1923 



the Import- 

 I conference 

 , an account 

 lined In thta/ 



wheat m«f- 

 , the' 'i^al 



co-op^f^tlve 

 atlon and a 

 he I. A. A. 

 his iiaue. *- 



owever, will 

 efore. 



Aqg. 



26,1 



192& 



AgricuIUirAr 



RMord 



» 





Policies of lUinois Fruit Marketing 

 ^re Discussettir^lifi^eting at C^ntrdlia 



CHAIRMAN 



I 



Qge completely 

 lation ot tAe 



nberg 



>f tbe National 

 Follows: 

 1, Vineland, N. 

 itlc Coast Egg 

 on; L, R. Sim- 

 iT., Secretary, 

 Transportation 

 tate Farm Ba- 

 rs. H. W. Law- 

 Ohio, member 

 ee, Ohio Farm 

 C. R. George, 

 Director Dairy 

 eting, Indiana 

 ration; Rol>ert 

 il)er Hxecutive 

 ky Farm Bu- 

 A.. S. Chapln, 

 poultryman; 

 lar Falls, la., 

 m Bureau Fed- 

 les, St. Paul; 

 innesota Farm 

 a; Benjamin 

 > City. Utah, 

 (ultry Produe- 

 ber, Petaluma, 

 lager. Pacific 

 8' Association. 



What shall be t£e fut«re policy of co-pjwrative marketing of 

 fruits and vegetables t That was' the stAject of di^ussion at a 

 marketing conference held at CentraJitC^ August 7, called by the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association. .In approaching this question, 

 the past and present conditions, &nd factors were reviewed by 

 growers and representatives of, the Illinois Horticultural Societj^ 

 Horticultural Department a? the University of Illinois, Depart- 

 ment X)f Agriculture at Sprjngfield and Illinois School Exchange. 



Seventy fpjit growers from sixteen covmties attended. A.* O. 

 "Eekert, ehairman of the Fruit and Vegetable. Marketing Depart- 

 ment of the I. A. A. acted as chairman. 



The discussion was with particular relation to the Illinois Fruit 

 Exchange, a going co-operative marketing organization with head- 

 quarters at Centralia. The Fruit Exchange has a membership of 

 about 900 and 21 tully formed local organizations, 12 of which have 

 their own packing houses. Last ^ear 500 carloads ot apples, 450 

 cars of peaches and 100 cars of miscellaneous fruits and vegetables 

 were sold through the Exchange. 



M 



ment, 

 on. 



«'■> 



Vlay 



Surveying production of fruit 

 in southern Illinois, Prof. W. 

 S. Brock, representing the Il- 

 linois Horticultural Society, stat- 

 ed that the production of early 

 apples is now nearin^ the sat- 

 uration point. Observation and 

 the figures of nurserymen indi- 

 cate to Prof. Brock that the plant- 

 ing of early apple trees is going 

 on at a rate that will be hard to 

 keep up ^ith in marketing. 



^ 'No Statistics 



"There are not reliable statis- 

 tics on this question," stated Mr, 

 Brock. "The production bf late 

 apples Js not alarming and if in 

 any direction, is on the negative 

 side," said Mr. Brock. 



Last year southern Illinois ship 

 ped out between 2,500 and 3,000 

 cars of lieaches. A few years 

 back this figure was in the neigh 

 borhood of 500 cars. Mr. Brock 

 concludes from his survey and 

 observation that the peach crop 

 is liable to reach -t, 000 or more 

 cars next year if there is a full 

 crop. The cause is an enormous 

 Increase in planting of trees in 

 the past several years 



"This increased production 

 means that our present manner 

 of distribution will fall down," 

 he said. "Care in distribution is 

 needed."' 



" Self Help V • J . 



Telling of the work and prob- 

 lems of the Fruit Exchange, Man- 

 ager A. B. Leeper said that it is 

 < problem of fruit growers them- 

 aelves. "Nobody is going to im- 

 prove marketing conditions but 

 yon." 



Several times in the conference 

 It was expressed that standard 

 'grades and rigid inspection is one 

 of the first principles that co- 

 operative marketing m'ust put in- 

 to effect. H. W. Day, of thie De- 

 partment of Agriculture, explain- 

 ed the new Standardization and 

 Inspection law. In co-operation 

 with the U. S. Government the 

 Illinois Department ot Agricul- 

 ture will inspect and issue a 

 Government Certificate on carlots 

 of fruits and vegetables. Mr. 

 Day explained that a certificate 

 will be an insurance ot grade 

 and quality to the prospective 

 purchaser, and thus Would act as 

 a silent salesman. It would act 

 as a protection to the grower 

 when his produce got Into the' 

 hands of unreliable 'buyers who 

 wanted to doubt the quality or 

 grade of produce. 



