February 1, 1926 



The Illinois Agricultural Astociation RECORD 



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Illinois Co-ops Sold 

 $200,000,000 In Farm 

 Products During 1925 



Farmers' Elevators Handled 

 Over Hundred Million 

 Dollars in Grain; Livestock 

 31 Million 



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Nearly two hundred million dol- 

 lars worth of farm products was 

 handled by farmers' co-operative 

 marketing associations in Illinois 

 during 1925. With the exception 

 of the farmers' elevators, all other 

 marketing agencies which contrib- 

 uted to this tremendous turnover 

 were 'mothered' by the association. 



This total amount of co-operative 

 business, which is comparable to 

 the amount of business done by the 

 largest industries in the state, is 

 estimated at $181,928,000 for the 

 past year. The figure was reached 

 following a survey by the I. A. A. of 

 the total sales of more than 1,000 

 co-operatives in the state including 

 the co-operative marketing of corn, 

 wheat, oats, livestock, dair^ prod- 

 ucts, fruit, cotton, red top seed and 

 wool. \ 



The figure.does not include all of 

 the products ' sold co-operatively by 

 all the farmers in the state for dur- 

 ing the past year $5,161,070 worth 

 of Illinois livestock was shipped to 

 and sold by the Producers Commis- 

 siofi Association at Indianapolis, a 

 smaller amount by the Producers 

 at Evansvillc, Ind., as well as $200,- 

 000 worth of Illinois soft wheat 

 whi«h was marketed co-operatively 

 through the Indiana Wheat Grow- 

 ers' Association. 



Farmers' Elevators Lead 



A large portion of this Illinois 

 co-operative business was done by 

 some 600 farmers' elevators in the 

 state, a total amounting to $104,- 

 250,000 during the past year. In 

 a recent investigation by the co-op- 

 erative auditing department of the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association it 

 was revealed that approximately 

 $174,000 worth of corn, wheat and 

 oats is handled annually by the 

 average farmers' elevator in this 

 state. 



Livestock ranked second in the 

 amount ot co-operative business 

 done,, totahng $58,000,000. Of this 

 amouiit $31,000,000 worth of live- 

 stock was handled by the Produc- 

 ers Commission Association on the 

 Chicago stockyards, $22,000,000 

 by the Producers on the National 

 stockyards. East St. Louis and $5,- 

 000,000 by the Producers at Peoria. 

 This gross total includes approxi- 

 mately 15 per cent of all livestock 

 handled on the three major yards of 

 the state and represents a decided 

 "increase in the amount of business 

 as compared to 1924. 



Third in the amount of co-opera- 

 tive business in Illinois stands the 

 distribution of fluid milk, table 

 cream, farm and factory butter and 

 cheese. This amount of business 

 for 1925 totaled $19,100,000, an in- 

 crease of approximately 5 per cent 

 over the previous year when the 

 total (igure was $18,035,000. 



Fruit Business Increased 



With somewhat less impressive 

 ■figures but of equal importance to 

 the farmers of Illinois is the amount 

 of fruit, red top seed, cotton and 

 wool handled by the co-operatives. 

 Last year approximately $300,000 

 worth of fruit was sold co-opera- 

 tively by southern Illinois farmers 

 through the Illinois Fruit Growers 

 Exchange, Centralia. This repre- 

 sents an increase of $50,000 over 

 'the total of 1924 and six per cent 

 of all fruit sold in the southern part 

 of the state. 



In 1925 close to 83,000 pounds 

 of wool was sold co-operatively by 

 Illinois farmers. This was collected 

 through the various county Farm 

 Bureaus of the state, and through 

 the livestock marketing department 

 of the I. A. A. was sold at an 

 amount totaling in the neighbor- 

 hood of $35,000. Cotton amount- 

 ing to approximately $18,000 was 

 handled co-operatively by the Illi- 

 nois Cotton Growers' Co-operative 

 Association, a small but effective 

 organization formed by the farmers 

 in the extreme southern counties of 

 Illinois. 



The combined volume or business of the 

 cotton co-operatives of this country, since their 

 organization tive years ago, is approximately 

 S40(J,(KX),(K)0. They arc doinK a combined 

 aDBual businesa of nearly $12o,000,n00. 



Sweeten Your Disposition with Corn. Sugar 



George A. Fox, executive secretary, is seen here looking over the 

 original drawings from which stickers have been made and are being 

 placed on letters leaving the office of the I. A. A. The stickers say, "We 

 are eating more corn sugar to sweeten our dispositions while waiting for 

 legislative action by Congress dealing with the fundamental problem — 

 agricultural surpluses." 



Lowden Talks Surplus 

 at Annual Convention 



(Continued from page 1, col. S) 



"The federal reserve board seeks 

 to do, in reference to space — wh^ 

 a farm board should accomplish, in 

 reference to time, with the seasonal 

 surpluses of the farm," the former 

 Governor said. 



