was handled, together with 1,- 

 704,606 pounds of cream. The 

 total amount of butter made was 

 631,595 pounds out of 518,948 

 pounds of fat. The overrun, 

 which amounted to 112,649 

 pounds, represents $42,919.26 at 

 38.1 cents per pound. The aver- 

 age overrun was 21.7 per cent. 



The average price paid for fat 

 was 40.4 cents per pound and for 

 milk was $1,627 per hundred. 

 The plant manufactured 169,626 

 pounds of cheese from 1.865.886 

 pounds of milk, receiving an, 

 average of 22>4 cents per pound 

 for the product. 



Volume Increasing r 



May. 1923, saw the biggest 

 volume of business transacted by 

 the company in any one month, 

 when $62,818.42 in sales came 

 to the organization. With this 

 big volume the expecse was only 

 9 per cent of the total sales, the 

 lowest yet secured by the co-op- 

 erative. 



In May, also, 88,542 pounds of 

 butter were made, an increase 

 of 15 ^r cent over the corre- 

 sponding month of last year and 

 18 per cent over the 52,633 

 pounds average monthly produc- 

 tion of 1922. The last report 

 from the plant shows that over 

 108.000 pounds of butter was 

 made in June. From these fig- 

 ures it can be seen that the corn- 

 company are valued at over-^Tfrrtpany is doing a greater business 



with longer establishment. 



Equipment for manufacturing 

 the skimmllk product, casein, 

 has been added this y«ar. There 

 is a good market for casein at 

 present and an average of about 

 $1,200 worth is being sold 

 monthly. 



Has Ten Locals 



The Stephenson County Co-op- 

 erative Marketing Company, with 

 its main plant at Freeport, has 

 local units at Dakota, Damascus, 

 German Valley, Egan, Bailey- 

 ville. Pearl City, Lena, and Wad- 

 dam? Grove in Stephenson coun- 

 ty; at Shannon, iU; Carroll coun- 

 ty; and Forreston :in Ogle coun- 

 ty. 



Producers bring their cream 

 to these locals, where it is col- 

 lected before shipping to Free- 

 port. Each planl has its branch 

 manager. Steps have been taken 

 this summer to organize the lo- 

 cal units more strongly on a 



business basis. Advisory — coun- 

 cilmen from the locals are elect- 

 ed to represent them at each 

 meeting of the board of directors 

 of the company. 



Dakota, Pearl City, and Egan 

 have already organized on the 

 strong unit basis. ■ ■- '. . 



Officers 



The officers of the company for 

 192 3 are, Wm. F. Brown, presi- 

 dent; Wm. Frank, vice presi- 

 dent; J. A. Phillips, secretery- 

 treasurer, who with C. Maize, T. 

 F. Ellis. D. M. Brubaker. Wm. 

 Sieferman, H. M. Phillips, and 

 Tohn Kachelboffer, constitute the 

 board of directors. 



The directors' board is on the 

 rotating plan, and the term of of- 

 fice is three years. The officers 

 are selected within Aie board. 

 Directors are chosen at the an- 

 nual meetings from the mem- 

 be rship-at-large. 



Management 



The general management of 

 the marketing company is under 

 A; V. Ahrentzen, a man w^ith 

 many years experience in the 

 creamery business. The com- 

 pany, in addition to its regular 

 staff, has a fleldman who spendf^ 

 most of his time visiting locals, 

 instructing in the care of milk 

 and cream, and otherwise adding 

 to the efficiency of the concern. 



A mopthly house organ. "The 

 Co-op." is published to inform 

 the membership concerning the 

 affairs of their company. 



Until recently the co-operative 

 has maintained a warehouse to 

 handle feeds, tankage, seed, bin- 

 der twine, etc., at a small mar- 

 gin of profit to the membership. 

 However, it was found that with 

 the greatly increased volume ot 

 dairy products handled, the cap- 

 italization of the company would 

 not permit the financing of this 

 subsidiary, so it was disposed of 

 in June. 



An increase of nine tenths of 

 one per cent in the number . of 

 nigs saved frnn^ ^Xa^^"winga in the 

 sis months Snded June 1. 1923. 

 as compared with the number 

 saved during the same period la«t^ 

 year, is indicaie^i in reports gath- 

 ered by rural mail j:arrlers for 

 the D. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture from 140.000 hog' raisers 

 in all parts of the country. 



REPORT OF 0. S. 

 GRAIN GROWERS, 

 INC., S06MITTED 



(Continued from p&ff« 2) 

 matters Involved -in connectioni ■wit i 

 grain exchangre repreaenfatioi . 

