MISS EVELYN CONNELLY 

 Peoria Milk Producers' oUice secretary. 

 Members like her loyalty, praise her ef- 

 ficiency. 



In the skirmishes before iyJ6. dealers 

 occasionally bested producers. A predic- 

 tion made in 1923 by Dean Larsen, 

 South Dakota Agricultural College and 

 former director of milk marketing with 

 the lAA. came true. Prof. Larsen had 

 ailvised: 



"Cooperative milk marketing m the 

 Chicago and St. Louis territories is go- 

 ing to be difficult as long as the large 

 dealers in these cities choose to fight 

 farmers' organizations. We cannot get 

 away from the fact that they arc skill 

 ful, that they have the money and that 

 they have the best of talent for help. 

 But the farmers in Illinois and in this 

 country must make up their minds to 

 discipline themselves according to con 

 ditions actually existing." 



After 1926. producers in market 

 dftcr market united and fought. H.uh 

 group faced its own problems "accord- 

 ing to conditions actually existing 

 just as Dean Larsen had said they 

 should. 



What happened on the Peoria mar- 

 ket was typical of organization work 

 on other markets. Organization work 

 started in 1925 under the guidance of 

 the Peoria, Tazewell and Woodford 

 County Farm Bureaus. Farm Advisers 

 Wilfred Shaw. Ralph Arnett and H. 

 A. deWerfT were prime movers in 

 the work. A. D. Lynch. lAA milk 

 marketing director, was an organization 

 adviser and worked hand in hand with 

 producers. 



Producers' committees studied milk 

 bargaining cooperatives on the Pitts- 

 burgh. Philadelphia, Detroit and Balti- 

 more markets. Many of the good points 

 of these Eastern co-ops were incorpor- 

 ated in the Peoria Milk Producers' 

 Association. 



XX'hen the cooperative was organized 

 and a majority of producers had signed 



contracts to sell their milk through 

 the Association, leaders found it neces 

 sary to take dealers and processors to 

 visit the same Eastern markets to learn 

 how dealers fared in those cooperative 

 plans. 



It was not until October 1. 1926. 

 that dealers startcil to buy milk through 

 the Producers on a flat rate contract 

 In September of that year, milk sold 

 lor S2 20 per hundred weight. Octobei 

 milk brought $2.26 which was the first 

 gain made by the Protlucers. 



In one respect the situation on the 

 Peoria market had been unicjue The 

 largest buyer of milk was a processor 

 who believed that milk bought for 

 manufacturing purposes should be pur- 

 chased cheaper than milk that was to 

 be retailed as fluid milk This prin 

 cipal buyer had been a factor in hold 

 ing the fluid milk price down in tiic 

 are.i 



VChen the Producers agency had been 

 operating a year it was found advisable 

 to change from a flat rate to a base 

 .ind surplus plan to help control vol 

 ume, to keep surpluses at a minimum 

 Both Producers and dealers were rea 

 sonably satisfied with the plan during 

 the next six years. 



Near the end of 1927. however, pro 

 ducers and the dairies wanted to clear 

 up the controversial matter of weights 

 ,md tests. Both groups dem.inded a 

 voice in measuring the product After 

 some arbitration a testing commission 

 was est.iblished with an eciu.il number 

 of directors from both producers and 

 dealers. Expense of operating the com 

 mission including the salarv of the 

 tester hired by the directors w.is sh.irec! 

 ecjually by the two groups 



In 19.32. the Producers decided to 

 take some of the surplus milk off tin 

 m.irket They bought a small separat 

 ing plant, sold cream, casein and turned 



SMPA CHECK-TESTER 

 About S80.000 was collected last year by 

 Sanitary Milk Producers Assn. on adjust- 

 ments for wrong weights and tests. Check- 

 lesting is one of the outstanding services 

 that milk marketing co-ops can perform 

 (or their members. 



excess skim milk b.uk to cooj^er.uors 

 to feed. 



Affairs ran smoothly until 1933 

 From 1927 until 1933 a large dairy 

 (omp.iny h.id consolidated several small 

 dairies in Peoria. At the same time, it 

 was alleged, the company had financed 

 numerous dairymen in the milk shed and 

 had gi\en them special price contr.uts. 



The Producers believed that the milk 

 taken in .it special prices was reducing 

 the amount of base the big dairy was 

 buying from them They asked the 

 company to adjust their special con 

 tr.iets in line with prices other dealers 

 were paying. The situation grew tense 

 hut neither side woulel concede a point. 



On September 1. 1933. the Peoria 

 .\Iilk Producers Association cancelled 



'' '■■!':>i.ntt 'It: p-ige .''-)■ 



$2,000,000 WORTH OF MILK A MONTH! 

 The sales committee of Pure Milk Association which sold more than S26.000.000.DO 

 of milk at wholesale in 1937 takes time to study market conditions. Left to right are 

 Otto Wennlund, Howard Klelt. Charles M. Cosgrove. secy., Leo Mullooley. John P. Case, 

 general manager. E. E. Powell and Ole Stalheim. 



MARCH. 1938 



13 



