V' n^^Tv-wT. ,V|5(af»^ 



lAnK. 1, 1923 



Tlie Illinois Agricnltiiral Astodatioo Record 



P>C*3 



tEven Knockers and^ Skeptics Are Impressed \ ^ ^ i^ 

 I By First Year's Record of Chicago Producers 



f There were the knockers— the 



TSkeptics — those who said it 

 ^couldn't be done — when the 

 N National Live Stock Producers 

 i'VVssociation was formed late in 

 l|'^1921_for the purpose of estab- 

 J.rlishing farmers' co-operative 

 ^^live stock commission companies 



J.VHf the principal terminal mar- 

 ' jtets of the country. Farmers 

 I had no business to. follow their 

 live stock to market ii( the first 

 'place and they would make a 

 ',i, fizzle of it anjTvay, after they 

 •/■did establish soling agencies. 

 ■^"# Then agiin. the farmers 

 . Souldn> >ope to Inake a success 

 of .-<p-operation on the Chicago 

 ', ^^^arket, the world's largest and 

 ^Xt-most powerful term'inal. And 

 '■ '^when the Producers established 

 , « ^.the Chicago Producers Commis- 

 slon Association at the Union 

 ' , ' Stock Yards, the venture was 

 4* watched with great interest all 

 J, over the country, for all realized 

 *.< *" that here would be the hardest 

 , ^ struggle with the strongest oppo- 

 sition. 



Now for a little more recent 

 history — real history, too, in the 

 progress of co-operative market- 

 [C ing in America. At the end of 

 ' its first fiscal year of business, 

 p^. ^une 30, 1923, the Chicago Pro- 

 iducers selling agtency announced 

 > , a gross value in business of $1^,- 

 828,033.54 from the openiiy: 

 'S date, June 19, 1922, until Judt; 

 ^^ 30, 1923. The company's books 

 ^f showed that 11,742 cars repre- 

 'senting 751,985 head of live 

 stock had been bandied. 



if Thirty Per Cent Itefnnd 



3y At the same time the Doard of 

 ' directors of the "co-op" declared 

 ^a 30 'per cent refund in commis- 

 ^sions and ordered that an an^ount 

 approximating /WO, 000 be paid 

 |y.^ack to members of the company 

 iuin the form of patronage divi- 

 I' dends. 



When , the National Producers 

 established an agency in Chicago, 

 .JVit was the third put into motion 

 'under 'their plan, others having 

 alieady opened at East St. Louis 

 and Indianapolis. • The state 

 Sfarm bureau federations of lUi- 

 'i nois, Iowa, South Dakota, Min- 

 \ nesota, Wisco*nsin, Indiana, and 

 ■i Missouri aided in putting the in- 

 1 fant co-operative on its feet by 

 '{ urging live stock shipping asso- 

 >^c.'atlons to take out member- 

 ships. 



I Snccess from Start 



Within less than a month after 



establishment, the Chicago Pro- 



,>ducers Commission Association 



l^ras running smoothly and paying 



'expenses. In the fall of 1922, 



membership fees were a'bolished 



and later more thai; $10,000,.in 



membership fees wsi returned to 



jthe country. 



Membership in the agency Is 



now free to shipping associations 



••'and to individuals. However, 



'^application blanks must be filled 



out to conform to Federal reg- 



' ^r Illations. Anyone may consign 



f stock to the Producers but must 



] take out membership In order to 



fi be eligible to the annual refund. 



The Board of Directors of the 

 Chicago Producers is composed 

 'of seven members, three from 

 I Iowa, two from Illi;)8is, and one 

 ft each from Wisconsin and South 

 If .Dakota. It is a rotating direc- 

 y«4torate. Members are appointed 

 ' J|J>y the state farm bureaus In the 



TO MARKET WITH THE CHICAGO JJVE STOCK "CaOP' 



respective states to serve 

 three-year terms. 



Board of Directors 



The present Board of Direc- 

 tors is composed of Frank Coyne, 

 Montrose, la.; M. Sar, Essex, 

 la.; A. Sykes, Ida Grove, la.; 

 J. W. Crabb, Delavan, 111.; W. B. 

 Elliott, Williamsfleld, 111.; George 

 McKerrovf, Pewanketf, Wis.; and 

 W. S. Hill, Mitchell, S. Dak. 



The Chicago Producers Com- 

 mission Association has experi- 

 enced a steady growth since 

 establishment. The hog business 

 has developed exceptionally well. 

 Taking the lead in hog receipts 

 among the commission compa- 

 nies on the market in July, 1922, 

 the agency has held this lead 

 practically every week since that 

 time and at present handles be- 

 tween 12 and 15. per cent of the 

 weekly receipts of hogs. 



In total receipts of all live 

 stock, the company usually stands 

 first or second each week and 

 handles an average of from five 

 to six per cent of the business on- 

 the market. Until recently all 

 sheep consigned to the Chicago 

 Producers were handled by an- 

 other firm by special arrange- 

 ment. However, a sheep selling 

 department has been added with 

 an experienced salesman in 

 charge. ■ 



Growth In Force 



The agency started with a 

 manager, two cattle salesmen, 

 three hog salesmen, a cashier, 

 and small office force. The per- 

 sonnel has beeif enlarged by an 

 assistant manager, a third cattle 

 salesman, a sheep salesman, as 

 well as additions to the office 

 and yard force. Plans are being 

 made to employ an ' additional 

 cattle man to -buy stockers and 

 feeders: 



"The members of thfi entire 

 working force of the Producers 

 have been chosen for their abil- 

 ity and experience in their spe- 

 cial line of work. Their fitness 

 is shown by the remarkable 

 growth of the coi^oany which 

 would not have ueen possible 



H 



ERE'S 



scene in the chutes 



showing a bunch of porkers just 

 unloaded and being handled by 

 employes of /the Chicago Producers 

 Con^lsslon Company. This "co- 

 op'* has an efficient force of sales- 

 men to care for a big volume of 

 live stock. The man at the ^ex- 

 treme right is George Parmenter, 

 head hog salesman, and the other 

 two men are assistants in the 

 hog alleys of this successful farri- 

 ers* commission firm. 



without, general satisfaction on 

 the part of shipper patrons. 



