4,000 Attend Annual 

 Pure Milk Meeting 



JOHH CAB 



ri- 



AVOTE of confidence was given the 

 board of directors, the manager and 

 employees by official delegates at- 

 tending the fifth annual meeting of Pure 

 Milk Association in the Auditorium 

 Theater, Chicago, March 12. 



The vote followed a stormy afternoon 



.session attended by more than 4,000 



members and their wives during which 



charges and counter charges growing 



out of dissatisfac- 



ation with the current 

 price of fluid milk, 

 figured in the de- 

 bate. Internal dis- 

 senion has been typ- 

 ical of milk producer 

 associations in the 

 Chicago milk shed 

 for nearly 20 years. 

 Pure Milk .Associa- 

 tion has had greater 

 support perhaps and 

 less disunity amon^ 

 Its members than any of the producer 

 organizations which preceded it. 



Two new directors were elected. \V. J. 

 Swayer, former president of the Lake 

 County (111.) Farm Bureau, replaced 

 Henry Pfister, former president. L. A. 

 .Markham was elected to represent the 

 Janesville district of Rock county, Wis- 

 consin. 



Officers Elected 



-At the first meeting of the new board, 

 John P. Case of DuPage county, Illinois, 

 former treasurer and Farm Bureau mem- 

 ber, was elected president. Charles 

 Schmaling of Wisconsin was chosen first 

 vice-president and Glenn Morgan, Porter 

 county, Indiana, Farm Burcifti leader, 

 second vice-president. Don Geyer was 

 le-elected secretary and general man- 

 ager, and E. E. Houghtby, president of 

 the DeKalb County Farm Bureau and 

 member of the I. A. A. board, was elected 

 treasurer. 



In his annual report Manager (ieyer 

 stated that the Association marketed 

 for its members more than 1,500,000,000 

 pounds of milk valued at $25,.372,744.14. 

 About 85 per cent of this was sold as 

 base milk. The gross price paid was 

 |1.«85 per cwt. The checkoff to the As- 

 sociation remained at three cents per 

 cwt. and the adjustment fund averaged 

 .0-'555 cents per cwt. 



"We were forced into cream markets 

 m an effort to secure more outlets for 

 our milk," Manager Geyer reported. "ThiJ 



field is highly competitive and any con- 

 trol is practically impossible. The two 

 or three price payment plan, plus low- 

 fluid milk sale.s, plus forced selling in 

 a low price cream market, together with 

 the large membership surplus, brought 

 at times a low price return for all milk 

 sold. Independent producers assuming 

 no responsibility for surplus could then 

 sell milk at a flat price, which seemed 

 advantageous when compared with the 

 average price return for all milk sold 

 by the Association. 



"Only 75 per cent of Association milk 

 could be sold if we abolish our basic 

 plan and sell on a flat price. We can- 

 not know what such a price would be." 

 said Geyer. 



"In spite of criticism we are beset on 

 all sides by producers who wish to join 

 the -Association. We cordially invite our 

 critics to cooperate with us in securing 

 a fair market for all producers in the 

 Chicago area by organizing independent 

 producers to help uphold the market and 

 not ruin it by price cutting." 



Base Price $2.2H 



The Association asked for termination 

 of the AAA milk license as of March 1, 

 which was granted. This is expected to 

 save producers $10,000 per month in 

 administration charges. Present base 

 price is $2.20 for 3.5 per cent milk but 

 only 53 per cent of milk delivered in 

 January went into this class. The next 

 20% went into fluid cream at $1.30 and 

 the balance netted only $1.03 whereas 

 condenseries are paying around $1.65. 



Gross income of the Association in the 

 calendar year was $471,231.81. Total ex- 

 penses were $386,370.10. leaving net in- 

 come at $84,861.71. Net worth at the 

 end of the year was $331,585.62. 



Consumers Resist 



Higher Meat Prices 



Practically all branches of the wholes 

 sale dressed meat trade have been fea- 

 tured by consumer resistance to the high 

 prices which have resulted from gen- 

 erally light supplies, the Bureau of Ag- 

 ricultural Economics at Chicago reported 

 March 12. Consumer purchasing power 

 evidently has not kept pace with the 

 upturn in prices of meats and conse- 

 quently consumers, as a rule, are look- 

 ing for the lower priced cuts of meats 

 and neglecting the better and higher 



priced cuts. This situation has resulted in 

 the lower grades and lower grade cut.s of 

 meats selling relatively high and out -of - 

 line, when compared with the l>etter 

 grades and higher-priced cuts of meats. 

 It has also resulted in considerable sub- 

 stitution, and in an effort to avoid the 

 high prices of meats consumers have 

 turned their attention tfi fish, fresh eggs, 

 canned beans, spaghetti, macaroni and 

 similar foods. 



Prices of beef have been on the up- 

 grade and the $20.00 per cwt. carcass of 

 beef has recently made its appearance 

 on the Chicago market, both year'ing 

 carcasses and heavy steers of ^rime 

 quality reaching this price. Scarcity of 

 lightweight carcasses and also lower 

 grade carcasses which are usually sea- 

 sonally light in supply have caused such 

 kinds to show much more advance in 

 price than better grade carcassesi and 

 has resulted in a narrowing of the price 

 range. .\t the present time, yearling 

 beef carcasses ranging from the common 

 to choice grades are selling within a 

 price spread of $12..50- 19.00. with fully 

 75 per cent or more of the offerings .sell- 

 ing within a four dollar spread of $14.00- 

 18.00. 



Lamb .Market N'aries 



The market for lamb has been an up 

 and down affair, prices fluctuating con- 

 siderably in sympathy with the market 

 at eastern consuming centers, and the 

 supply offered on the current market. 

 In a general way the supply of lamb ha« 

 Ijeen of nearly normal proportions, be- 

 ing about the same as during the corre- 

 sponding period of March 1934. .\t the 

 present time, the supply offered locally 

 is somewhat in excess of demand and 

 the market is weak and draggy at prices 

 around 50c-$1.00 lower than on March 

 Ist, of this year. Taken as a whole, the 

 current market is largely a $14.00-17.00 

 affair, with a few toppy carcasses of 

 light weight lamb selling at S17..50- 19.00. 



Starvation runs of live hogs have sent 

 prices of fresh pork cuts sky-rocketing, 

 and the $25.00 loin has put in its appear- 

 ance. The lighter average of loins are 

 selling at $22.,50-2.i.00: prices which 

 show an advance of around $4.00-5.00- 

 during the two weeks ending March 12. 

 The 12 to 15 lb. averages selling at 

 $21.00-22.50 show a gain of around $3.50, 

 while the 16 to 22 lb. offerings at $18.50- 

 20.00 show a jump of about $2.00. Bos- 

 ton butts have made even more sensa- 

 tional gains than loins, with 4 to 8 lb. 

 averages of butts selling at $22.00-23.00 

 on the current market, showing a gain of 

 $6.50-7.00 compared with March 1st, 

 1935. Other fresh pork cuts have ad- 

 vanced around $1.50-2.00 for the most 

 part. The extremely light supply is prac- 

 tically the sole cause of the advance a« 

 the demand has been light and rather 

 draggy. 



APRIL, 1»!J5 



