HtwBber 27, 1924 



The niinoU Agricultural A»»oci>tion Record 



ri 11 



ADAMS COUNTY FARMERS 



OPERATE A $1,000,000 CO-OP 



A farmers' shipping association 

 hat does ai)| annual business of 

 $1,000,000 for its members is un- 

 usual, even among those operat- 

 ng on the county plan. But over 

 at Qulncy, 111., the Adams County 

 Shippers' Association actually 

 does it. Last year, 689 cars of 

 stock were shipped through the 

 association. 



Volume of business alone 

 doesn't make a shipping associa- 

 tion successful. But in this asso- 

 ciation of Adams county shippers, 

 the large volume of business 

 seems to have followed in the 

 wake of good service and sim- 

 plicity of organization, coupled 

 with the fact that Adams County 

 Parm Bureau members are auto- 

 matically members of the ship- 

 pers' association. 



Started iii 1919 

 The plan of organization of 

 this association may be of more 

 than ordinary significance. Its 

 origin was only the natural out- 

 growth of a long felt need of 

 Adams county live stock men for 

 closer co-operation in their mar- 

 keting problems. A small group 

 of them got together back in 

 September, 1919, and from their 

 number elected the following men 

 as the board of directors for the 

 j first Adams County Shipping As- 

 I sedation; L. F. Allison, presi- 

 |dent; G. J. Bockbold, vice-presi- 



(dent; L. O. Grieser, secretary- 

 treasurer; all three of whom have 

 held these offices continuously 

 since that time; E. 1.. Anderson 

 and Fred Uhland. 



This board was given full power 

 to direct the activities of the 

 association. It selects the county 

 manager, fl.xes his bond, stipu- 

 lates his commission and directs 

 the expenditure of all funds. It 

 meets regularly each month or 

 more often if necessary. Today the 

 association operates under, prac- 

 tically the same plan. 



It works on the county plan, 

 which means there is a county 

 manager in the central Farm 

 Bureau office in Qulncy and local 

 shippers or managers who handle 

 shipments from points through- 

 out the county while the county 

 manager takes care of shipments 

 from Quincy. 



Farmers Select Managers 



When a community decides to 

 establish a local shipping unit, 

 those who are interested meet 

 and select a committee of three 

 who appoint a man for the work 

 in that territory. 



The appointment of a local 

 manager must be endorsed by the 

 board of directors of the county 

 association, which is composed of 

 one bona fide farmer elected from 

 each local shipping point. 



The duties of the local man- 

 ager are to list live stock for 

 shipment, notify farmers when a 

 shipment is to be made, and to 

 mark load and bill out the stock. 

 He makes out invoices of each 

 shipment in triplicate, one copy 

 going to the county manager, 

 one to the commission company to 

 which the stock is consigned, and 

 the other to his own records. 

 Carry Own Insurance 



After the local manager gets 

 the stock in the car and billed 

 out, bis responsibility for the 

 shipment ends and settlements of 

 losses or other troubles become 

 those of the county manager. 

 However, the Adams county asso- 

 ciation has a scheme for effect- 

 ually covering their losses in 

 transit. For a few months after 

 the association began to ship, in- 

 surance was carried in a com- 

 mercial insurance company. But 



the managers soon found tbat the 

 premiums amounted to more than 

 the losses so the board of direct- 

 ors decided to furnish their own 

 insurance by a sinking fund col- 

 lected along with the general 

 shipping charge. 



"We charge three cents per 

 hundred for insurance on hogs 

 and sheep and one cent on cattle 

 in shipments containing stock be- 

 longing to more than one per- 

 son," explained county manager 

 C. C. Mast, who has held that 

 position since the shippers or- 

 ganized. "Then we collect an as- 

 sociation fee of eight cents per 

 hundred after freight, insurance 

 and Inspection charges and yard- 

 age and feed charges have been 

 deducted." 



In carload lots of one man's 

 feeding the insurance is one-half 

 that for mi.xed shipments and the 

 association fee is three cents per 

 hundred. They have found that 

 this arrangement is only fair to 

 the carlot shipper because there 

 is less work in figuring up the 

 accounts and the danger of loss 

 in transit is only about half as 

 great as when several bunches 

 of strange stock are shipped in 

 the same car. Carlot shippers 

 also have the privilege of can- 

 celing the insurance. 



