A Farmer 



On Co-operation 



By RALPH ALLEN. 

 Tazewell County, Illinois 



Ralph Allen 



C^V /I —HEN farmers become dissat- 

 \.y\/isfied with the net income re- 

 Q y ceived for their labors, they 

 begin to study the things that contribute 

 to or influence it. The factor easiest to 

 understand and most important is the 

 price. 



To influence this price, it is necessary 

 to undertake a service which has been 

 usually left to oth- 

 ers. This service is 

 to market and sell 

 farm products to the 

 consumer and bring 

 back the medium of 

 exchange or con- 

 sumer's dollar. 



It is impossible to 

 do this job as indi- 

 viduals. So a co- 

 operative organiza- 

 tion is set up to per- 

 form this service for the mutual benefit 

 of producers. When this co-operative 

 functions properly, it becomes, like a 

 tractor or other machine, an implement 

 to enhance farm income. 



The co-operative is designed to enable 

 farmers to get a maximum share of the 

 consumer's dollar in a legitimate and 

 ethical manner. The farmer should be 

 interested in and support national policies 

 tending toward fc)etter distribution of 

 wealth so that more consumers will al- 

 ways have a dollar to share with him. 

 That is good business. 



The co-operative is somewhat different 

 than implements of production because 

 it is owned jointly by many farmers. 

 This ownership is not as tangible as a 

 tractor; its identity is lost among other 

 ownerships. The farmer has a tendency 

 to become unconscious of the possession 

 and purpose of this implement in his 

 business and often fails to use it to best 

 advantage. 



As with a tractor, he should have a 

 thorough understanding of its purpose, 

 mechanism, construction, operation, lim- 

 itations and relationship with other 



equipment in his business. Like a trac- 

 tor, the co-operative must not be turned 

 over to hired help entirely and then for- 

 gotten. There should be a perfect under- 

 standing with employees as to just what 

 the objective of the organization is. 



The farmer knows that it requires fuel 

 to move the tractor and make it work. 

 He should realize the same thing about 

 his co-operative. Volume of products 

 handled is fuel for the co-op. The 

 farmer must see to it that enough fuel 

 is provided to attain productive results. 



As with a tractor, the farmer should 

 keep his co-operative implement in his 

 own field and not go cavorting around in 

 his neighbor's field. There might be a 

 collision resulting in injury. So if the 

 field is too small for the tractor, throw 

 enough fields together until one is large 

 enough for a tractor to operate efficiently 

 and profitably. 



As with his tractor the farmer should 

 look upon his co-operative as an in- 

 strument of service, not an ornament.- 

 If it becomes obsolete, he should not 

 allow it to sit around in a fence corner 

 like a pile of junk. In that condition 

 it has a depressing psychological effect 

 and may stand in the way of getting a 

 better one. 



A co-operative might be compared to 

 another farm implement, the truck. The 

 truck is an improvement over the team 

 and wagon. It has enabled the farmer 

 to shorten his distance to market and to 

 decrease the cost of necessary service. 



Like a tractor, the co-operative must 

 have proper lubrication to prevent fric- 

 tion. Absence of his lubricant can be 

 very destructive. It can be the cause of 

 the implement's failing in its purpose. 

 This lubricant is also quite intangible. 

 It might be described as attitude and con- 

 duct toward each other. The lubrica- 

 tion chart is instruction for applying this 

 attitude and conduct toward one another. 



As with the tractor, the co-operative 

 implement should have an annual or 

 semi-annual check-up, an audit. Over- 



A lot of coddling and bouncing on the knee seems to be neces- 

 sary to keep us from kicking and squalling. . . It is difficult 

 for many of us to get past the triangle pants stage. 



28 , .. ..■;■■■■■ 



hauling, rebuilding or readjustment is 

 sometimes necessary. It may be advisable 

 to trade in an old co-operative on a new, 

 up-to-date streamlined one - — this is re- 

 organization under up-to-date co-opera- 

 tive laws. 



As with a tractor, the co-operative 

 should be made to serve as a general- 

 purpose implement whenever possible. 

 The owner should keep in close touch 

 with the manufacturer so as to know how 

 to operate and maintain his implement. 

 The manufacturer of a co-operative is 

 usually a general farm organization, not- 

 ably the Farm Bureau in the State of Il- 

 linois. 



A co-operative tinkered up by amateurs 

 is not apt to be as durable and service- 

 able as one put out by a reputable firm 

 such as a general farm organization. 

 Manufacturers are always concerned that 

 their products are successful. They are 

 ready and willing to inform and train the 

 farmer to make proper use of his imple- 

 ment. The manufacturer is in close 

 touch and association with the research 

 department of the agricultural industry, 

 namely, experiment stations, U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture and extension 

 service. The farmer should attend, when- 

 ever possible, schools of instruction of- 

 fered by these service agencies and keep 

 well informed about his own business 

 machinery. 



As with a tractor, loose nuts should 

 be avoided in a co-operative. It seems 

 to be very difficult for many of us to 

 get past the triangle pants stage. 'We 

 often resist a change in economic san- 

 itation, even though it is for our own 

 good. A lot of cuddling and bounc- 

 ing on the knee seems to be necessary 

 to keep us from kicking and squalling. 

 A good bouncing off the end of the 

 toe would probably stimulate the brains 

 to percolating, and that is a job that 

 should always be left to home folks. 



Co-operatives will never reach their 

 maximum effectiveness until the road 

 is smoothed out by community organi- 

 zation. Community organization is the 

 caterpillar track for co-operatives. 



Crime is costly to agriculture. There 

 is only one really effective way to eradi- 

 cate chicken stealing, and that is to 

 quit raising chicken thieves. When 

 we get more key men, we will need 

 fewer G-men. Farm advisers or extension 

 agents are the finest types of key men. 

 There should be one in every community. 

 When you see dirt farmers popping up 

 on public platforms, it is often an echo 

 of extension men popping off in various 

 communities. Necessity always becomes 

 a mother when she gets to fooling 

 around that kind of birds. 



A red| 



loading 

 Jersey 

 suit of 

 der the 

 Packers 

 ing at 

 amount 

 year. 



From talk before American Institute of Co- 

 operation at Urbana, III. 



L A. A. RECORD 