 AmoDg others was incorporate I 

 specifically the three propose I 

 methods of qualifying as to finan- 

 cial responsibility contained in th; 

 letter to PreeUient Stream. The fol- 

 lowing^ paragraph from the lette r 

 of Mr. Chester Morrill to Mr. Me^ 1 

 under date of June 18 is in apecifip 

 replv to the questions stated: 



"The Solicitor Is of th^ opinion 

 that your suggestion as to the dif- 

 ferent methods hy which non-stock 

 membership corporajtions may meat 

 the requirements -of the Act ane 

 sound andthat the. Board of Tradje 

 would not be justified in denying 

 membership to an assooJatioh 

 which had adopted any one of i^iA 

 methods; that is to say. the idesis 

 set forth in para^rraphs (a), {b>. 

 (c), and <d) just preceding the la4t 

 paragraph of your letter." 



Ser^le*" Paclllrteiu We also re- 

 port informally for your proper in- 

 formation that resttlts of the sev- 

 eral conferences held with Mr. <*. 

 W. Hales of Hales and Huntet. 

 Chicago, in which have been oui- 

 lined in detail arrangements for 

 financing and handling any part 

 or all of the grain of our member^. 

 This, large and successful concerfi. 

 friendly to the co-operative mov»- 

 ment. controls a larse amount, ♦f 

 surplus capital in addition to ele- 

 vators and plants whereby it wfll 

 assume to underwrite our contracts 

 made on the Chicago Board Jf 

 Trade and will furnish all the $- 

 nances needed in the movement 6f 

 grain. This finaacial assistante 

 will carry -with it certain account- 

 ing service enabling us. with tbe 

 employment of one man to actu- 

 ally sell our grain on the floor, io 

 carry on our graUi selling oper|i- 

 tions at a nominal 'cost per bush*l. 

 thus avoiding the necessity fbr 

 building immediat€4y an office per- 

 sonnel and force of our own. but 

 leavlne us free to ase our own cap- 

 ital to the extent that w« have Jto 

 do our own financtng and handle 

 our own force as soon as we a^e 

 in a position to flo so. The ar- 

 rangement carries with It the uBe 

 ot all classes of terminal elevatbr 

 service, including storage space, 

 and for which service we will pty 

 certain stipulated and agreed p^r 

 bushel charges. The services ile- 

 ferred to are offered without limi- 

 tations- — for our immediate neefs. 

 and are available in a manner sin^i- 

 lar to the services offered by a 

 bank or trust company. Neither 

 would our business be restrictied 

 exclusively to the acceptance a*id 

 employment of the services offered. 



It seema possible to commence 

 operation In the Chicago market 

 almost at once — if desired. 



!3t«teme«t of CamAltloa* We also' 

 report for your proper information 

 and purposes herein set Yorthj a 

 general statement of conditions | of 

 the corporation's Tlnances. The , U. 

 S. Crain Growers. Inc., at the pres- 

 ent time is owing creditors of lall 

 classes approximately $350,000, In- 

 cluding interest accrued on npte 

 obligations. Of thus amount ».p- 

 proximately J86.0#0 is d»e solici- 

 tors and about $42,000 due old (di- 

 rectors and others; $191,000 wjlth 

 about $30.<^00 in accrued InteresO is 

 due note creditor*, most of wtom 

 are Farm BureauB antl Farm Bu- 

 reau members. It Is estimated that 

 $100,000 in new capital will be ad- 

 equate to start operation In at lejast 

 fiv* of the principal markets. This 

 capital may not be 'immeUiatjcly 

 necessary. It is estimate<l that 

 about $20,000 should be provided 

 immediately and budgeted for jthe 

 special purpose of consuming and 

 seating in operation the pre^nt 

 proposed plans. 



FuMdii Repaired. In orderj to 

 cnrry out anil put into execution 

 the plans contemplated, it becoiies 

 absolutely necesnary that Sfme 

 funds be made Immediately ftnd 

 definitely available for the purposes 

 of: ] 



1st. Carrying On .^ the ordinary 

 affairs of the corponation. 



2nd. Arranging » thie contem- 

 plated changes looking to the filnd- 

 ing of Its debts. 



Place ofL A. A. 

 Annual Meeting 

 To Be Chosen 



Choice of the place at which 

 the 1923 annual meeting of the 

 Illinois Agricultvral Association 

 will be held wiD be decided Mt 

 the next meeting of the Execu- 

 tive Committee ot FYiday. Aug- 

 ust 3. The annuad meet is dated 

 for the third we^k in Januarr* 

 1924. 



