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Counties Show Increases in Membership 



15th District Meets 



ADAMS county livestock growers shipped 6*2 

 ■■ carloads through their county association 

 from January 1 to October 1, 1929 as corp- 

 pared to 619 cars for the same period last yedr, 

 Manager Mast of the Association reported at tfie 

 I. A. A. conference in 

 the 15 th district held 

 recently at Quincy. 

 When it was suggested 

 that Adams county 

 farmers are more loyal 

 to their association 

 than in some other 

 places, D. H. Meyers, 

 president of the Adams 

 County Farm Bureau 

 said they were not do- 

 ing it for the sake of 

 loyalty alone but be- 

 cause their net returns ■*• f*' Skinner 

 were greater. Farm Adviser S. F. Russell «x- 

 plained how the educational livestock meetings 

 held over the county had assisted in keeping 

 the growers informed and so, loyal to their 

 organization. 



Busy in Fulton 



It was reported that farm organizers fr^nn 

 another state were attempting to form co- 

 operative creameries in Fulton county. The pto- 

 posed contracts of the organization call for the 

 delivery of all cream for 10 years. Leading 

 farnters see in this effort needless waste in the 

 duplication of facilities for processing cream. 

 The small creamery in a community whiere 

 milking cows is only a sideline is not justified, 

 they said. Small creameries in such communities 

 are giving way to centralized plants where the 

 cost of making butter is much less. 



Sentiment was expressed in favor of legis- 

 lation to compel producers of agricultural lime- 

 stone and rock phosphate to submit a guaran- 

 teed analysis before offering this material for 

 sale. Reports are coming in from Knox and 

 other western Illinois counties that certain com- 

 panies are offering low-grade limestone and 

 phosphate cheaper than it can be purchased ifor 

 through the I. A. A. 



Adviser Kemp reported that the Knox County 

 Supply Company handled $180,000 of business 

 with a net profit of $11,000 up to Octobe* 1, 

 1929. 



Should Work Together 



A. N. Skinner who presided, discussed the pew 

 Agricultural Marketing Act tracing the history 

 of the struggle for farm relief up to the present 

 I time. It was the consensus of opinion anwng 

 ■the delegates that farmers must be better or- 

 ganized and that antagonism and competition 

 between farm organizations should be eliminaited. 

 John Moore referred to Dr. C. L. Stewlrt's 

 talk at Jacksonville in which the professor ex- 

 pressed the opinion that it would be quite a 

 while before the Farm Board would force fairm- 

 ers to co-operate. D. H. Meyers urged farmers 

 to support the Marketing Act and to mak« an 

 effort to give this form of farm relief a 

 trial. 



"The Producers was organized for 

 the benefit of the farmer." Robert 

 Bohnenstiehl, Troy. 



Cietting Members Is 



Year Round Job Here 



I3UILDING up membership is a full-time, 

 -*--' year 'round project in Champaign County 

 according to county adviser Burns. Forgetting 

 all about membership until the three-year period 

 is up and then campaigning for another signup 

 after which the process is repeated, is foreign to 

 the plan followed for several years in this 

 county. 



Project leaders charged with responsibility 

 for bringing in new members are appointed in 

 every township or community. Non-members 

 are prepared for membership before being asked 

 to join. The member assigned to this task cul- 

 tivates the prospect during his spare time when 

 he is in town evenings or Saturday afternoons. 

 Only men who show likelihood of being a 

 credit to the Farm Bureau are asked to join. 

 ;Som^ are considered unfit for membership and 

 ■may do the organization more harm than good. 

 That this plan has produced wonderful re- 

 sults is seen in the increase of more than 400 

 members secured in Champaign county during 

 the past three years. If membership work were 

 {given as much attention as other full time 

 [projects there would be a tremendous increase 

 in the number of Farm Bureau members over 

 the state in Burns' opinion. 



Com Pageant a Success 



C^ARM advisers, leaders and representatives 

 •*- from a number of northern Illinois coun- 

 ties and from the I. A. A. office attended the 

 corn pageant at the Sycamore community build- 

 ing in DeKalb county on November 21-22. 



The pageant depicted the early history and 

 development of the corn plant by the Indians, 

 including the old Indian legend as to the origin 

 of corn. 