Managers Get Honus 



"We off«r a bonus of a dollar 

 a car to local managers for every 

 car they ship without a loss," 

 Mr. Mast explained in telling 

 how they cut down their losses. 

 "Right now we've got one man, 

 W. A. Hill, shipper at Ursa, who 

 is out for the I. A. A. Safety 

 Loading Cup. He's shipped about 

 twenty cars and hasn't had a 

 loss." 



"I don't have much trouble 

 with losses," 'Mr. Mac' McNeal, 

 manager for shipping stations at 

 Paloma and Coatsburg, said. 

 "You've got jto be careful in 

 handling stock in the pens and in 

 loading. Most losses are on mixed 

 shipments where you get a lot 

 of strange animals in the same 

 car. They fight and tear around 

 more than when all the load is 

 shipped by one farmer." 



"You bet I like it best," 'Mr. 

 Mac' said when asked if he liked 

 the county plan of shippers' co- 

 operative. He likes it because it 

 relieves him of the detail work 

 and centralizes farmers' iitarket- 

 ing powers. "But business fell 

 off a lot when we changed from 

 the old $1 membership plan to 

 the 'every member a Farm Bu- 

 reau member' plan. I think the 

 next step the Producers must 

 take is to do order buying. As 

 long as the packers do their 

 buying on order we can't do 

 much to fix the prices." he said. 

 Non-Members Pay Fee 



Of the eight cent association 

 fee one cent is used to cover 

 office expenses and the remaining 

 seven cents is divided between 

 the local manager and the county 

 manager. Three-fourths goes to 

 the local manager as a commis- 

 sion for arranging cars, calling 

 shippers, weighing, loading and 

 billing out the shipments. An 

 excess fee of five cents per hun- 

 dred Is charged to all shippers 

 who are not Farm Bureau mem- 

 bers. This is in addition to th€ 

 regular eight cent fee. 



"We don't really make any 

 attempt to grade stock when we 

 ship, " said Mr. Mast. "We ship 

 almost entirely to the Producers, 

 mostly at East St. Louis and 

 they do all the grading that has 

 to be done. I don't think five 

 cars a year that are shipped 



AGRICULTURE NEEDS LEADER 

 LIKE GOMPERS, SAYS WATSON 



WOOL BLANKETS 



Six Weeks Ago We Had 500. 

 Now We Have Only 50. 



Greys with White Checks 

 Unexpectedly found one box ol Pink and White Blank- 

 ets. In ordering:, give second choice of color. 



TO FARM BUREAU MEMBERS $11 

 TO NON-MEMBERS $13 



Send your check now, through Farm Adviser, to 



I. A. A. UVE STOCK MARKETING DEPT. 



608 South Dearborn, Chicago 



<_'. C. Maxt. nianaser of the Adama 

 County Shipper** Aaaoeiation. lowcr< 

 Inic nith one flnycer, one of the bandy 

 londlng^ HhateK whirh they UNe in 

 AdaniM countj. A Kand h**\. which 

 t*an barely be seen dotvn behind the 

 fenee. keeps the Hhute in perfeet 

 balance. 



through the association are con- 

 signed outside the Producers." 



After the stock is sold at the 

 market the buyer mails a copy o( 

 the account sales to the local nian- 

 a^fv and one copy to the county 

 office. The county manager fig- 

 ures the home charges on each 

 lot shipped and issues a check to 

 the owner for the amount. 



"Some farmers don't believe in 

 the county plan." the manager ol 

 one local shippers* unit said in 

 answer to how the shippers liked 

 the scheme. "They think tht 

 accounts and checks ought to 

 come hack to the local managers. 

 They don't want their money to 

 get any further from them than 

 absolutely necessary. 



Likes County Plan 



"Hut I think the whole success 

 of the co-operative livestock ship- 

 ping business depends upon thai 

 very thing," this particular ship- 

 per continued, "It does away 

 with petty squabbles and relieves 

 the local manager of the detail 

 work. If pro-rating the returns 

 on a carload of stock was left up 

 to the local manager, he wouldn't 

 do it. H**^d leave it to the com- 

 mission (om-pany and they'd 

 charge the' farmer their price for 

 the service. As it is, the county 

 manager saves enough on the ex- 

 pense of pro-rating to pay the 

 salary uf the clerk who does it. 



