Th 



Illinois Agricultural Associatioti 



"^ RECORD 





Number 4 



APRIL, 1929 



Volume 7 



ST. LOUIS DAIRYMEN ADOPT PLAN 



Producers from 19 Counties Vote Unanimously to Form a Comprehensive 



Co-operative Selling Organization 



T^AIRYMEN representing producers 

 -L' for the fluid market from 19 

 counties in the St. Louis milk shed 

 voted unanimously to organize a com- 

 prehensive co-operative milk bargain- 

 ing association in a meeting at E. St. 

 Louis April 8. More than 150 men 

 including the cream of the leadership 

 in that territory attended the meeting. 

 The vote to adopt the plan presented 

 by the special committee was unani- 

 mous. 



The new organization which is ex- 

 pected to adopt the name, "Sanitary 

 Milk Producers" will be modeled after 

 the Pure Milk Association at Chicago 

 and similar organizations operating on 

 the Philadelphia and Baltimore mar- 

 kets. 



The gathering at the Broadview Ho- 

 tel was harmonious. There was little 

 difference of opinion about the essen- 

 tial features of the plan. In general 

 the work of the association will in- 

 clude: 



1. Standardization and improvement 

 of milk and dairy products. 



2. Collective bargaining in selling. 



3. Control of surplus and supplying 

 milk as the market demands. 



4. Checking weitrhts and tests. 



5. Watching credit rating of buyers. 



6. Issuing truthful market informa- 

 tion. 



7. Advertising milk and dairy prod- 

 ucts to broaden the outlet. 



Macoupin County delegates offered 

 a friendly amendment to the checkoff 

 feature which provides for a deduction 

 not to exceed 5c per cwt. on milk de- 

 livered by members. This was in- 

 cluded in article 5 in the proposed 

 members' agreement which is as fol- 

 lows: 



"The member agrees to pay an en- 

 trance fee of $5. The member further 

 agi'ees that the Association shall 

 authorize the buyer to remit all money 

 due the member for dairy products 

 delivered bv him, directlv to the mem- 



ber, less a commiBsion not to exceed 

 five cents per hundred weight, which 

 commission the member authorizes the 

 Association to collect and receive." 



The proposed Macoupin amendment 

 would have a checkoff of 2c per cwt. 

 with the provision that the board of 

 directors might increase such checkoff 

 to 3c by a majority vote, to 4c by a 

 two-thirds vote, and to 5c by a unani- 

 mous vote. 



There was considerable discussion 

 of this amendment. Don Geyer, man- 

 ager of the Pure Milk Association. Chi- 

 cago, cautioned the dairymen against 

 providing too little money to carry out 

 an effective program. He asserted 

 that the producers' association at Bal- 

 timore collected a 15c checkoff and 

 that the source of its strengrth was the 

 reserve fund of $700,000 to S800.000 

 invested in high grade securities which 

 is always available for fighting the 

 dairyman's battles for him. 



(Continued on page 11) 



WHEN DAIRYMEN OF ST. LOUIS DISTRICT LAUNCHED NEW COOPERATIVE SELLING ORGANIZATION 



