Chicago Producers 13 

 Years Old 



Sell More Than $308,000,000 of Livestock Since Organization 



in 1922 



H. R. PASKE 



IT'S something of an accomplishment 

 for a farmer-owmed co-operative to 

 be in business 13 years, handle and 

 sell during that period more than 15 mil- 

 lion head of livestock for |308,744,626.71 

 and account to the producer for every 

 penny rightfully due him. 



This achievement of the Chicago Pro- 

 ducers Commission Association which 

 passed another mile- 

 stone at its annual 

 meeting March 12 is 

 one farmers can 

 well be proud of. 

 particularly Illinois 

 farmers, for they 

 furnished during 

 1934 nearly 75 per 

 cent of the total re- 

 ceipts. 



Operating on a re- 

 d u c e d commission 

 basis of better 

 than 20 per cent sjnee last April, the 

 Chicago Producers came through the 

 year with a gain of 14.64% in receipts of 

 livestock despite a reduction of 2.67% 

 in total market receipts, and with a net 

 income of $17,078.43. Not so much of a 

 margiii, to be sure, but .still on the right 

 side of the ledger after maintaining a 

 capable sales and service organization 

 and taking care of extra expenses re- 

 sulting from the disastrous fire of last 

 summer. 



One loyal Producer patron remarked 

 in commenting on the reduced commis- 

 sion fee which old line companies are 

 still fighting, "we're getting a commis- 

 sion refund now on every carload we 

 ship to the Producers.'" 



President Henry H. Parke of DeKalb 

 county delivered a carefully prepared 

 statement full of sound, logical argu- 

 ment in which he endorsed the crop ad- 

 justment program. 



"Our greatest hope for the present 

 lies in a planned economy here at home," 

 he said. "Production must stay within 

 the bounds of consumption: otherwise 

 economic chaos will prevail." 



Here again we have an example of 

 a company handling a farm product 

 which recognizes that it is more impor- 

 tant that the farmer get a fair price for 

 his product than it is for the company 

 to handle a large volume to swell its 



income. This is the difference in point 

 of view between a farmer-owned com- 

 pany and a privately-owned company. 

 Mr. Parke, a member of the national 

 committee of beef cattle producers, like- 

 wise, spoke for the so-called livestock 

 and feed grain amendment to the Agfri- 

 cultural Adjustment Act which would 

 make possible using revenue from proc- 

 essing taxes on livestock, grain, and 

 live.stock products to dispose of farm sur- 

 pluses abroad, at home for non-food 

 uses, or to finance a simple feed grain 

 acreage control prog^ram. 



Speaking of the $45,000 to $50,000 in 

 savings to Producers patrons since the 

 20 to 25% commission cut was initiated 

 last Spring, President Parke said: "Al- 

 though we are in sympathy with the pur- 

 pose of the administration in reducing 

 the commission rates, it may prove too 

 drastic unless your organization is 

 blessed with a much larger percentage 

 of receipts during the coming two year 

 period in which we shall face greatly 

 decreased marketings as a re.<^ult of the 

 devastating drouth and the AA.\ pro- 

 gram. Only through a more ambitious 

 field service program through our Farm 

 Bureau organizations can this be accom- 

 plished. 



"Your board of directors, knowing that 

 a nickel added to the market price of 

 livestock through effective salesmanship 

 is worth .seven to eight times more than 

 a ten percent refund, has directed that 

 every ounce of energy in the organiza- 

 tion be used this coming year to develop 

 volume and more effective selling. 



"While we are spending a few thou- 

 sand dollars trying to centralize selling, 

 the packers, handling 80% of the slaugh- 

 ter, are endeavoring to decentralize sell- 

 ing. Through their Association to Main- 

 tain Freedom in Marketing, radio, and 

 publicity, they are spending hundreds of 

 thousands of dollars to scatter our ef- 

 forts. At the same time we witness 

 greater centralization in buying. This 

 gradual concentration of buying power 

 must be matched by collective bargain- 

 ing through our farmer-owned and con- 

 trolled ct-operatives." 



After paying tribute to the market 

 rssearch and analysis service of the 

 National Livestock Marketing Associa- 

 tion as a helpful guide to the farmer in 



18 IS A LUCKY millBER 



hitting better markets, Pi-esident Parke 

 asserted that "investigation by the Na- 

 tional discloses an iniquitous rate struc- 

 ture existing between livestock and with 

 preferentials and maladjustments that 

 are in large measure responsible for a 

 vicious circle of price reductions wfcich 

 are costing the livestock producers thou- 

 sands of dollars annually. 



"Correction of these conditions will 

 require a much larger budget for the 

 transportation department of the Na- 

 tional Livestock Marketing Association. 

 If the Interstate Commerce Commission 

 does not make corrections it may be- 

 come a subject of congressional investi- 

 gation." 



Speaking of growing middleman op- 

 position to co-operative marketing and 

 particularly of the fight being wag«d 

 by handlers of farm products against 

 the pending A.AA amendments, he said, 

 "opposition to the amendments goes 

 deeper than appears on the surface. It 

 is a preliminary attempt to overthrow 

 the AAA program at its foundation. The 

 next step is a concerted drive at the 

 processing tax already manifested in 

 subtle propaganda for the farmer to 

 swallow. Should their efforts prove suc- 

 cessful, agriculture again would be on 

 the toboggan. Had we not better make 

 hay while we have a Secretary of Agri- 

 culture who is sympathetic to agricul- 

 ture?" 



Manager D. L. Swanson in his annual 

 report described dramatically how busi- 

 ness and order was restored following 

 the great stockyards fire last May 19 

 which destroyed the offices and nearly 

 all the books and records of the Pro- 

 ducers. "The Chicago Producers came 

 through the year handling the greatest 

 volume of livestock and the largest per- 

 centage of receipts in its history," he 

 said. 19,074 cars of livestock from 23 

 -states were sold during 1934. or 12.90% 

 of the livestock available for sale at Chi- ■'. 

 cago. Sales value of this livestock was 

 $18,439,836.13. Trucks hauled in 62% 

 of hogs sold at Chicago last year and 



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1. A. A. RECORD 