"And pro-rating the receipts 

 doesn't take up all his time, 

 either, for he keeps all the rec- 

 ords of the county association." 



All the money received for 

 shipments through the Adams 

 County Shippers' Association is 

 deposited at the stockyards bank 

 to the credit of one bank at 

 Quincy for the use o£ the asso- 

 ciation, it takes about a week 

 for the checks to make the 

 rounds. "This makes our daily 

 balance stand ai-ound $8,000," 

 said manager Mast. ".And we 

 collect a nice piece of interest 

 from it. Sometimes our balance 

 runs a little low when shipments 

 are not heavy. We get around 

 that by borrowing a little from 

 our savings account at three per 

 cent so as to keep up our bal- 

 ance." 



I'se llA4lio \oH 



The local managers used to get 

 daily market reports by wire but 

 tliis year the county association 

 purchased two radio sets which 

 they installed for the local man- 

 agers. 'Mr. .Mac' has one of these 

 in his own home. About jioon or 

 a little before lie gets the market 

 quotations, although he misses 

 them sometimes because he can't 

 tune in right. 



During the five years that the 

 Adams County Shippers' Associa- 

 tion has been operating it has 

 gradually purchased many local 

 ma^'I'eting facilities. At L'rsa. 

 Paloma and Coatsburg. the asso- 

 ciation owns its scale*. At sev- 

 eral statiouLS it has made improve- 

 ments in the stock • yards, built 

 loading chutes and installed en- 

 gines and pumps to improve the 

 watering service during hot 

 weather. Most of this work has 

 been done to protect the insur- 

 ance fund, since the association is 

 responsible for the stock from 

 the time it is unloaded at the 

 yards and pays all claims in full 

 when loss occurs. 



Solve ShrinkaKe Problem 



*A\'f find a great deal of <oni- 

 plaiiit in regard to shrinkH ifi due 



Denouncing the present agri 

 cultural situation as a "deplor 

 able condition" and advocating 

 economic protection for agricul 

 ture by applying the principles 

 of the McNary-Haugen bill, C. B. 

 Watson, vice-president of the I. 

 A. A., speaking at their annual 

 Farm Bureau picnic recently, told 

 Stephenson county farmers that 

 the greatest need of agriculture 

 today is a leader of "the Samuel 

 Gompers type." 

 "AgHculture 

 needs a man 

 who will fight 

 with all his 

 heart and soul 

 for the best in- 

 terests of agri- 

 culture," d e- 

 clared Mr. Wat- 

 son. "A man 

 who will even 

 fight selfishly 

 as Samuel 

 Gompers has 



fought with all r. b. Wataaa 

 his heart and soul for the best 

 interests of labor in the L'ofted 

 States. 



"I '.u t that If adtr has not <ome ; 

 that It-adcr has yei to iV developed. 

 i;m some day. and I ho|H- it will lit- 

 soon, lie will conif forth ami lift 

 airrii'ulture to a position equal with 



lomiiwrfi" and InduHtry. T'nder th«> 

 U'Hdership of such a one. the Amer- 

 ican farmers will stand shoulder to 

 shoulder and forge to that plare 

 wh.-re they may aecure Just returns 

 l<tr their effortit." 



In his talk Mr. Watson advocated 

 •levelopmeni of waterways, especial- 

 ly the St. Lawrence water route, to 

 cut the cost of transportinft our 

 mid- western afrrlcultural productn 

 to the Atlanti<- coa«t. 



Nli*aM DtatHba«e Ta«r« 



Touching on the problem of tax- 

 ation, the I. A. A, exec^iiive stated 

 that taxes would never be reduced 

 very much, "rublic Improvetnenta. 

 and there are more of them now 

 than ever, muxt be k«pt up." he 

 said. "We want them kept up. but 

 I l»elieve they can be more evenly 

 distributed. 



"More property should he made 

 taxable. Intangible property Khould 

 be taxe<) along with real eelate. It 

 should lie arranged bo the burden 

 will fall on all instead of those who 

 ca n 1 east sta nd it. 



