COOPERATIVES, 1920-32 311 



tween this and other strikes was that the consumers favored price in- 

 creases for the producers. 50 



Among the first of the large-scale fluid-milk-marketing associations, 

 and a typical one, was the Twin City Milk Producers' Association which 

 operated in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area. Before the association came 

 into being in 1916, there were local groups in the adjoining counties. For 

 instance, in Washington County, Minnesota, there was the Woodbury 

 Milk Producers' Association, with 175 members, that had been marketing 

 the milk of its patrons for the past three years; and there were similar 

 organizations doing business in Hennepin, Dakota, and Rice counties. 

 These associations had made efforts to better the market, but without suc- 

 cess. Eventually this brought about a reaction. Farmers in Hennepin 

 County began complaining about this treatment to the county agent, 

 K. A. Kirkpatrick, who finally decided to call together the producers 

 and distributors to settle their differences. As usual, the attitude of the 

 dealers was one of indifference. 



This prompted Kirkpatrick to get in touch with agents and leaders in 

 nearby communities and to begin organizing them in preparation for 

 a central organization. On September i, 1916, after much discussion, the 

 Twin City Milk Producers' Association was formed "to protect the rights 

 of the dairymen in the twin cities area." It was recommended that "pro- 

 ducers get for their milk at least 50% of the highest prevailing prices in 

 the Twin Cities, F.O.B. their farms or shipping points," the price to be 

 based on milk meeting the legal standards set by the state. A sliding scale, 

 based on the butterfat content of the milk, was recommended. 51 



Originally, the Twin City Milk Producers' Association was organized 

 as a bargaining association; it was incorporated early in 1917 and began 

 to handle the milk of its members that spring, but the next year the entire 

 bargaining plan was given up. 



In 1930 the association drew its milk from within a radius of forty 

 miles. Of the ninety-six creameries and cheese factories within this area, 

 fifteen were owned and operated by the association. One would have the 

 impression that the association was in a position to exercise monopoly con- 

 trol, but the total milk production in this forty-mile radius was about five 



50. Ibid., pp. 11-13. 



51. Twin City Milk Producers' Association, Annual Report, 1920, pp. 12-14. 