The Department of Agriculture 

 has already employed two men to 

 do inspection work. The Fruit 

 Exchange has stated >its intention 

 to makfi. mm ut Ihlij 



Ipping peaches. A 



~9e«^ce in pr 

 charge"~3t "fr 



• IB.OO a car Is made for this serv- 

 ice by the Department. There 

 J[8 notMng in tbe law that com- 

 pete growers to have their prod- 



ucts inspected. It is a service 

 ottered to them. 



PeMet Talks 

 "The aim of co-operative mar- 

 keting is to substitute merchan- 

 dising ot farm products for the 

 old practice of blind selling and 

 dumping," said Walton Peteet, 

 Director ot Marketing for the 

 American Farm Bureau Federa- 

 tion. "Dumping means giving the 

 markets more than they can con- 

 sume. • It means forcing the sale 

 of products. Blind selling is the 

 selling without knowledge of 

 supply, demand, absorbing power 

 of the markets - and grade and 

 quality of products. 



"As long as we continue to 

 dump our products and to sell 

 blind, we cannot expect to sta- 

 bilize our markets. Stabilizing 

 means selling lijce the .grocfer sells 

 — He doesn't try to sell his sum- 

 mer goods in the first ten days 

 ot summer weather. The fruit 

 grower must merchandise his 

 products. 



First Principle 

 "Standardization is the first 

 principle to merchandising or sell- 

 i«g ' through co-o()erative organ- 

 izations. There will never be a 

 profit in selling ungraded, bulk 

 products. . Second tomes the 

 proper package. A study must 

 be made of commercial practice 

 and consumer demands." 



Other principles outlined by 

 Mr. Peteet are the extending of 

 demand, handling of surplus and 

 to sell at the point ot consump- 

 tion rather than at borne. 



To carry out this program Mr 

 Peteet rec'ommended a strong lo- 

 cal organization' of growers ot 

 one commodity or closely related 

 commodities, as the first step. 

 Second, a state or district organ 

 ization of the locals, and ulti- 

 mately a coordination of all 

 state or 'district associations into 

 a national federation. 



Contracts and Pooling 

 : Binding members to sell 

 through their organization by 

 contract and the pooling of prod- 

 ucts were both recommended as 

 basic principles of success. Con- 

 tracts to insure the organization of 

 produce to market and furnish 

 a basis for financing, M^. Peteet 

 stated: * ."There can be no in- 

 telligent merchandising ot prod- 

 ucts without pooling." ^ 



Farm Adviser E. W. Rusfc, ot 

 Macoupin County, asked what ar- 

 guments could be used to con- 

 vince large growers to 40 to 150 

 acres who have developed into 

 salesmen and are satisfied with 

 their results. Mr. Peteet said 

 that the satisfactory'' price or 

 premium price that the large 

 srower is receiving is based on 



the present market, which is set 

 by the many little growers. Mr. 

 Peteet believes it Is to the Interest 

 of th» larger grower to get into 



A. O. ECKERT 



the co-operative organizations and 

 help get a better market price. 

 He said it is 'not the only duty 

 of the co-operative marketing or- 

 ganization to sell well on a bad 

 market. The large grower is now 

 carrying most of the cooperative 

 marketing associations. 



Perfect — ^Expand 



The suggestions of Mr. Peteet 

 for the improvement ot the Fruit 

 Exchange were to perfect and ex- 

 pand the present organization by 

 all organizations represented at 

 the conference working together. 



Mr. Peteet further recommend- 

 ed that the Illinois Agricultural 

 .Association help and assist in fi- 

 nancing co-operative marketing 

 organizations until such time as 

 the co-operative can stand on its 

 own feet. At that time the co- 

 operative marketing ' association 

 should repay the State Associ^ 

 tlon, in the opinion ot .Mr. Peteet, 

 so that the same money can be 

 used to foster other organiza- 

 tions. 



Secretary George A. Fox, of the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association, 

 approved this plan in the main, 

 however, added that sbmetimee the 

 •plan ot organization offered by 

 co-operative associations had not 

 warranted the association lend- 

 ing its assistance. 



Rock Phosphate 

 Sales For July 

 • Make a Record 



Sales ot rock phosphate for 

 July were higher than for the 

 same month ot the past two years, 

 says the Phosphate-Limestone De- 

 partment ot the I. A. A. The use 

 of rock phosphate at this time is 

 more with the idea ot more pro- 

 duction per man which means 

 production at less cost, than with 

 the idea of increasing production. 



■4i 



A FARM BUREAU SERMON 



Farm Editor of 



By the Rev. John AcheeotC Princevlll4 III, 

 the i|eoria Traneeiipt 



In tbe ninth chapter of First Corintbuins jPaid says: 

 as one that beateth the air" ' 



rm 



not ' 



-4 



This expression in the oldest book ^n all th^ wotld oppM 

 up an interesting trend ot imagination jfor p^oi^le who oppo<4 



\ 



present-day boxing" methods. 



