Page Tuo 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



Indifference Is Bar to 



Better Farm Life 



Sec. Metzger Speaks Before American 

 Country Life Conference 



h k^\^\ II >;rcatot pr<tbkin which iontmnts .1 

 ' tjrni orp.ini/.uii>n 111 liic inaiiitcn.uicc t»t 

 membership is inditfcrcncc. It^ti many do noi 

 apprcciau" the value <>t or>;.ini/Jtu)n. InJividu.iI- 

 isiic habits oj living and the tailur; <*i manv 

 individuaU ( » rceogni/c 

 their relatione and duiv 

 tow.ird otluT people 

 eontribiue larj;clv ro 

 iW\s aititudJ t»t niMU! 

 uhivh I ehaiaeieri/e as 

 inditVererKe" Sccrct-ary 

 deorvie I . M:t/i;t.'r told 

 the recent contcrencc oj 

 ihc American C (nintrv 

 I ifc Assoc^. 

 Anns. Iowa 

 spoke on tl 

 "jobs that 

 a Slate larni 



Geo. E. Metzger 



ation at 



Met/i;er 



I sublet, t 



C ontr»tni 



Or>;ani/a- 



tion. 

 "Some ot our farm folks have In tie or no 

 ^.tnhdcnce in their fellow farmers,' he said, 

 "jealousy and prejudice are too comnuMi. I here 

 still L-xisis some pre|iidice ai;ainst s.)||iried. men 

 and so ope of *»ur bij; pri>blems is td maintain 

 trained men whom a>;ricultural or>lani/ations 

 seriously need. 



Members Read, ThinI 



"Cienerally spcakini: the Farm Burc. u has thu 

 more intelligent, progressive farm piople who 

 read and think. They are the ones 1 esponsible 

 tor any progress made in the industry and so 

 one of our sreat ditticulties is to deal with the 

 farm family that is not informed. 



"I asked i»ne of my Held men who was work- 

 ing in one of the best agricultural counties in 

 Illinois to select and travel down s(jnie hi.i;h- 

 ft ay and call on 10 non-Farm Bureau niembers 

 just as he came to them, and make in^imry con- 

 cerninj; a certain publication of a d.nly paper 

 that had been issued in that county and sent 

 to every farmer. This paper carried an ei>;ht- 

 p.»^c insert on agricultural matters, "eaturinjis 

 ot course, the Farm .Bureau movement Tt was 

 one of the best pieces of publicity of its kind 

 that I have ever seen. 



"The first questitm the solicitor a.ked w.is 

 whether »»r not the paper was received. All 

 had received it. The feature article in this paper 

 had to do with the new Federal Marktting .\ct 

 and the Federal Farm Bojrd. 



Lack of Information 



"The second question t lie solicitor a'tked w ,1 

 what they thou>:ht of the new markc 

 Fight out of the 10 men did not know that 



such an act had been passed by con>;res 

 some explanation he asked the third 

 '\C'hat do vou think of the new I ed( 



Board and the pos^^ibilities »»t sonic reli< f to the 



. Atter 

 L]uesiion, 

 a I Farm 



farmer?' Six out ot the 10 ot them st 



had no confidence in the Farm Board \.hatever. 

 that it would eat up all oi the tive hundred 

 million dollars appropriatii»n in s.ilaries ind that 

 no relief would come to the farmer. V'hat can 

 wl expect of people havini; such mea>;cr knowl- 

 cd>;c iti current events, at^eclin;; their ov n inter- 

 ests. 



"The only way such people can he r..iched is 

 through word-f>f-mouth publicit > . It mem- 

 bership or>;ani7aiions are to >;ri>w in .i/c and 

 prestige, we must begin at once to prepare the 

 non- member for membership. This prepa ra- 



ted the\ 



lion 111 us t l.iti;e!\ take place throu>;h the men 

 and women who .dready are athliated with mem- 

 bership orcani/ations. Our members must 

 .ic^ept the responsibility of cultivating the non- 

 nieniher. 



Friendliness Helpful 



"In marketing activities tlie tarmers' business 

 I' largely held thntugh friendliness. Support 

 lo a niemhership organization can be gained in 

 the s.inie way. The member must sympalhi/e 

 with the non-member. He must recogni/e his 

 problems intimalelv, and above all, he must be 

 able lit show \!r. \on-nieniber that the organi- 

 zation has a helpful program. Any other 

 method '>f cultivating and preparing the non- 

 member is decidedl\' costl>. 



"I he next question is, how can we prepare 

 this lion member, C^ur experience is that mem- 

 bership IS dithcuh to maintain on educational 

 proiccts ahine. I arniers, hke most groups of 

 businessmen, want to see a m4»ne> return. I here- 

 ft re. it seems to be essential that state farm 

 membership t)rganizati<ms list in their programs 

 certain projects which will lend themselves to 

 a nuMiey return large enough. st> that it will 

 s» mpletely otTset tlie membership tee. >\'hatever 

 can be added over and abiive i!ie membership 

 fee adds considerably to the sales material which 

 a s4)|icitor may have to otTer. 



