Pure MUk Associahon 

 13th JUinual Mee|ing 



\^^^^ HIRTEEN years ago, a handful 



- v^ 



of right-thinking, determined 

 «/ milk producers in the Chicago 

 fluid milk zone launched a new kind of 

 cooperative milk producers association. 

 They still had confidence in the princi- 

 ple of collective bargaining despite the 

 fact that earlier efforts at cooperative 

 milk marketing for one reason or an- 

 other, had ended in one failure after 

 another. 



This new movement received its lead- 

 ership from the Farm Bureau movement. 

 It grew out of the bitter disputes among 

 dairymen in the Chicago area during the 

 middle '20s over the bovine tuberculin 

 test which was supported by the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association, the County 

 Farm Bureaus, the U. S. and State De- 

 partments of Agriculture. 



Suddenly the Chicago Board of Health 

 clamped down on milk from heeds not 

 tested for tuberculosis and the Pure Milk 

 Association came to the front as an or- 

 ganization of T. B. tested herd owners. 



A Record of Service 



On March 15, this comparatively 

 young organization, the best yet devel- 

 oped for milk producers of the Chicago 

 fluid milk zone, held its thirteenth an- 

 nual meeting at the Auditorium Hotel, 

 Chicago. It could honestly point with 

 pride to a record of service in securing 

 for farmers, year in year out, price for 

 milk substantially higher than prices paid 

 not far distant in the cheese, condensery, 

 and butterfat producing areas. It has 

 established a laboratory and service to 

 check weights and tests, watch credit 

 rating of buyers, handle seasonal sur- 

 pluses, take care of the unfortunate mem- 

 ber who suddenly loses his market, and 

 cooperates with the distributors in ex- 

 panding the market for milk and cream. 



Some 2500 dairymen who attended 

 the meeting heard John P. Case, general 

 manager, report that II/2 per cent less 

 milk marketed during the year 1937 

 brought a total of $24,320,335, or ap- 

 proximately two million dollars more 

 than the '36 production. 



The price for all milk delivered by 

 members averaged $2,104 per 100 lbs. 

 for 3.5 per cent milk, which compares 

 with $1,899 for '36 and $1,788 in 1935. 

 This amounted to 56 cents over con- 

 densery price in '37, 41 cents over in '36. 

 Average deliveries of milk per day by 

 the Association were 3,077,000 pounds. 

 Of this amount 95.8 per cent was base 

 milk sold at the Class I price. In '35, 



APRIL 1938 , ; > 



82 per cent was sold as base milk, and in 

 '36, 94 per cent. 



Mr. Case reported that the Association 

 had an investment in surplus plants of 

 $223,184.08 on December 31, 1937. The 

 volume of milk handled through these 

 clants last year was 51,269,143 pounds. 

 The cheese plant at Elgin handled a 

 total of 11,215,607 pounds of milk. 

 Cheese sales from the Elgin plant dur- 

 ing February this year were 40 per cent 

 greater than the year previous. The Elgin 

 plant is the only one equipped to manu- 

 facture milk into other products. The 

 principal operations at the other surplus 

 plants are cooling and separating. 



At the business session of^he board 

 of delegates in the afternoon, the 

 proposition to increase the chedc-off Ic 

 per cwt., to equip the surplus plants for 

 manufacturing other dairy products, 

 failed to carry. Members apparently 

 want more time to consider this proposi- 

 tion. 



The Market Adjustment Fund, which 

 is used to take care of producer mem- 

 bers temporarily left without a market, 

 handled a total of 124,714,110 pounds 

 of milk last year, a daily average of more 

 than 341,000 pounds at an average cost 

 of 37 cents a hundred. Much of this 

 milk was separated and sold as cream. 

 Claims against the Fund through failure 

 of dealers to pay producers totaled $17,- 

 174.66, which amount was paid to 156 

 producers. These claims would have been 

 a loss to farmers were it noVfpr the pro- 

 tection of the Adjustment Fund. 



•^ . Simple Plan Needed ^C\ 



Manager Case pointed out that with 

 a greater spread between condensery and 

 Class I price, more money was required 

 to handle milk under the milk Adjust- 

 ment Fund during 1937 than during pre- 

 vious years. The Adjustment Fund is 

 maintained by a special 5 cents per 100 

 lbs. check-off contributed by each mem- 

 ber. 



Due to the decline in fluid milk sales 

 last year it was necessary to reduce the 

 base of each member. "None of us like 

 this reduction," said Case, "however it 

 was necessary to meet a condition which 

 we hope is just temj>orary, but which 

 has not gotten any better as yet. Sales 

 are still dropping off and manufactured 

 prices are becoming more demoralized." 



He called attention to the need of 

 simplifying the basic plan of the Asso- 

 ciation, and to reshaping bases so that 

 they will represent the production of 



producers at the time of year when milk 

 is most in demand. 



President G. H. Ekhoff of Grant Park, 

 Illinois, in opening the afternoon ses- 

 sion referred to the Agricultural Adjust- 

 ment Act of 1938 as a "production con- 

 trol measure" similar in its purpose to 

 the base plan of the Pure Milk Associa- 

 tion. > 



"If properly nunaged this program 

 win give «s a larger return on our farm 

 «)ducts and a bigger share of the coa- 

 sumer's dollar," he said. "As a result of 

 this Act ten million farmers will benefit 

 from more stable prices for their farm 

 commodities and at the same time will 

 protect the consuming public by an ever- 

 normal granaW and preser\'e our soil 

 fertility for future use." 



Financial Report 



Treasurer E. E. Houghtby in present- 

 ing the financial statement reported total 

 assets of the Association as of December 

 31, 1937, at $386,547.88, and total lia- 

 bilities of $100,050.54, leaving a net 

 worth of $286,497.34. 



The income of the Association last 

 year was $362,461.95. Operating ex- 

 pense amounted to $346,860.65, which 

 includes an item of $106,429.73 for 

 advertising. Most of this was spent 

 through the Milk Foundation. After a 

 provision of $4,000 for bad debts, the 

 excess income over expense was $12,- 

 407.19. The Milk Adjustment Fund had 

 a net worth of $239,643.84 at the close 

 of last year. 



After considerable debate about a 

 resolution to prevent the manager of the 

 Association serving also as a director it 

 was decided to defer action until the next 

 annual meeting. 



Directors re-elected include E. E. 

 Houghtby, Shabbona; John P. Case, 

 Naperville; L. M. Mullooly, Clinton, 

 Wis.; E. E. Powell, Kenosha, Wis.; and 

 Walter E. Winn, Richmond. These men 

 and the following constitute the direc- 

 tors: G. H. Ekhoff, Grant Park, presi- 

 dent; Chas. W. Schnuling, Delavan, 

 Wis., 1st vice-president; G. L. Morgan, 

 Westville, Ind., 2nd vice-president; Olc 

 Stalheim, Harvard, Illinois; W. J. Saw- 

 yer, Gurnee; O. H. Wennlund, Maple 

 Park; H. C. Klett, Elwood, Illinois; 

 Harry H. Meyer, Crown Point, Ind.; 

 A. P. Brucker, Monterey, Ind. ; and L. 

 A. Markham, Janesville, Wis. 



The modern women of today were 

 complimented for their woric in the pro- 

 mulgation and carrying out of the ideas 

 of health in modem dairying methods 

 by Dr. Herman N. Bundesen, president 

 of the Chicago Board of Health, in his 

 address before the women's luncheon. A 

 large number of guests representing the 

 Home departments of daily newspapers, 

 farm papers, and others were introduced 



(Continued on page 28) ■ 



