1 



the 6i county service companies did not 

 just happen, that cooperative oil com- 

 panies as a class arc considered poor risks 

 by officials of Banks for (Cooperatives at 

 Omaha and Wichita. "^'ou will find 

 that our member companies who bor- 

 rowed money for peak season operations 

 are listed as first class borrowers." 



Unity is the strength of the movement 

 in Illinois. Herndon pointed out. the re- 

 sult of the powerful support of the lari;- 

 est state farm organization m America. 

 the lAA. unity in maintamint^ uniform 

 trade practices and merchandismg meth- 

 ods, credit policies, price structures, uni- 

 form accounting, monthly statements for 

 comparative analysis, adjustint; boundary 

 line problems, and maintaining r'..rm Bu- 

 reau member differentials. 



I'. Victor Underwood, president of the 

 GLI' Exchange Holding Corp. the prin- 

 cipal speaker, expressed the belief that 

 cooperative monopolices seeni unwise. 



"It is my belief," Underwood de- 

 clared, "that farmers can take cooperative 

 corporations and with them successfully 

 operate m any field of business. I also 

 believe that farmers .may have to operate 

 in many fields of business in order to set 

 a pace for efficiency." 



The GLF has handled S:sj,0()0,000 

 worth of feeds, seeds, and farm supplies 

 for farmers in New York and adjoining 

 states since its organization in 19-<i. 

 Underwood disclosed. Last year it 

 served 118.000 patrons through its M~ 

 cooperative retail outlets, and "^00 feed 

 dealers who own their own business but 

 handle GLF goods exclusively. 



The CjLI" owns large mills, elevators 

 and warehouses in the Hast. Prior to 

 1 930 it leased the plant now operated by 

 the Century Distilling Co. in Peoria. 



nie ilangers that always i.Ki: an .ic- 

 tive cooperative. Underwooil said, in- 

 clude "too rapid expansion, failure to 

 set up adecjuate reserves for unseen 

 emergencies, commitment losses, dcpre 

 ciation. and credit would urge that 

 merchandising be done on as close to a 

 cash basis as possible. The second danger, 

 he continued, is that of speculation. 

 In a large co-operative purchasing agency 

 there is constantly a desire to go unduly 

 long on commodities that are apparently 

 sure to enhance in value rapidly. The 

 best possible hedge in a j-'un.hasing oper- 

 ation is to cover your reijuirements for 

 a period of W days or one that expcr 

 ience teaches you to be correct : where 

 declines have a negligible effect ani! 

 advances give you a fair return. Set your 

 prices close to market including in your 

 price your cost of handling, overhead, 

 and a modest margin. By this method, 

 if your purchasing is one half correct you 

 will remove the gamble and fix a steady 

 income." 



Pappv C heshire and hi^ crew from 



1937 WINNERS IN 

 Front row, L. 

 Sumner, Rich-Law, 

 Menard; Georgina 

 Gladys Hawkins 

 Buss, Carioll; Mrs. 

 R.: I. W. Maxwell 

 an, Schuyler. 



L F. S. CONTEST FOR COUNTY SERVICE COMPANY BOOKKEEPERS 

 to R. : Ruth Lawrence. Knox: Marie Skarnikat. Tazewell: Harriet R. 



tied for 1st; Mrs. L. H. Toncray. Fulton, tied for Ist: Florence Kopplin. 



Binder, Warren. Second row. L. to R.: L. W. McKinzey, McDonough: 

 Edgar: Lorine Painter, Macoupin; Mary Reese. Will-DuPage: Mrs. L. 



Mary Parker, Champaign; Carl E. Beecher, McLean, Third row, L. lo 

 Peoria; Roy Virtue, lo Daviess; Ray F. lohnson. Henderson: W. S. Mor- 



K.MOX St. Louis provided some hilar- 

 ious entertainment with jokes and cow 

 boy songs both morning and afternoon 

 I'ilm strips were used in illustrating the 

 progress of the company as reported by 

 the management. 



All ilirettors were reelected including 

 ("red Herndon. .McDonough county. H. 

 A. Keele. Macoupin. I-'rank |. Flynn, 

 Morgan. Geo. ( happle, Livingston, I. 

 A. Abbott. Whiteside, Jesse L. Beery, 

 Macon. C. H. Buzzard. Fffingham. and 

 H. P. S.uier. Jackson county. Chis. Kes- 

 linger. Kane county was elected to sue 

 ceed the late Tom Penman, Kendall 

 county, wiio died while in olfKe (irant 

 Broster. I-dwards countv was nominated 

 in the caucus but Sauer. later nominated 

 from the floor won out in the balloting 

 1 he board members will select their of- 

 ficers at the next meeting 



Resolutions were ailopted .ittirming the 

 company's support of the lA.A .uu! I'ann 

 Bureau "as our spokesman in local, state, 

 and national affairs." declaring for strul 

 enforcement of credit policies with ac 

 counts receivable held to a minimum, the 

 maintenance of ample credit and the 

 proper ratio of reserves and surplus to 

 paid in capital. 



A large proportion of the record 



corn and soybean crops in Illinois will 

 be handled by more than lOO farmers' 

 cooperative grain elevators, says the 

 University of Illinois. 



Livestock and Crop Outlook 



A fairlv large increase in cattle teed 

 ing is ex|x-cted to o.iur in the comitig 

 winter, chiefly as a result of tlie larger 

 production of feed grains this vear than 

 last, savs the Bureau of .^grl( iiltural l.co- 

 nomics 



.Marketings of fed cattle in l'>ss are 

 expected to be much larger than in 193" 

 The increase in such marketings prob 

 ably will result in a greater than usual 

 seasonal decline in prices of the iK-tter 

 grades of slaughter cattle in the first 

 iialf of I>MS. 



I'he tendemv to restock in many areas 

 IV likely to reduce the niarketniL's <il 

 other kinds of cattle Prices (jf the lovcer 

 grades of slaughter cattle, tlieretore 

 prcjhablv will advance seasonallv m the 

 first half of 19^8. The average price ol 

 lower grades for the year may Ix- as liii;h 

 or higher than that in 19". 



.Mtiiough slaughter supjslies of hogs 

 in the first six months of the present 

 hog marketing vear (October l'^s~- 

 March l';s8) jTobablv will be smaller 

 than those of a year earlier, demand for 

 hog j^roclucts for storage, and consumer 

 demands lor mea;s in this period .ire 

 ex|iected to be somewhat weaker than 

 thev were in the fall and winter of 19s^)- 

 ^~. the Bureau of Agricultural Iconomus 

 reports. 



I he seasonal decline in Iiol' prices now 

 under way will proliablv continue 

 through the fall months Hogs will be 

 '('inttnueJ ->'/ pier ^O) 



NOVEMBER, 1937 



27 