"We must know more about leg- 

 islation. W* must have a greater 

 voice in our KoVemm^nt. Manv\ 

 laws have come Into conflict with 

 the old natural law of nupply and 

 demand. We have protected com- 

 merce and industry with tariffs, and 

 We have, protected labor with Im- 

 migration laws: bu>'-rt»ere has been 

 Hit If or no r^nsidrt'atlon shown for 

 agriculture. 



■The others are esiablinhed on a 

 donii-.-ttk- basis; agriculture still op- 

 erates on the unprotected world 

 basis, ii must be equalized. Agri- 

 culture must be raised to their level, 

 or jiitflligent fartnertf will -quit the 

 buNiiifss. and American aicricultiir- 

 ii'tf w HI lif reduced to a pfasaiitry." 



Ht 1 areless weighing at home." said 

 the county manager. "As an illus- 

 tration, at some of our stations we 

 nearly always have a gain, at others 

 the stock holds Us weight, while at 

 others we practically always get 

 from medium to heavy shrinks. In 

 t'hfclving up for over a year or so 

 we found that this was largely due 

 to homo weighing of stock. That is 

 one reason why we were compelled 

 to l)uy our own scales a,t several, 

 stations. . 



"We should be glad to go ope step 

 further and have our hogs weighed 

 together, especially by grades, at 

 the marltets in order to save excess 

 shrink and br^ak of the scales, by 

 sorting in a mixed lot containing 

 numerous shippers. We are doi^g 

 this some now, but as a rule fne 

 farmer objects to this method un- 

 iest* he thoroughly understands the 

 saving." 



Have' Their Trovklea To* 



But things don't always go just 

 right with the Adams county stop- 

 pers. They have .their ups and 

 downs as all farmers' co-ops do. L/O- 

 r-al grievances sometimes stir up a 

 little mud in the pool. The commit- 

 tee of three, selected by the local 

 members, settle minor grievances. If 

 the trouble can't be smoothed out by 

 the local committee It is taken to 

 the county office. 



Then there are the Independent 

 buyers that shipping associations 

 have always to contend with. Some 

 farmers break away and sell out- 

 side the association occasionally. "I 

 tell my shippers that they are cut- 

 tiim their own throat when they 

 sell through individual buyers." 'Mr. 

 Maf' explained his views of holding 

 h's shippers together. He believe^ 

 alisolutely in sticking together on 

 their marketing problems. 



■Well, sometimes I think it pays 

 to ship throuprh them." replied one 

 farmer, who was asked for his opin- 

 ion of the shippers' association. 

 Then sometimes I think it doesn't. 

 It's about a fifty-flfty chance 

 wht-ther you ship through the as- 

 sociuilon or through one of these 

 l)uyer8. If you ship through the as- 

 sociation you have to stand the 

 freight, and feed, and yardag^e and 

 all such costs. But if you sell to a 

 l»nyer he pays you a little less right 

 on the spot and stands shipping ex- 

 pt-n.'*es himself. I ^uess there's a 

 lot of luck, on "how you hft the mar- 

 ket too." 



PlmreM Tell Rtory 



.*<ome carlot shippers wonder 

 whether Chey can afford to ship 

 Uiruugh the Adams County Ship- 

 pers' Association. The association 

 manager gives them a comparison 

 of shipping expenses throuKh and 

 around the association showing' tbat 

 a varload "of stock can be shipped 

 tbrough the association at a saving 

 of »*t.!tO .\t the sfime time th^ ship- 

 per has the advantatce of insuran<-e 

 1 li:il protects Ids stock from the 

 li-nr ii is unloaded at the local 

 yitrds until it is sold on the central 

 market, has been saved the trouble 

 <»f loadieg. billing and caring for 

 I he fiioik until departure of the 

 train and has co-operated on the 

 farmers" stock marketing program. 



K\i n with their difhculties. ttie 

 Adams <'ounly Shippers have an or- 

 Katiization that has gone a long way 

 tdward solvlne their live stock riiar- 

 k-lii!g problems. It has gone be- 

 yond I he first stages of co-oper- 

 ation and attained that degree of 

 su<'<ess which is the result of a 

 loiiK-tiine program. c a r e f u 1 ly 

 planned -and carried out. 