3rd, Securing an 

 ing the funding of its debtt. 



4th. Securing Jsubscription of 

 necessary funds tO provide Initial 

 capital. 



Sth. Organlxincr | the ' market lac 

 of praln. 



HvwMarS. Two brlnclpal cauaea. 

 and only twa. hqve In the paat 

 prevented C . S. lOraln Grower*. 

 Inc.. from mit^tiiw) Into effect ita 

 marl^etlng plan. > 



1 sf . I ts form ojr organ iaat Ion — 

 having membership contracts and 

 providing for patfonage dividenda 

 has furnishe4 thfl excuse to bar 

 the corporation fra^ the grain ex- 

 changes of the cofntry and there- 

 by deprived the Corporation from 

 marketing any »art of Its grata 

 desired, through Uuit outlet. 



2nd. Its flna-nttal condition-* 

 lacking adequate Iflnances orlffln- 

 ally to function as a going con- 

 cern, and finally becoming Insolv- 

 ent — has rendered, the corporation 

 dormant for the tfcne being. ' 



The first ottstatae has been' re- 

 moved by legittatif'e act. 



The second obstkcle is going to 

 be removed , throagh your active 

 financial support knd Indorsement 

 — if your Federations are ao 

 pleased. I 



The Grain Grower Plan In Itself 

 has not defeated the putting of tfta 

 plan Into operation. The plan haa 

 never liad a fair orlal. It seems It 

 would be unsouaa to repudiate It 

 before giving it a fair trial be- 

 cause of repeated' indorsements by 

 the Farm Bureaoland other farm- 

 ers* organtxatlons.; The Farm Bu- 

 reau or the leademhip of the Farm 

 Bureau cannot repudiate this plan 

 and ever hope ti make good oa 

 another grain marketing plan. ^ 



The present Bodrd Qf V. S. Oraia 

 Growers. Inr.. In accepting thfiM* re- 

 spective positions to which ^ they 

 were drafted on jthat Board stTb- 

 scribed to a soleain oath of ofTlce 

 to faithfully and {well, and to the 

 best of their a^l^ty carry- out the 

 trust and confi*ei|ce so reposed In 

 them by the memlfership of tbe cor- 

 poration — and by^ your committee. 

 They have kept faith with the mem- *"' 

 bership of V. S. ©rain (irqwers. to 

 the >est of their |abllity. 



Ne*^i*^ ftnRn*^es'and active unKod 

 support is now o\mr Inunediate « "enoV 



Yonr substantial and deflnlt. 

 financial support to this program ia 

 required at onde and most earneatljr 

 solicited. ! 



There is neede<^ according to the 

 estimates of the Kxecutive Com- 

 mittee of the (."pi-poratibn : 



For carrying On the ordinary Af- 

 fairs of the Corpt ration 



the contemplated 

 Lo the funding of . 



For arranging 

 changes looking 

 its debts. 



For securing ^nd accomplishing 

 the funding of iti debts. 



For securing 

 necessary funds 

 capital, and 



For organizing 



grain. th<« sum oT twenty-thousand 



($20.noO) Dollars, 

 of as may be min 

 present time and 



Said fund 

 through and wit 



The sums thai 

 and'''paid by the 

 eralions for any 

 eral purposes al^i 

 to be received 

 as advances and 

 bonds or debt-ntt 

 amounts of the 

 tcmplated to be 

 tors of ihe 



subscriptions of 

 to provide initial 



the marketing of 



or as much there- 



e available at the 



Immediate fulitt'e. 



be admtntsJVred 



the advice of 



properly eonatituft^ed Finance' (Com- 

 mittee. 



may bi»- pledged 



^arm ^ureau Fed- 



or all C^ the sev- 



>"e set Jorth are 



ly the Corporation 



)e later secured,*y 



res in the -sevt^l 



me class a4 con- 



SNued to Ihr cred- 



iorporation wt^oae' 



claims are projio i^d to be funded. 



Very respt-ctully submitted, 



U. S. ORAt: GROWERS. INC. 



By Ita toard of Directdra. 





pefTf'tnrv. 



Phosphate Insures You 



Highest Quality Grain 



X 



Maximum Crop Productioi 

 Surest and Greatest Pro6tt 



We Insure You 



4^ 



Prompt Seiyice 

 Accurate Weight \ : 

 Dependable QuiJtty' «> 



uh-der through your Farm Bai 



[ ' ; i Phosphate-Limestone DepartmeRt, 

 '"-: niinoU A^cultural As*ociatioii. 



^ 



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