3 02 AGRICULTURAL DISCONTENT 



country at the time about 4,000 local grain-marketing associations, eleven 

 state farmers' grain dealers associations, eight wheat pools, and twelve ter- 

 minal marketing agencies. In response to the invitation, some fifty-two 

 delegates representing thirty-five associations, including the American 

 Farm Bureau Federation, the Farmers' Union, the national Grange, and 

 the Farmers' Equity Union, an offshoot from the American Society of 

 Equity, met in Chicago on July 26 and 27. The result was the organiza- 

 tion of the Farmers' National Grain Corporation, the first of the national 

 marketing associations to be established under the Agricultural Market- 

 ing Act of 1929. The Farmers' National was organized in a manner that 

 allowed marketing associations, wheat pools, terminal agencies, and co- 

 operative elevators to join. Only associations that could qualify under the 

 terms of the Capper- Volstead Act were eligible for membership. It could 

 buy and sell grain and own and operate both terminal and local associa- 

 tions. 37 



Even though a discussion of the Farmers' National and the grain-stabili- 

 zation operations logically falls under the chapter on the Federal Farm 

 Board, the importance of the organization to the cooperative movement 

 cannot be overemphasized. The Farmers' National intended to make the 

 local cooperatives more efficient, to bring producers the benefits of cen- 

 tralized control, and also to give to them the returns from terminal-ele- 

 vator operations. It was felt that the Farmers' National would attract a 

 sufficiently large volume of grain, encourage loyalty on the part of mem- 

 bers, and furnish leadership, able management, and adequate capital. 38 



It was plain from the start that the ambitions of the Farmers' National 

 would exceed those of both the United States Grain Growers and the 

 Grain Marketing Company. In 1929-30 it provided aid to cooperatives to 

 help them make greater advances to member associations for their grain 

 than would otherwise have been possible. Cooperatives thus were enabled 

 to make advances to members totaling about 90 per cent of the value of 

 the wheat, based on current prices. But this was felt to be inadequate. 

 Therefore in October, 1929, loans were extended up to the full value based 

 on market prices. When wheat prices collapsed in February, the Grain 



37. Federal Farm Board, Cooperative Marketing Ma\es Steady Growth, Bulletin 

 8 (Washington, 1932), pp. 8-9; Deane W. Malott and Boyce F. Martin, The Agri- 

 cultural Industries (New York, 1939), p. 262. 



38. F.F.B., Cooperative Marketing Ma\es Steady Growth, p. 9. 



