THE I. A. A. RECORD 



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age Five 



Co-op. Marketing of 



Cream Has Cash Value 



such 



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Farm Bureaus Make Money for 



Members Through Produce 



Associations 



Frank Gougler 



By Franit Gougler 



PERHAPS the best yardstick for 

 measuring the cash value of co- 

 operative cream marketing is by com- 

 paring country 

 butterfat prices to 

 the Chicago 92 

 score butter mar- 

 ket. Before the 

 produce co-opera- 

 tives entered the 

 field country but- 

 terfat prices were 

 from three to five 

 cents under the 

 Chicago butter 

 market. Now they 

 will average above 

 the butter market for the year 

 wherever co-operative produce associa- 

 tions are operating. 



Another measure is the net saving 

 above operating costs of a cream 

 station. This has also been shown to 

 be over three cents. Still a third yard- 

 stick is in the nature of bids received. 

 These are better by at least three cents 

 per pound than formerly. 



Using this conservative figure, what 

 does it mean to the average producer 

 or county? Such a producer will sell 

 at least 600 pounds fat. With a three- 

 cent gain, he has an additional income 

 of $18 more than enough to pay his 

 annual Farm Bureau dues, besides sell- 

 ing his butterfat on his own weights 

 and tests. 



Richland County'* Case 

 How much additional income to a 

 county? Richland county, for example, 

 sells annually 414,654 pounds of 

 butterfat. Selling this fat for three 

 cents more per pound (to be exact, 

 the co-op's, net gain for the first two 

 years was 3.2 cents not considering 

 the increase obtained in local prices) 

 means a greater income to the county 

 by $12,440. Richland county would 

 have to have over 800 Farm Bureau 

 members to contribute this amount in 

 dues. Very likely they have not more 

 than half that number. Thus, the 

 gain made on selling butterfat co- 

 operatively nearly doubles that paid 

 out in membership dues. 



McLean county sells annually over 

 1,000,000 pounds fat and a three-cent 

 gain on this amount is $30,000, or 

 about twice the amount raised by Farm 

 Bureau dues. 



. Increase of $1,800,000 



Adams county on the west side of 

 the state sells annually 456,181 pounds 

 fat. At three cents additional income 

 this amounts to $13,685. 



For the state as a whole which sells 

 annually 60,000,000 pounds butterfat, 

 a net gain of three cents amounts to 

 the tidy sum of $1,800,000, more 

 money than is contributed to all the 



County Farm Bureaus of the state, the 

 I. A. A., and the American Farm 

 Bureau Federation. 



These are the possibilities when this 

 work is extended over the entire state. 

 More than half of the state is already 

 being influenced by this marketing 

 project. It doesn't seem possible that 

 the marketing of a single commodity 

 could be so far reaching in its effect. 

 Illinois now has 34 co-operative 

 produce marketing units actively mar- 

 keting and a dozen or more are in 

 the process of organization. The work 

 is going forward rapidly. 



17th. District Conf. 

 . ; At Lincoln May 27 



Pipe Line, Co-op. Marketing and In- 

 surance Discussed 



REPRESENTATIVES from Livings- 

 ton, Woodford, Logan, McLean, 

 and Ford counties attended an I. A. A. 

 conference in the 

 17th district at 

 Lincoln on Mon- 

 day, May 27. The 

 lateness of the sea- 

 son and the fact 

 that farmers were 

 in the field plant- 

 ing corn kept 

 many at home. 

 Nevertheless a rep- 

 resentative group 

 from every part of 

 Geo. J. stoii the d i s t r i c t at- 



tended. Geo. J. Stoll of Chestnut 

 presided. 



The chief topic of interest was the 

 situation involving the Texas-Empire 

 Pipe Line Company and landowners 

 along the proposed right-of-way re- 

 garding settlements for damages. L, 

 J. Quasey of the I. A. A. outlined the 

 proposition, explained the rights of 

 both parties involved, and recom- 

 mended that farmers organize by com- 

 munities and appoint a committee 

 duly authorized to deal and speak for 

 them. 



Not Satisfied 



Several members expressed dissatis- 

 faction with the terms offered by the 

 company. A desire to try a test case 

 before a court of law to establish what 

 is a fair payment for a perpetual ease- 

 ment and special damages was mani- 

 fest. 



Several testified that the proposed 

 pipe line through the central Illinois 

 counties would depreciate the value 

 of land traversed and cause dam- 

 ages to crops, tile, and farm work 

 far in excess of any compensation 

 heretofore offered or paid by pipe line 

 corporations. One man related how a 

 similar pipe line in northern Illinois 

 consistently leaked with the result that 

 the crude oil rendered unfit for pro- 

 duction the soil so affected. 



May Patrol Line 



The company contract indicates that 

 the proposed pipe line will not be 



patrolled but the practice of similar 

 companies heretofore has been that 

 these lines are patrolled every week. 

 In such cases the patrolmen tramp 

 down growing crops and cause a gen- 

 eral nuisance to landowners. 



Frank Gougler, produce marketing 

 director, and L. A. Williams, manager 

 of the Country Life Insurance Com- 

 pany, spoke briefly, Mr. Gougler out- 

 lining the value of co-operative mar- 

 keting to farmers who sell cream, poul- 

 try, and eggs, and Mr. Williams relat- 

 ing facts and information relative to 

 Farm Bureau life insurance and the 

 new Farm Bureau owned and con- 

 trolled company. 



Cream Shippers Profit 



The Logan County Dairy Associa- 

 tion's last year's records reveal that 

 Logan county farmers obtained over 

 $25,000 more for their cream and 

 produce as a result of price increases 

 following collective selling. "This in- 

 creased income, from cream, poultry 

 and eggs alone," said Gougler, "is far 

 greater than the cost of maintaining 

 the Logan County Farm Bureau. If 

 we can do so well in marketing produce 

 co-operatively how much more can we 

 do by selling all of our farm products 

 through the co-operative marketing 

 system," he said. 



Following a discussion of a proposed 

 district picnic it was decided to place 

 the question before each County Farm 

 Bureau executive committee for a de- 

 cision. Their action will be reported 

 to Mr. Stoll at a later date. Opinion 

 was expressed for and against the dis- 

 trict picnic plan. r 



Get Ready for Deep 



Waterway at Peoria 



'T'HE Caterpillar Tractor Company of 

 -■- Peoria recently constructed an in- 

 land harbor covering 25 acres adjoin- 

 ing its plant to be used in shipping its 

 products down the river on boats to 

 the Ocean. 



The Keystone Steel & Wire Com- 

 pany, likewise, has completed plans 

 for excavating a huge slip and turning 

 basin for Mississippi river barges and 

 tow boats. A canal will connect this 

 slip with the Illinois river, giving di- 

 rect river facilities to the plant for 

 the unloading of barges of ores, coal, 

 aiid other heavy freight and the load- 

 ing of its finished steel goods upon 

 barges. 



Peoria promises to make great use 

 of the deep waterway to the Gulf of 

 Mexico now being completed. The 

 deep waterway will give ready access 

 to the growing South American mar- 

 kets. It is estimated that at least 100 

 of the largest Caterpillar tractors, two 

 of which fill an ordinary freight car, 

 can be loaded upon a single barge and 

 shipped to New Orleans for direct 

 loading to cargo steamers bound for 

 Central America, Brazil, the River 

 Platte, west coast of South America, 

 and to almost any other port reached 

 by steamers from New Orleans. 



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