" I he t>on-member must he lul!> informed on 

 the importance of legislatiiui to the agricultural 

 industry. He must know to what length in- 

 dustry and labor go in securing favorable Icgis- 

 l.'.tion. He must be shown how a legislative 

 project will benefit him individually — for after 

 .'II, sales are usually made w hen the prospect 

 is convinced that the commodity is going to 

 ci)niribute to his own personal comfort. 



Teach Marketing 



"In preparing the prosepecl tor membership, 

 we must teach marketing. It must be taught 

 111 Its broader sense. The non-member must 

 see the relation of co-operative marketing to 

 personal income. Most farmers at the present 

 time are inclined to look at the local assembling 

 unit as their market. In other words, the liKal 

 livestock shipping association, the farmers* eleva- 

 tor or the local creamery is looked upon as the 

 ultimate end in their marketing operations. 



"Such is not the case. The market for live- 

 stock is the individual or the concern that finally 

 pr<tcesses that snurk and prepares it for the con- 

 sumer. The same is true with most other fariri 

 commodities. ,\ commission agency is not the 

 market. It is farther removed from the pro- 

 ducer than that. 



Not Co-operative Marketing 



"The stale of Iowa boasts that a large per 

 ct.nt ot Us livestock last year moved through 

 co-operatne channels, vet the fact remains 

 that less than five per cent of this livesttKk 

 was sold in the terminal markets through any 

 one marketing agency. This represents co- 

 i)perati\e assemblim: but not concentrated selling 

 if. large \ olunic b\' a single agency, which 

 pnmiises to bring to the producer his proper 

 share of bargaining power. 



"1 hirdly. in preparing the non-nieiiiber. we 

 must point out to him that our program in- 

 \)>l\es reducrioii m tiie ci>st ot productiim. Such 

 accomplishments as tax reduction, which has 

 been a big item in t>ur state. auti>m<)bile in- 

 '-urance on a mutual basis, ni>w a pr<»jccl of most 

 v:atc Farm Bureau organizations, transportation 

 acti\ iiies and practically the entire production 

 program 01 the county units which come under 

 this general head, should be brought to his at- 

 tention. There arc other matters of common 



interest and knowledge among organized groups 

 ot farmers that can be advantageously taught. 

 "These items have a money-saving angle to 

 them. Helpful economic legislation, and co- 

 operative marketing increase the farmers' income. 

 Cutting expenses reduces the outgo. Combined, 

 the result is more money for the farmer. But, 

 what is he to do with this increased money at 

 his command. Fie must spend it wisely. Fhe 

 farmer's standard of living must be placed on a 

 higher level. To do so costs numey. The farm 

 is his chief source of income. It must be made 

 profitable. Now let's see for what he should 

 spend it. Should it be for a larger and more 

 costly automobile? I should not oppose that 

 movement, but 1 have something more deep- 

 seated in mind. I am thinking particularly of 

 the modern conveniences which have become 

 necessities in most of the homes of the cities. 



Only 42 Per Cent 



"I doubt seruHisly it you could rent a resi- 

 dence property in this town not equipped with 

 electric lights, running water and a modern 

 heating plant. Yet. a survey made in our state 

 discloses that only 42 per cent of the farm 

 homes in Illinois have so much as a cistern 

 pump and a sink toward a running water system. 

 The percentage having electric lights and heating 

 systems is much l<)wer than this figure. 



"I l(H)ked further into the school system. I 

 find that in m()st cities^ of ^,000 population 3ini\ 

 up. the schiKil term ranges from 180 to 200 days 

 per year; while in many of our one-room coun- 

 try schools, the scssiim does not represent more 

 than 120 to 140 days per >'ear. I find that, as 

 a general rule, the more highly paid teachers. 

 the better trained teachers and the better equip- 

 ment are to be found in the city sch(K>ls. The 

 thing that I wonder about is whether or not 

 these boys and rfrls coming out o( these one- 

 rtK>m country schools, with all the handicaps 

 which they undergo in their training, can com- 

 pete favorably at the age of 2^ to 50 years 

 with those youngsters coming out of the better 

 schools in the cities. 



May Lead to Peasantry 



"I am just wondering if there nia\" not be 

 seme tendency on the part of these country boys 

 and girls to consider themselves inferior to the 

 better trained youngsters from the cities, and 

 exentually be satisfied to content themselves with 

 a lower standard of living than is going to be 

 demanded by their city cousin. If so. I am 

 forced to believe agriculture will go into peas- 

 antry. 



"Thirdly, in this matter of a standard of 

 Fvrng, I look to the church institutions. As I 

 see it, one of the biggest problems confronting 

 the churclies today is the economic problem. 

 Yet, the church is a part of an adequate stand- 

 ard of living. Very tcv,' individuals, whether 

 they go to church or not, will be satisfied to live 

 in a community without the influence of the 

 church. Here is another place that I would 

 recommend that some ot this increased income 

 be expended. 



More Play Needed 



"lourtiily, in this standard of living, I would 

 recommend that more time of the American 

 farmer be used for play. I note in most oi our 

 larger cities that people enjoy a Saturday half 

 holiday. In fact, in most of our county scat 

 tcwns, the weekly half-day holidav is becoming 

 prevalent. I maintain that if it is right for 

 those groups of people and their income is such 

 that they can afford it, that it should be right 

 for the American farmer." 



