BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF MID-WEST DAIRYMEN'S COMPANY, ROCKFORD 

 Reading from left to right, front row: H. A. Stevens, Treasurer, J. C. Hoisington, Secretary, W. E. 

 Sawdey, President, H. W. Mainland, Vice-President; Back row: D. H. Langholf, Manager, A. E. 

 Nelson, Ed. Holmes, R. M. Greenlee, Geo. E. Pepper, Geo. Johns Jr., Joe Johnson, W. A. Newman. 



Milk Producers Join Hands 



By Wilfred Shaw 

 Director Dairy Marketing 



OME improvement in milk flow 

 with production and consump- 

 tion about balanced on most 

 Illinois markets resulted from early Aug- 

 ust rains which broke the drouth in 

 many sections of the state. A falling off 

 in demand, characteristic of the August 

 market, has eased the situation and re- 

 sulted in a small milk surplus in favored 

 sections such as Rockford. These are the 

 latest developments in Illinois dairying. 

 They do not tell the story of what Illi- 

 nois milk producers are doing to main- 

 tain fair prices for their product. 



Sixteen milk marketing cooperatives 

 representing more than 30,000 producers 

 recently joined hands through the newly 

 formed Illinois Milk Producers associa- 

 tion. The membership includes 1 1 bar- 

 gaining associations and five milk dis- 

 tributing cooperatives as follows: Mc- 

 Lean County Milk Producers Associa- 

 tion, Champaign County Milk Producers, 

 Decatur Milk Association, DeKalb Milk 

 Producers Association, Galesburg Pure 

 Milk Association, LaSalle-Peru Milk Pro- 

 ducers Association, Peoria Milk Pro- 

 ducers, Pontiac Milk Producers, Mid- 

 West Dairyman's Company, Quality Milk 

 Association, Streator Milk Producers As- 

 sociation, Danville Producers' Dairy, 

 Jacksonville Producers' Dairy, Peoria Pro- 

 ducers' Dairy, Quincy Coop. Milk Pro- 



ducers Association, and Harrisburg Pro- 

 ducers' Dairy. 



The drouth resulted in a general up- 

 turn in milk prices throughout Illinois. 

 Bloomington in McLean county where 

 milk is selling for nine cents a quart, 

 has had about the lowest milk price of 

 any similar market in the state. Efforts 

 have been made by the McLean County 

 Milk Producers to work out a new mar- 

 keting agreement with the dealers. Some 

 progress has been made. A price formula 

 has been proposed by the dealers based 

 on the butter market, namely 1.3 times 

 92 score Chicago butter, plus 25 cents 

 per cwt. In mid-August this formula 

 would have paid about 521/2 cents per 

 pound butterfat, or $1.84 a hundred for 

 milk. 



The Mid-West Dairymen's Company 

 at Rockford where July milk brought 

 $1.85 for Class I 35 per cent te^L-h 

 arranged to ship three carloads a 

 pasteurized milk to Kansas Cityi 

 full knowledge and appfl^dl^^^'Wre 

 Milk Ass'n. at Kansas Cw '^VV supplies 

 the dealers on that marl^^^Ksouri and 

 Kansas are in the heart of me drouth area 

 where there is an acute shortage of milk. 

 Rockford is a 10 cent market. Weighted 

 average price to producers for July was 

 about $1.74 per cwt, out of which must 

 come hauling charges. The Mid-West is 



*eWr 



handling about five million pounds of 

 milk a month, the largest volume of any 

 member of the state association. 



All of the five cooperative dairy dis- 

 tributing comp-inies that are members of 

 Illinois Milk Producers are now on a 

 money-making basis. They are an im- 

 portant factor on all markets in securing 

 payment of fair prices for milk where 

 they operate. In one case the cooperative 

 dairy is not paying quite as much as the 

 other dealers. But for a time it paid 

 more and is credited with bringing the 

 other dealers up. 



Peoria Producers' Dairy has grown 

 steadily until it is now one of the lead- 

 ing distributors on that market. Its 

 gross sales last month averaged more 

 than a thousand dollars a day. 



Approximately 60 producers around 

 Canton in Fulton county were recently 

 organized and joined the State Associa- 

 tion. The Canton Milk Producers is a 

 bargaining association and proposes to 

 sell the milk of its members to the deal- 

 ers operating on that market. 



I think it goes without saying that 

 farmers are not interested in distribut- 

 ing their own milk unless they are forced 

 to do so. Bargaining associations only 

 ask a price in line with the market. They 

 recognize that the distributor is entitled 

 to a fair profit for efficient operation. 

 But where farmers can't get a reasonable 

 price they are justified in taking action. 



Results accomplished by milk market- 

 ing associations over the past 14 years 

 have proved conclusively the wisdom of 

 cooperative action through milk bargain- 

 ing and distributing association. Today 

 milk producers surrounding every size- 

 able city in Illinois have a milk market- 

 ing cooperative, set up in every case 

 through the aid and assistance of the 

 lAA and County Farm Bureaus. 



Membership in the Illinois Milk Pro- 

 ducers is open to any bona fide fluid milk 

 ccxjperative in the state. Each member 

 association nominates a director on the 

 state board which meets quarterly. The 

 state association acts as a clearing house 

 for market rejwrts, as well as plans, 

 prices and price trends. Monthly reports 

 of prices,^c^dUB| of markets and 

 changes ^flwU^K trend are supplied 

 the '^fK^Mpf^ association is prepared 

 ^^ftwBflKnembers financial and per- 

 O^HMRp in meeting their problems. 

 A^rhe Illinois Milk Producers Associa- 

 tion in cooperation with the lAA legisla- 

 tive committee will carefully survey pro- 

 posed legislation affecting dairy farmers 

 that will oppose or favor bills depending 

 on their merit. 



Officers of the association arc Alex 

 McPhedran, president, LaSalle-Peru Milk 

 Producers, president; Ryland Capron, 

 president, Peoria Milk Producers, vice- 

 president; Wilfred Shaw, sec'y.-treas. 



16 



L A. A. RECORD 