"A surplus of the staple farm 

 products is inevitable and neces- 

 sary," said Lowden. "The farmer 

 asks why, if this seasonal surplus is 

 a good thing for everyone else, it 

 should result in a loss to him. "The 

 farmer must always plan to raise 

 more than just enough if the world 

 is to be fed and clothed. Every- 

 one recognizes this need. 



The Farmer's Dilemma 



"Business responds to the prom- 

 ise of a bountiful crop. The farm- 

 ers' gladness, however, is tempered 

 with the bitter thought that may- 

 be these seeming blessings of a 

 kindly Providence may bring him 

 ruin. He is always confronted with 

 this dilemma. If he produces too 

 little, the world will go hungry and 

 naked; if he produces too much, the 

 surplus for the time may break the 

 price he receives for his product to 

 a point where it would have been 

 better for him to have left his fields 

 lie fallow. 



"In the South we say cotton is 

 king; in the Middle West, it is corn 

 #e'have crowned. But these royal- 

 [ties^sre buffeted about by the trad- 

 ;^rs of the world. They have been 

 made to yield immense profits to 

 everyone but those who produce 

 them. And all the while we have 

 been marketing not alone these 

 great staples of the North and the 

 South, but also each year a part of 

 the fertility of the soil itself. 



Needs Help in Burden 



"If the farmer alone must bear 

 the crushing burden of a surplus, 

 under the slow operation of eco- 

 nomic laws the time will come when 

 there will be no surplus and they 

 will go hungry and but half clothed. 

 In the interest, therefore, of society 

 as well as the farmer, we must con- 

 trive some method by which the 

 surplus of tKe very essentials of I|fe 

 shall become a blessing and not a 

 burden. 



"There seems to be an analogy 

 between the seasonal surplus of 

 staple farm crops and the surplus 

 credit resources of the banks be- 

 fore the adoption of the Federal 

 Reserve System. The resources of 

 the banks as a whole were adequate 

 for the business of the country as 

 a whole. It frequently happened, 

 however, that an unusiial demand 

 at some particular place exceeded 

 the resources of that community, 

 while in other sections there were 

 ample credit resources in excess of 

 their need. 



Will County Farm Bureau ordebed po- 

 tatoes for its members at a laid down prioe of 

 $1.42 a bushel. For. the members who took 

 advantsKC of this offer to the amount of 10 to 

 \h bushels, a saving equal to one y-car's mem- 

 ben-Iiip fee was secured. 



'^kr 



Don' t Blame Mailman 

 If You Missed Record; 

 It's Once a Month Now 



You'll notice that the line un- 

 der the "flag" on page one says, 

 "Issued Every Month for 63,000 

 Thinking Farmers," instead of 

 "every other Saturday" as it has 

 stated in the past. 



The change is due to curtail- 

 ment in the general budget. 



The decision to eliminate a 

 half of the issues of The Record 

 as an econ9my measure came 

 after the Jan. 2 issue was mailed, 

 consequently no advance an- 

 nouncement could be made. So 

 if you missed The Record of 

 Jan. 16, it wasn't the mailman's 

 fault 'The RECORD is to continue 

 in its present size, but monthly. 



Jardine Defines His 

 Position on B Points 



(Continiied from'pagk 1, col. 2) 

 "I have followed thei progress of 

 this association with real interest 

 and I want to take thisi opportunity 

 to express my appreciation of the 

 strong, forward-looking character 

 of the work of your «rganiiation. 

 The men who founded and devel- 

 oped this association ssnsed clearly 

 the trend of (modern aeeds in the 

 field of farm organization. They 

 need not only the vision to see what 

 such an institution tiight mean 

 to the farmers of Illinois; they 

 had the sound, practical sense 

 that^ financed it securely and shaped 

 its activities out into those fields 

 where they were genlinely eff'ec- 

 tive. It was my pleasite last, sum- 

 mer to spend a brief time hastily 

 surveying the differait projects 

 then carried an by you» association. 

 Your activities in marWeting, taxes, 

 auditing and along numerous other 

 lines manifestly react tp the benefit 

 of the men o» the famj." 

 i* • • 



Summarized brieflyd his eight 

 points were: j 



1. Taxes. Farmers jtell the de 

 partment of lagricultune that high 

 taxes is their second tnost impor- 

 tant concern, next toj low prices, 

 wTiich comes first. I firmly believe 

 that our systejn of valuation can be 

 materially improved and thie tax 

 burden of farmers can be substan- 

 tially lighteneid by reducing present 

 inequalities i4 assessments and by 

 giving ^eater considerntfcn- to the 

 earning power of the land in mak- 

 ing such assessments. Your own ^- 

 sociation has done a fine piece of 

 work in this state in i ironing out 

 inequalities between the assessment 

 of farm lantK and in J other prop- 

 erty and in building a foundation 

 for a more satisfactory administra- 

 tion of the general property tax. 