More than 150 people, most of them from 

 Farm Bureau community units in DeKalb and 

 adjoining counties were in the cast. An 80- 

 piece symphony band selected from 18 towns 

 and cities around Sycamore and DeKalb, pro- 

 vided the music. 



Pioneer life with costumes historically accur- 

 ate provided plenty of action and color to make 

 the pageant of particular attraction to farmers. 

 The old-fashioned corn shucking bee and barn 

 dance proved most entertaining. 



George A. Fox, former secretary of the I. A. 

 A., was one of the moving spirits behind the 

 project. The peageant was dramatized by the 

 Playground and Recreation Association of 

 America from C. V. Gregory's history of agri- 

 culture. 



. Membership Gains 



Recent drives held in more than a score 

 of Illinois counties resulted in substantial gains 

 in Farm Bureau membership. A preliminary 

 report received by the organization department 

 revealed increases as follows: Iroquois 75, Cham- 

 paign 82, Vermilion 62, Micon 52, Sangamon 

 100, McLean 50, Logan 46, Ogle 57, Winnebago 

 68, Boone 17, Coles 22, Douglas 46, DuPage 

 24, Macoupin 38, Henry 34, Montgomery 26, 

 Peoria 25, St. Clair 51, and Scott 65 new mem- 

 bers. Other counties which held special mem- 

 bership drives are yet to be heard from. 



Many Counties Go Over 

 The Top In 1929 Drives 



Experience of Other States Cite ink 

 Membership Word 



T^HE year's survey of organization activities 

 -*- since January 1 reveals that 37 counties 

 started their regular triennial campaigns for 

 membership during the year. A number of other 

 counties finished drives that had been started . 

 in 1928. In addition there were a great many 

 counties that held supplementary campaigns, 

 most of which came in September when a na- 

 tion-wide effort was made to bring in new 

 members. , 



All Over the Top ' 



The counties that went over the top or sur- 

 passed their membership totals of three years ago 

 follow: (The increase in membership is repre- 

 sented by the figure to the right) Boone 112; 

 Champaign 499; Clark 10; Crawford 155; De- 

 Witt 3; Douglas 46; DuPage 66; Edgar 94; 

 Grundy 31; Henderson 98; Jcrse, 24; Kane 93; 

 Lake 27; Woodford 76; LaSalle 136; Lawrence 

 96; McLean 207; Macon 95; Mercer 144; Mor- 

 gan 88; Peoria 172; Pope 48; Saline 62; Sanga- 

 mon 177; St. Clair 125; Stephenson 122; Ver- 

 milion 315; McDonough 104; Williamson 140; 

 Moultrie even; Clinton 58; Hancock 66; Wa- 

 bash even; Effingham 12; Kankakee 39; Cook 

 66; and Scott 4. 



Within SO in 12 ' 



Twelve other countries came within 50 mem- 

 bers of equaling the signup of three years ago. 

 A number of these counties, however, are still 

 working on membership. The 12 are as fol- 

 lows: Carroll, DeKalb, Edwards, Jackson, Ken- 

 dall, Knox, Logan, McHenry, Marion, Rock 

 Island, Warren, and Will. 



In certain other states where commercial ac- 

 tivities of the Farm Bureau have been dominant, 

 everything else except membership has been em- 

 phasized. The result has been a gradual dwin- 

 dling in total membership simply because the 

 financial incentive was not there to go out and 

 sign new members. They secured considerable 

 income from buying and selling. ^ 



Lack Vision ' 



In such states there has been a lack of vision 

 of the great importance of a large membership 

 if farmers are to be properly represented where 

 numbers have influence. In matters of legislation, 

 taxation, transportation, the influence of the or- 

 ganization to some extent is directly proportional 

 to the size of the membership. A small organ- 

 ization which controls few votes has little 

 influence in legislative halls when the interests 

 of the group it represents are at stake, unless 

 it is a political campaign contributor. 



Where the Farm Bureau membership is al- 

 lowed to slip to a point where only enough are 

 signed to insure the perpetuation of the local or- 

 ganization, it is plain that not enough emphasis 

 is given to these far-reaching opportunities of 

 organization. 1 ^ 



"It takes co-operative selling 6n the 

 large central markets to complete our 

 marketing system. The bigger the Pro- 

 ducers Livestock Commission Associa- 

 tion grows the better it will be for the 

 shipper." Benj. F. Oetken, Fosterburg. 



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