

ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION RECORD 



To advance the purpose jar which the Farm Bureau was organized 

 namely, to promote, protect and represent the business, economic, political 

 and educational interests of the farmers of Illinois and the nation, and 

 to develop agriculture. 



APRIL 1938 

 VOL 16 NO. 4 



Published monthly by the Illinois Agricultural Asso- 

 ciation at 1501 West Washington Road, Mendota, II. 



Editorial Offices. 608 So. Dearborn St.. Chicago. 



111. 



Entdftd as second class matter at post office. Mendota, 

 Illinois, September 11, 1936. Acceptance for mailmg 

 at special rate of postage provided in Section 412, Act of 

 Feb. 28, 1925, authorized Oct. 27. 1935. Address all 

 communications for publication to Editorial Offices, Illinois 

 Agricultural Association RECORD, 608 So. Dearborn St., 

 Chicago. The individual membership fee of the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association is five dollars a year. The fee 

 includes payment of fifty cents tor subscription to the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association RECORD. Postmaster : 

 Send notices on Form 3578 and undeliverable copies 

 returned under Form 3579 to editorial offices, 608 S. 

 Dearborn St., Chicago. 111. 



Editor and Advertising Director. E. G. Thiem ; Assistant 

 Director and Ass't. Editor. Lawrence A. Potter. 



Illinois Agricultural Association 



Greatest State Farm Organization in America 



OFFICERS 



President. Earl C. Smith Detroit 



Vice-President, Talmage DeFrees Smithboro 



Corporate Secretary, Paul E. MaTHIAs Chicago 



Field Secretary, Geo. E. Metzger Chicago 



Treasurer, R. A. Cowles Bloomington 



Ass't Treasurer, A. R. Wright Varna 



BOARD OF DIRECTORS 



(By Congressional District) 



1st to 11th E. Harris, Grayslake 



12th E. E. Houghtby, Shabbona 



13th Leu M. Knox. Morrison 



I4th Otto Steffey, Stronghurst 



15th M. Ray Ihrig, Golden 



I6th Albert Hayes, Chillicothe 



nth C. M. Smith, Eureka 



18th W. A. Dennis, Paris 



19th Eugene Curtis, Champaign 



20th _ K. T. Smith, Greenfield 



21st Dwight Hart, Sharpsburg 



22nd A. O. Eckert, Belleville 



23rd Chester McCord, Newton 



24th Charles Marshall, Belknap 



25th August G. Eggerding, Red Bud 



DEPARTMENT DIRECTORS 



Comptroller R. G. Ely 



Dairy Marketing Wilfred Shaw 



Field Service C. L. Mast, Jr. 



Finance. R. A. Cowles 



Fruit and Vegetable Marketing H. W. Day 



Legal and General Counsel Donald Kirkpatrick 



Live Stock Marketing Sam F. Russell 



OfTice C. E. Johnston 



Organization _ G. E. Metzger 



Produce Marketing F. A. Gougler 



Publicity George Thiem 



Safety C. M. Seagraves 



Soil Improvement John R. Spencer 



Taxation and Statistics J. C. Watson 



Transportation-Claims Division G. W. Baxter 



Young Peoples Activities Frank Gingrich 



ASSOCIATED ORGANIZATIONS 



Country Life Insurance Co Dave Mieher, Sales 



Manager; Howard Reeder, Home Office Mgr. 

 Farmers' Mutual Reinsurance Co.. .J. H. Kelker, Mgr. 



Illinois Agr. Auditing Ass'n C. E. Strand, Mgr. 



Illinois Agr. Mutual Ins. Co...A. E. Richardson, Mgr. 



Illinois Agr. Service Co E>onaId Kirkpatrick, Secy. 



111. Farm Bureau Serum Ass'n S. F. Russell, Secy. 



Illinois Farm Supply Co L. R. Marchant, Mgr. 



Illinois Fruit Growers" Exchange.. ..H. W. Day, Mgr. 

