Th« Huaben, EIroy, GoHlieb, and Clyde, work togather and are happy. 



"After the house was built, in 1901, I began to plant trees and shrubs. 



"Our Organization Saved Us 



// 



By LAWRENCE A. POTTER 



\_^V^ HERE is a Farm Bureau member 

 j^ and master farmer in DeKalb 



\^ county whose experiences on 

 the farm during the past seven years or 

 more were typical of conditions every- 

 where in the Com Belt. Forced to se- 

 cure money with which to meet fixed 

 obligations, thousands of farmers tried 

 to meet the situation by raising increas- 

 ingly greater amounts of cash crops. 



Each year they dumped their products 

 on a glutted market, drove the prices 

 lower, and returned to their soil to do 

 the same thing again next season. Surplus 

 was added to surplus, soil was mined 

 of its fertility, many happy and prosper- 

 ous farm people lost their land, and grew 

 bitter and poverty-stricken. 



Gottlieb Hueber was forced into the 

 mad scramble, too. He threw his crop 

 rotation to the winds and raised every 

 bushel of market-glutting commodities 

 he could. Despite his recognized ability 

 as a farmer, Hueber was as hard pressed 

 as anyone to hold his 570 fertile acres. 



"We couldn't possibly have stayed in 

 business if farmers hadn't pulled together 

 for our common good," he said. "Our 

 organization saved us by getting liberal 

 Federal credit when our banks were ask- 

 ing unreasonable collateral on every little 

 loan," Hueber declared, "and the crop 

 adjustment program that helped to raise 

 prices was even more important than the 

 credit." 



Today everyone is happier on the 

 Hueber farm. Farm income is better. Yet 

 the veteran farmer says that he can't 

 affort to miss the other fruits of farmer 

 organization. He takes advantage of lower 



16 



Gottlieb Hueber, DeKalb County Master Fanner Soys, 

 "We Couldn't Have Stayed in Business If We 

 Hadn't Pulled Together." -r i 



fuel costs, better insuranctf" rates, fairer 

 market prices for livestock, farm manage- 

 ment service, and reliable information, 

 all of which he secures through his co- 

 operation with the DeKalb County Farm 

 Bureau. 



All the fuel for the three tractors which 

 work the Hueber farms comes from the 

 DeKalb County Service Company. An 

 impressive list of yearly purdiases and 

 annual patronage dividends was presented 

 as evidence that "it pays to buy from the 

 Farm Bureau companies." 



Now, when he finds changes in plans 

 advisable, Hueber first consults his farm 

 account books. He has kept records in 

 cooperation with the farm management 

 department of the University of Illinois 

 for more than 12 years. Solutions of many 

 problems come from his study of past 

 records. 



"In the last election I could have 

 picked my ticket by merely looking at my 

 records. The reason for my selection is 

 right there in black and white," he 

 pointed out. 



Although Hueber has been a Master 

 Farmer since 1928, he finds it helpful 

 to get ideas from others. He goes on 

 annual* county farm management tours 

 and attends meetings to learn how other 

 folks solve their problems. 



Cattle feeding has always been a main 

 enterprise on Hueber's farm. He fed his 

 first carload in 1896. Since then he has 

 fed cattle every year. He has no fixed 

 system or rules by which he governs his 



feeding business. Hueber buys any type of 

 animals on which he can see a profit. 

 Sometimes he gets calves ; other times he 

 takes yearlings. 



Right now there are 111 head in his 

 feed lots. Twenty- five of these are the 

 remainder of 69 calves that went on feed 

 about 14 months ago. Forty-four head 

 were sold recently and the others are al- 

 most ready for market. 



The 69 head of calves weighed 373 

 pounds each in October, 1935. They 

 went directly from the stockyards into the 

 feed lot where they were fed silage and 

 a little grain until spring. Although 

 Hueber had plenty of pasture, he kept 

 this bunch on feed all summer. They 

 were finished on corn and cob meal and 

 red clover hay plus soy bean oil meal. 



Another lot, 30 head of heavy steers 

 taken on as yearlings in January, 1936, 

 is also about ready to sell. When pasture 

 was ready late last spring, the 30 yearl- 

 ings were put on it. There were only 

 15 acres of sweet clover available but 

 that was enough to keep the cattle in 

 good condition until they were put on 

 full feed this fall. Dry weather held 

 the clover back somewhat and it became 

 necessary to remove the cattle for 10 days 

 during the hottest part of the season. 

 Had moisture conditions been normal, 

 there would have been too much forage 

 for 30 head. 



The last bunch, 56 Colorado white 

 faces, bought October 1 5th, is running in 



^ ^ - I. A. A. RECORD 



I 



