Page Six 



THE 1. A. A. RECORD 



Samuel Sorrells 



Bargaining Power 



Object of Cooperation 



Marketing Conference Report Shows 

 Great Interest in Mass SeUing 



(Not»: FoUowing u a •ummary of tfc« Uar- 

 kttmg Confertne* h*U Jan. it during tA« re- 

 cent convention of th* lUinoit AgrieuUmml At- 

 —eiation at Rock Itland.) 



DAIRY farmers in Illinoia can add 

 $8,000,000 annually to their in- 

 come by merchandising their milk in a 

 more correlated 

 manner. Markets 

 that are already 

 organized have a 

 problem of ex- 

 tending coopera- 

 tion to their neigh- 

 bors so that they 

 will not compete 

 agrainst one an- 

 other but co-oper- 

 ate with one an- 

 other. 



The Dairy De- 

 partment reported 

 that a move was 

 already underway to work out a state 

 plan on a fundamentally sound basis 

 to bring about better co-operation in 

 selling, a better knowledge of markets 

 on the part of associations already es- 

 tablished, and the further organiza- 

 tion of markets not yet organized — all 

 yielding increased prices to the produc- 

 ers of milk. 



Produce Marketing 



Illinois has a produce marketing 

 problem valued at $75,000,000. The 

 commodities include cream, poultry 

 and eggs. In solving the marketing 

 problem of these commodities it is be- 

 ing done by organizing units made up 

 of approximately 125 members around 

 a trading point. At present twelve 

 counties have associations now market- 

 ing and that many more counties are 

 organizing. 



The advantage to be gained through 

 such associations is through the bar- 

 gaining power grained in selling vol- 

 ume, the farmers weighing and testing 

 their own products as they are sold, 

 production of quality and the knowl- 

 edge gained through the co-operative 

 effort of these units, which will lead 

 to a more comprehensive plan of mark- 

 eting produce. We are finding out 

 that this method of marketing not only 

 is proving beneficial to the farmer, but 

 is also meeting with favor on the part 

 of our present commercial marketing 

 institutions, with which we make con- 

 tact. 



Fruit and Vegetable Marketing 



The extent of the fruit and vege- 

 table industry is not generally known 

 throoghout the state. Seventy-one 

 counties shipped fruits and vegetables 

 in carlots. The total shipments in 

 1926, according to figures supplied by 

 the Illinois Department of Agriculture, 

 aggregated approximately 13,000 cars. 

 The 1927 figures are not yet available. 



The big problem in marketing fruita 



and vegetables is to reduce the high 

 cost between the producer and the 

 consumer. The principal item of these 

 is freight, which through the assist- 

 ance of the Transportation Depart- 

 ment of the Illinois Agricultural As- 

 sociation has shown a saving to the 

 fruit growers of Illinois of practically 

 $130,000 a year. 



The increased buying power of large 

 distributing organizations for perish- 

 able products is becoming grreater very 

 rapidly and it is becoming more and 

 more necessary each year that the 

 fruit growers cooperate in a mass sell- 

 ing campaign to meet this restricted 

 buying of these products. 



Grain Marketing 



The treasurer of the association at 

 the request of the president, during 

 the year, has made a study of the 

 grain marketing situation with partic- 

 ular reference to opportunity that 

 seems to be offered the association to 

 develop or assist in the development 

 of a marketing plan for gr&m. This 

 conference is advised that the treasur- 

 er has filed with the executive com- 

 mittee of the Association his report on 

 the snbpect. The report with certain 

 proposals embodied in it has been of- 

 fered to the executive committee, for 

 study, and is under consideration at 

 this time by that body, and therefore 

 is not offered here. 



The association has made a particu- 

 lar study of certain limitations and 

 impediments that seem particularly to 

 hamper the development of cooperative 

 marketing of grain, with a view to 

 suggesting to other organizations ways 

 and means to foster and supplement 

 it through its formative stages, and 

 until its merit shall have been demon- 

 strated and proven to growers. 



In this connection it may be pointed 

 out that the co-operative marketing 

 movement in Denmark has developed 

 and succeeded largely through the ef- 

 forts of government in its intensive 

 educational work. The same may be 

 said of co-operative marketing of 

 wheat in Canada, in which instance 

 the government, in effect, conducted 

 a demonstration, during the war years, 

 through its compulsory grain pool. 

 Previously, certain provinces in Can- 

 ada had substantially aided financially 

 and otherwise in the building of num- 

 bers of farmers' elevators for grow- 

 ers. These cases are merely cited as 

 examples and in general support of the 

 thought of the association — to be left 

 with the conference. 



It was the sense of the meeting that 

 the Illinois Agricultural Association 

 should employ a director of grain mar- 

 keting to devote his full time to this 

 important marketing project. 



Lit* Stock Maricetiag 



There are approximately 500 live- 

 stock shipping associations in Illinois, 

 95 Farm Bureaus, four great terminal 

 cooperative selling agencies and ap- 

 proximately 60,000 Farm Bureau 

 members. 



/ 



The principal aim of the livestock 

 marketing program of the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association is the coordinate 

 the efforts of all of these agencies and 

 individuals on one program with one 

 object. In carrying out this program 

 we have presented to each Farm Bur- 

 eau the advisability of making liva- 

 stock marketing a major project. In 

 cooperation with the co-operative 

 agencies on the terminal markets, ar- 

 rangements have been made for push- 

 ing aggressively the livestock market- 

 ing program in 77 counties of the 95 

 organized Farm Bureau counties of 

 the state. 



The principal problems which we 

 have to overcome in furthering this 

 prog^ram are, first, the indifference of 

 the individual farmer as to the im- 

 portance of studying his livestock 

 marketing problem in the same way 

 that he has studied his production 

 problem. Our second difficulty lies in 

 the lack of information which the 

 great mass of individual farmers have 

 as to what has already been accom- 

 plished in the co-operative marketing 

 of livestock. Our third problem is to 

 bring about the united effort of all the 

 agencies mentioned. Our fourth prob- 

 lem is to bring about a proper con- 

 ception of the true place of our co- 

 operative shipping associations in a 

 broad livestock marketing program. A 

 shipping association is only a shipping 

 association and these associations can 

 never achieve mass selling unless they 

 consolidate their efforts on the ter- 

 minal markets. ! -T- 



Summary i 



Summarizing the activities of the 

 entire marketing department of the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association and 

 its different departments special at- 

 tention should be paid to a central 

 theme which is fundamental in every 

 report. Mr. Lynch calls attention to 

 the necessity of mass selling of milk 

 in the different milk sheds of the state 

 to avoid competition between these 

 same milk sheds. Mr. Gougler in his 

 report illustrates the progress which 

 has been made in consolidating the 

 selling of cream, eggs and poultry 

 through organizations instead of by 

 individual producers. Mr. Leeper has 

 illustrated the effect of the mass sell- 

 ing of fruits and vegetables to meet 

 the mass buying of these same prod- 

 ucts. In grain marketing the same 

 problem is apparent. In the last an- 

 alysis the whole marketing problem re- 

 volves around the necessity for giving 

 to the producer a bargaining power in 

 order that he may meet with mass sell- 

 ing the mass buying with which he is 

 confronted on the other side. 



The meeting further was of the 

 opinion that, if possible, more time 

 should be allotted to the marketing 

 conference so each commodity might 

 have fuller consideration. 



Respectfully submitted, 

 SAMUEL SORRELLS, 



Chairman Marketing Committee. 



ff 