Such organizations do not spring 

 up mushroom fashion. They come 

 only after years of persistent co- 

 '►peratiftn to realize a worthy pur- 

 pose. 



Ill EivingNton count}', the first 

 "once over" test for tuberculoels 

 in cattle was completed last 

 month, after two years of con- 

 tinuous testing. Out of 3,598 

 herds containing 26.326 head of 

 cattle, $59 were condemned. The 

 county veterinarian has started 

 the second test in an effort to 

 speedily make Livingston an ac- 

 credited county. 



Farm Bureau Spirit 

 Splendid; Rummel 



"There has been a splendid 

 spirit indicated at all the Farm 

 Bureau meetings d have attended 

 this summer." states W. E. D. 

 Rummel, editor of the community 

 senice department of the Change 

 Judd Illinois Farmer, in talking 

 of the general Farm Bureau mor- 

 ale recently. 



Mr. Rummel is an old hand in 

 Farm Bureau work. He has 

 spoken in most of .the counties 

 in Illinois and is well acquainted 

 with Farm Bureau work in other 

 states, especially in Vermont, 

 New Hampshire and Maine where 

 he was a leader in organixatlon 

 work for the American Farm Bu- 

 reau Federation. He is a middle- 

 west man, however. 



A large number of Farm Bu- 

 reau meetings, including county 

 Farm Bureau picnics, have been 

 addressed by Mr. Rummel during 

 the summer. As head of his 

 community service department 

 Mr. Rummel says: 



"We have done our best to help 

 all who have asked for help, and 

 the response of the Parm I»ureau to 

 our community work has tieen most 

 gratifying. 



"I am glad that the l>usinee« men 

 of the state are co-oper«' ' rr ■■• ■ 

 the farmers in many aneetlnrs i^id 

 picnics, which is as It ttiiuu>t< •-- 

 The times point to a greater need 

 than ever for civic consclousneAS 

 and community building. 



"In these meetings I have sought 

 to dwell upon the need of more 

 thinkinf? and better onganttstlon 

 among farmers. Farm life and farm- 

 ing as a ttusiness will not rise to the 

 h>KheRt point until farmers all put 

 their shoulders to the wheel and 

 •hea ve-o-heave.' I have met a large 

 number of the old wheel horses of 

 (irKanized aKriculture. and I have 

 found them taking a lively Interest 

 in Parm Kureau work this year. 

 The one safeguard for indepen-dence 

 and personal )il>erty for farmers la 

 the ilevelopmenl of a healthy com- 

 munity spirit throughout the length 

 and breadth of the land." 



Following are the farm burejiu 

 gatherings addressed by Mr. Rum- 

 mel : 



May :. 8. 9. IS. 20. 21. 22. 21 

 Warren County Farm Bu- 

 reau meeting IJSo 



Ma.v 26 Klizabeth Jo Davl«ii8 



County JOn 



May 27 Menominee. Jo Daviens 



t'ounty 27S 



May 28 ilalena. fhamber Of 

 C«nimeree and Farm Bu- 

 reau Ranquet 20ft 



May 2» Warren. Jo Daviess Co. 275 



May so I'leasani Valley. Jo Da- 



vifss Co ' too 



June 11' I'aris. hMgar County 



Annual Farm Bureau Picnic ISOO 



June 20 Community Farm Bu- 

 reau meeting at residence 

 of O. L. Hatch. Stark Co... 1250 



June 28 KIgin. Annual Farm 



Bureau picnic. Kane Co... 1S»0 



July 12 Kaneville. Community 



Farm Hureau picnic ...... 800 



Auk. !!♦ Palestine. Annual Farm 



Bureau picnic. Crawford Co. 1000 



Atig. 22 Marshall-Putnam Co. 

 .\nnual Farm Bureau picnic 

 Campus John 8waney High 

 School 700H 



Sept. 13 OkU- Co. Annual Farm 

 lUiTfau picnic 



lOtlgar counter, the only «ccr«dlt«d 



tuberculosis free county In Illi- 

 nois, has appropriated funds to 

 continue eradication work. Farm- 

 ers there don't believe in quit- 

 ting the job even if the coanty 

 is practically free of bovine 

 tuberculosis. 