Greatest Meeting 



of the I. A. A 



(Continued from ]xige 2, col. 3) 

 Therefore, be it resolved that the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association en 

 dorse the general principles set 

 forth in the Dickinson Bill now be- 

 fore Congress; a measure which 

 provides for a federal board to ad- 

 minister an equalization responsi- 

 bility for the surplus farm commo- 

 dities, the finances to be put up by 

 the producers themselves in the 

 most practical manner, through ex- 

 cise tax or equalization fee. and the 

 actual buying, storing and selling 

 involved in handling the surplus to 

 be done, with the support of the 

 board, by corporations created and 

 controlled by the producers them- 

 selves. 



Were With You, Sami^ 

 1 C Whereas, Sam H. Thompson 

 iO« has for three years ably 

 served the Illinois Agricultural As- 

 sociation as its president, and 



Whereas, the farmers of America 

 have recognized his sterling quali- 

 ties and able leadership in calling 

 him to the presidency of the Ameri- 

 can Farm Bureau Federation, and 



Whereas, by reason of such posi- 

 tion it becomes necessary for hiin 

 to retire from the presidency of the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association in 

 order to assume the vast responsi- 

 bilities imposed upon him by his 

 new position. 



Therefore, be it resolved that we 

 hereby express our hearty appre- 

 ciation for the service he has ren- 

 dered and for the personal •, sacri- 

 fice which he has made in beltalf of 

 the interests of agriculture during 

 his term as President of the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association. 



Be it further resolved, that we 

 extend our heartiest wishes to him 

 in such efforts as he may put forth 

 for the cause of agriculture in par- 

 ticular and the American people in 

 general, as he takes up his duties in 

 his new position, and 



Be it further resolved, that we 

 pledge him our earnest support and 

 our hearty cooperation in such en- 

 deavors as he may make as presi- 

 dent of the American Farm Bureau 

 Federation for the cause of agri- 

 culture. 



ing the department's work in the 

 field of marketing research and 

 ser\ice. This section of tKe coun- 

 try does not lack succc^ssful co- 

 operatives. Your farmers' co-op- 

 erative elevatorf are among oar 

 best examples of successful co- 

 operation. It is my opiiiion that 

 you have the foundation 'on which 

 to build a thoroughly effetrtivc 

 marketing organization, and I be- 

 lieve the tiipe is soon at hand 

 when the frain jiroducers of the 

 middfip weft^rn gr^in states will 

 join in a sound grain marketing or- 

 ganization. Such an effort, in my 

 opinion, is worth/ of early consider- 

 ation. ( The Secretary had refer- 

 ince in the itliovt to the work voui 

 being doni in xetting. up the A'o- 

 tlonnl Farfners' Elevator Company, 

 Co-oitcrotioe, with itn Kitftsidiarn 

 felling ageney on the Chirago mar- 

 ket, the Utrral Grain Company.) 

 • * ♦ 



8. Surplus. No longer is it the 

 size of the crop that counts, but its 

 purchasing power. 'The surplus fre- 

 quently is not a blessing to the 

 farmer, f«r even a smal suijilus 

 tends disproportionately to lower 

 the market value of the whole prod- 

 uct This is the .surplus problem — 

 this uncontrollable aspect of agri- 

 culturd prpduction that tends tu 

 put the fanners at the frequent dis- 

 advantage in the field of exchange 

 relations. It in a problem underly- 

 ing the whole agricultural situation. 

 I believe we must recognize it on 

 that basis. 



A National Problem 



The nation must recognize this 

 problem for it is a matter of na- 

 tional concern. I am already on 

 record with my belief that public 

 agencies skould make every proper 

 effort to co-operate on sound work- 

 able programs looking to its solu- 

 tion. 



I am opposed to price-fixing. I 

 am oppose* to govemmint handlins 

 of farm products. 



It has seemed to mo, however, 

 that something could Lie don*e to- 

 ward reducing the ban- a^^ A'hich 

 surround lertai.. , l.asea of ^ji- 



2. Land Policy. N»t in favor 

 of aggravating the c»-op surplus 

 problem by the government helping 



develop new hinds any Ifurther than 



is neces.<^ary'to complete presautJ cultural" merchandising— the term 

 projects. It^ better to rgforesll merrhanditing b<ing.J|ictS-JJS«J -!P 



than to develop new and coinpeting 

 farm lands. , 



* « 



3. Farm Credit. Much remaihs 

 to be done in bringing all credit 

 facilities to farmers. This is espe- 

 cially true of the federal interme- 

 diate credit system. It is necessary 

 to develop credit machinery which 

 serves the farmer adequately and 

 reasonably io times of depres^on as 

 well as in times of prosperity. 