There ig efery reason to JjeHeveTE R^PauTVas piferriis 

 to some kind of a boxing bout when \ le wrote kbit letter to 

 the church at Corinth. True he wa< pointing^ a leSson in 

 Christian method when he O'eferred o the - mODner of his 

 fighting; he also hinted that he ktlew quite a lot about the 

 ringside vernacular ot that time. It n ust have been honest- 



qot as one that beatetb 

 he landed bis punch 

 b><9a M 



to-goodness boxing, too, for he says, 

 the air." In other words, he means 

 whenever he could, and there may ha' 'e 

 the knockout type, too. 



We are all in a fight of one kind or another, and there Is 



a lesson for all of ua -hi the referent^ from Paiil's writing. 



■• .^^' . ' ^ ' 



■ T^Sre-aheilfd 1^ aim. Little Wioje Green can p^t the 



gloves on and awing his arms about like an old dilapidated' 

 windmill wheel in a March ^le and ge|t no place. in the bout, 

 while a skilled boy in the use of the gloves will accept every 

 opening with a punch and win .the d^ision of the- referee 

 and the applause of the crowd. 



i ft' ,1 I -^ 



Here we'are, farmers and all othei' < tlaaatlt, floni« are bMt> 



, ing the air, and at the end of each yet.r have made no p'n>g' 

 ress, and wonder what the trouble is, apd become disgruntled 



~^ith themselves and every one else 

 opening and get along in the game at 



Farmers need to fight right. When 



ing his own way, without an organiza< iont letting tbe winds 



of chance drive him every way, he was 



are still swinging without aim, but the < 



today are fighting their, battles with u well organized- plan. 



The A. F. B. F. and the I. A. A. for I linois, with vslse lead- 



eHhit), is. iielping bim t«i bit.^iK'muk pf swccew i» his Vtatj , 



ness. ?~F^~~-.J . ^ ■ 



There never was a time in tli« histoir ^ aKricDltnre when 

 fannisrs needed orfcanizatioii so inucbr^ at present. It Voold 

 be a sham fieht, tlie pity of the atafc, in see tiie greatcKt in- 

 dustry in America swinging its anus las "one ttiat beatetli 

 tlie air." /•■■:• -I . ' ■ .. "'i-, . ; '^ '■■■ " 'i'l 



J-t-Tht Peoria Transcript. 



Others spar for every 

 life. 



every tarmsr was \ 



beating the air. Soinf 

 great mass *f far^re 



r 





Th^re's^a LongWayTq Go 



^ 



Yet in 'CoAop' 



Marketing 



Overloading -of : 

 Live Stock May. 

 Cause Big Loss 



In many instances the Trans- 

 portation department of the I. A. 

 A. has found erroneous freight 

 charges on mixtures of calves 

 with other species ot live stock. 



The department urges livestock 

 shipping association managers and 

 others interested to submit copies 

 ot accounl sales on shipments 

 contaiaing mixtures of calves 

 with other* kinds of livestock in 

 order that the freight charges on 

 such shipments may be verffled. 



Wh^n' the livestock marketing 

 work first started several years 

 ago the ultimate goal was to sta- 

 Siiize markets. The co-opei^ative 

 shipping association was recog- 

 nized as the first step and the 

 co-operative commission company, 

 second, and before stabilizing 

 markets it was said that a vol- 

 ume bt business must be had. 



We are in the second year of 

 the program.. There are 11 co- 

 operative commission companies 

 in operation, three of thom in Il- 

 linois. The first year the Na- 

 tional Live Stock Producers did 

 a business ot 2S millions 6f dol- 

 lars. The first five months M 

 the second year it did a business 

 of over 37 millions of dollars. 



tt sou'nds big but it is only 

 8H percent of the whole business. 



This pe-cent is a little higher in 



Illinois 

 kets on 



There remain 52 raar- 

 which there are ne co- 



operative commission companies. 

 It is very plain that before 

 startfbg a program to stat>illze, 

 our "duty is te perfect our pres- 

 ent ori:anizatious, widen tlieir 

 business and enter nther markets 

 as the time is opportune. TGis 

 is the Drogram of the National 

 Live Stock Producers. , It is not 

 spectacular and it will be harder 

 to follov than^the period of or^ 

 ganizafion. Some will Tct.omt of 

 patience^ and may condemn the 

 work toir not reaching tlie ulti- 

 mate goal sooner. The real 

 friends of «b-operation will recog- 

 nize thf problem and will do- 

 their skare in this period of 

 growth ^nd perfection. , 



■^ 



iP . • Persistency of Service 

 KEEPING ON THE JOB i Jfi ■ 



For three years the Illinois A^cultural As80ci« 

 ation has given constant, untiringleffort to problems 

 of our Eigriculture-^marketing alid taxation being 

 prominent examples. ■ ^\ ' - ' 



I.V 



/ 



■ 