Illinois lioads 



It Is interesting to note that 

 Illinois live stock shippers have 

 steadily held the le^d in volume 

 of business consigned to* the Chi- 

 cago Producers. Fifty-two per 

 cent of the live stock handled by 

 the "co-op" was shipped by Illi- 

 nois farmers. Iowa easily ranked 

 second by shipping 42 per cent 

 of the "co-op's" volume. 



The following table showing 

 shipments by states very clearly 

 portrays the increase in car re- 

 ceipts each month by the agency, 

 as well as showing the sources of 

 receipts. 



SHIPMENTS BY STATES 

 Months III. Iowa Ind. Wis Others Total 



From June 19, 1922, until 

 June 30, 1923, the books of the 

 J'roducers show that 1,144 indi- 

 vidual live stock shippers of Illi- 

 nois patronized the Producers in 

 Chicago, while 191 live-stock 

 shipping associations in the state 

 held memberships in the "co^ 

 •op." 



-The following are the tofSis. of 

 each class of live stock handleU^ 

 doting the year: -Attle, 59,639; 

 hogs, $29,024; calvea- 18,202; 



sheep, 45,030; making a total of 

 751,895 head. • 



Support .Appreciated 



"We greatly appreciate the 

 loyal support given the Chicago 

 Producers by Illinois live stock 

 shippers," states S. W. - Doty, 

 manager of the agency. "With- 

 out it, we conid not have reached 

 the success that has been oars 

 during the first year of opera- 

 tion. 1 



"We hope that oar efforts to 

 establish a real service in selling 

 live stock cc-operatively during 

 the past year will bring us still 

 greater patronage during the 

 coming year. Although an or- 

 ganization as large as we have 

 built up is bound to make some 

 mistakes, our records show that 

 the percentkge has been very 

 small in proportion to the busi- 

 ness hamlled. Each shipper 

 should place complaints as soon 

 as they arise and we wtH do: all 

 in our power to adjust them." 

 VoJume Increases Profits 



The well known tact that 

 volume of business decreases 

 handling costs is well exemplified 

 in the records of the Chicago 

 Producers. For instance, when 

 4 39 cars of stock were handled 

 last September, 



Cow-Testing Is 

 The Subject of 

 New Farm Movie 



"Jonathan Barr's Conversion" 

 is the latest picture turned otit 

 by ilomestead Films, Inc. Tile 

 picture, originally taken for Itke 

 Holstein-Frfesian Association of' 

 America, concerns the cow-test- 

 ing campaigns and the develop- 

 ment of disease-free herds. 



It is announced that prints are 

 available from Homestead Films, 

 Inc., ^32 South Wabash Aveane, 

 Chicago. 



ceiitts of any month, a profit per 

 car of only two per cent was 

 realized. In the month of l^k- 

 est recelptSv January, with 1,336 

 cars, the profit per car was 48 

 per cent. 



"We cannot too strongly em- 

 phasize the necessity of a large 

 volume of business in order to 

 obtain the best reeults," states . 

 F.. M Simpson, fiemral manager 

 of the Natiional Live Stock Pro- 

 ducers Association. "Volume 

 helps to control the market fs 

 weil as greatly decreasing i/Ute 

 handling ooiEts. ' ' 



"On the Indianapolis market. 



whete the Producers' agency ceo- 



trols around 30 per cent of libe 



receipts each week, the aveniglp 



market prices Have more nearlT 



approached Chicago prices than 



ever 6efore, . . . 



r 

 "The big. aim of the Produce^' 



agencies is not only to maka ro- 

 tunds to shippers but to imprc^ve 

 marketing tonditions in genef^l 

 and to give better service to thk' 

 farmer.'* . ' • j 1, 



^plendid Record ', | },r 



.\ stlsy of the growth and ie- 

 eompIishm»ii's o' t^» C'liiuarA. 

 Producers Commission Compaligr 

 after one year "of business show^ 

 that the confidence which i Uiire\ 

 stoct producers have placed in \ 

 it has not been unfoun^i^. 



Having successfully bandied ' 

 over 19 million dollars ^rth df 

 live stock, declared a 30 p«r cent 

 refund to patrons, sent back to 

 the country- more than $10,000 

 in membertj^p fees, and buUt Wp 

 a service tttst. has commanded 

 the respect of bbth 'shlp^rs and 

 competitors, the CtHcago Produc- 

 ers' selling agen^' "{laa accom- 

 plished no small tksk. Aad 

 when all this has been\done in m 

 little over one year in tne worjd'a 

 largest and most powerful Hre 

 stock marketing termina^, it may 

 be considered a still greater ac- 

 complishmeot. v 



of KankakMi 



Business men 

 county have put up JIO each and 

 have gone into partnership with 

 the lowest re- i 249 pig clab boj'S and girls. 



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