• * * 



4. Freight Rates. I believe we 

 must have substantial readju*ment 

 in freight rates. High freight rates 

 contributed to the farm depression. 

 The whole freight-rate structure 

 needs overhauling. Adjustments 

 should be made which take into Ac- 

 count the market value of farm 

 products. On the olher hand, rail- 

 roads need adequate income tp ren- 

 der eficient and adequate service. 



5. Roads. It is important to the 

 nation that highway development 

 be so directed that it bring; good 

 roads as near as piossitlle to levery 

 farmsr. Necessary thalt statt and 

 federal governments co.*operate. 



* * * . 



6. Water Developments. Our nav- 

 igable waterwjftys should be made 

 effective owtlets fdr products df tfie 

 farm. Secretarj- Hoover has iiointed 

 out that many competing agricul- 

 tural sections of the world arc' close 

 to seaboard, that ocean Ates are on 

 a pre-war basi^. that our incnasetl 

 rate to sea-boBrd therefore penal- 



zes Mississippi Valley producers in 

 foreign markets by just this amount 

 — from five tojtwelve cents a bush- 

 el, that one iremedy lies iri im- 

 provement of lOur waterways,, thus 

 reducing freigUt costs. 

 ¥ * * 



7. Co-apera(!ve Markelin(. Xs an 



individual the farmer can do little 

 or nothing to improve marketing 

 conditions, but through organiza- 

 tion, the financing, insurance, sltand- 

 ardization, storage and ~distrib(ution 

 of farm crops may be tnade Jnore 

 efficient and less costly. ' I am anx- 

 ious to promote the development of 

 co-operative marketing along sound 

 lines. In order that the department 

 may render co-operatives even 

 greater; a.ssistance than in the past, 

 I have ^iven my support to a pleas- 

 ure now before Congress, expand- 



its broadest. 8e."s?. It has seemed 

 that this oould and should be dene 

 by some fiarmir-controlled agency. 

 When Mr. Dic'inson <ame forth 

 with hits new bill, introducod in ''..v 

 House January 4, it appeari:d that 

 we had apgiroached -u^me common 

 ground, and I frankly and openly 

 said so. I tried to make it plain 

 that I want to give full consider- 

 ation tu constructive proposals di- 

 rected to the surplus problem, even 

 though 1 did not favor all the pro- 

 visions of the Dickinson bill as in- 

 troduced. There has been general 

 discussion «if late as to the forma- 

 tion of a federal farm board or com- 

 mission Oi embodied in the Dickin- 

 son bill and other proposals. J me 

 in a riffhtlg constituted agency of 

 thin nature the poHHibility of at- 

 tacking thic surplus problem in a 

 coitst ruct ire and seientifie way. 

 Furthermore, there is as broad field 

 of action for such a board as a pow- 

 erful spoko^sman for American agri- 

 culture. 



Conferences to Continue 



I hai»e called into conference on 

 this surplus problem mt^n whom 1 

 consider among the best equipped 

 in the country to contribute to a 

 solution. I have scheduled other 

 conferences during the remainder 

 of January and the fore part of 

 Febrftarj-. There is a great divi- 

 sion of opinion. The whole subject 

 is controversial. Vut the economic 

 conditions hack of this a.udition 

 are • mtdenlablr. The American 

 people will profit in my judgment, 

 by giving fair-minded, sympathetic 

 considtTiition to those conditions. 

 We should bury all bitterness in 

 these discussions. J(en are sincere 

 and we will onlj- havte success when 

 we pound out cverj-* proposal upon 

 the anvil of constructive debate. / 

 look funvard to ultimate action on 

 this jirolilcm which will be sound, 

 consthictice, and in th* interest of 

 the nation. 



In a cnl:rK-tii' or the AMsmMtam om rAKu 



landH as wiu|iiir<-d to city (>r(4j«Tt> in Frvuklin 

 cuuty by J. C Wuisoii. I. .\. A tsuIKH sp. - 

 CIalu.t, in oi..t.i>*al lou witli tl^f J niliUlu County 

 ranu liun^iu, il was found tljst furai luisU wvre 

 B Bimi w -d at ^iti.ti per cent of tWir sale value and 

 city lota alid h.ux-s at ^-.t.S per cent. Tluw' 

 facts were broujlit to the aUcriI|i.ii of tlieCunly 

 Itoardof L.oii;tli^tiori but ttoaetmn wsk M^eiir,.*! 

 The K.irm ISurtsu th,-n afvpeaV-d to Ihe Stale 

 Tax ConuniiMuoa aod tiic OMe ia bciae oousidcrrd 

 by tli;it bo4y. 



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