 Illinois Grain Corporation.. Harrison Fahrnkopf, Mgr. 



III. Livestock Marketing Ass'n Sam Russell, Mgr. 



Illinois Milk Producers' Ass'n Wilfred Shaw, Mgr. 



Illinois Producers' Creameries....F. A. Gougler, Mgr. 

 J. B. Countiss Sales Mgr. 



GEORGE THIEM, Editor 



iV^^^^HE farmers in our 

 ^*~~#^ township, I expect, 

 ^^_/ will support the new 

 soil conservation and crop adjust- 

 ment act 90 per cent or more." com- 

 mented an eastern Illinois farmer 

 recently. He said that 300 men at- 

 tended his township meeting where 

 the plan was explained. Those at- 

 tending the meeting seemed to be 

 unanimous in wanting to cooperate. 

 "We better support this program," 

 he remarked dryly. "It isn't likely 

 that Congress will keep such an act 

 in force if we're not smart enough 

 to make use of it." 



At Ithaca, N. Y. two weeks ago, 

 northeastern dirt farmers met with a 

 group of industrialists, took off the 

 gloves and bluntly demanded infor- 

 mation on how the manufacturers 

 controlled prices, reports the New 

 York Times. A meat packer repre- 

 sentative said that the consumer, not 

 the processor, controlled prices. "If 

 the consumer cannot or will not buy 

 at a price above our cost, the manu- 

 facturer has to get out and find a 

 price level that will move the stock," 

 said Warren W. Shoemaker, vice- 

 president of Armour and Co. 



James W. Hook, president of the 

 Geometric Tool Co. of New Haven, 

 Conn, told a different story. He 

 said, "while agricultural prices 

 seemed to have no bottom, industrial 

 prices did have a bottom. Industry 

 had fixed costs and further, could 

 stop its production, which the farmer 

 could not do." 



W. T. Nardin, vice-president of 

 Pet Milk Co. of St. Louis was quoted 

 as saying, "that industry could exert 

 greater control over its prices than 

 farmers, but when it reached a point 



below costs, it must take a drastic 

 measure, discharging men." 



"This point was emphasized by 

 other sp>eakers," comments the 

 Times, "who said that both industry 

 and the farmer adopted the same 

 methods in principle, but that the 

 process squeezed the farmer more, 

 because he could not contract as rap- 

 idly nor as completely." 



The AAA of 1938 is an attempt 

 to help the farmer contract more 

 effectively and orderly, exactly what 

 the manufacturer does when he 

 maintains prices above costs and re- 

 duces production. The government 

 is supporting the program because 

 it recognizes that farmers couldn't 

 do what manufacturers are doing 

 without legislation; that by keeping 

 farm prices in balance with other 

 prices, the entire country will benefit. 



Farmers of the South gave the 

 best answer to the cry of "dictator- 

 ship," and "regimentation." They 

 indicated clearly that this is the 

 farmers own program, not one im- 

 posed upon them. If the Agricul- 

 tural Adjustment Act of 1938 repre- 

 sents dictatorship and regimentation 

 farmers want more of it. Ninety- 

 two per cent of the cotton growers 

 voting in the election approved a 

 marketing quota. And the vote is 

 all the more impressive because 1,- 

 500,000 of the estimated 2,000,000 

 cotton producers took part in the 

 balloting. 



Growers of dark and flue-cured 

 tobacco showed equally good judg- 

 ment. The dark tobacco growers 

 voted more than 80 per cent for 

 rigid and universal production con- 

 trol, and 86 per cent of the flue- 

 cured tobacco growers put their 

 Okeh on the program. Farmers are 

 at least willing to give the plan a 

 trial. They realize it is not perfect 

 and may not get the results they 

 hojje for. But they reason that you 

 can't solve a serious national prob- 

 lem without making an effort. 



— E.G.T. 



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APRIL. 1938 -' 



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