3 Z 4 AGRICULTURAL DISCONTENT 



and marketing of cooperative-creamery butter through a more central 

 association of these local units. In 1921 matters were helped along by the 

 organization of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, which was 

 staffed with men who were sympathetic with the problems of the local 

 cooperatives. First the idea was to establish a state-wide organization, but 

 the shortcomings of an organization based on such political boundaries 

 were obvious. No state-wide association was in existence, and there was no 

 body of experience from which to draw. The marketing plan proposed 

 was accepted by representatives from over 330 cooperatives who came to- 

 gether in June, 1921. The name Land O'Lakes was adopted for all butter 

 scoring 93 or better, and in 1926 the name of the marketing association 

 was changed from Minnesota Cooperative Creameries Association to 

 Land O'Lakes Creameries, Incorporated. 56 



The central agency usually received products from local associations 

 on a consignment basis and then repacked them under the trade name 

 and sold them. Savings were also made possible for members through the 

 cooperative purchasing of creamery supplies, by emphasizing quality of 

 product, and by shipping goods in large quantities. Field men helped 

 encourage. more efficient creamery operation. In 1934 the association sold 

 about eighty million pounds of butter, a large part of which went to 

 eastern markets, and in addition Land O'Lakes now handled cheese, 

 cream, casein, milk powder, and poultry products. 57 



Another type of cooperative dairy organization was the producers' 

 centralizer association, usually operating within a radius of 200 miles or 

 more from the manufacturing plant. This type of association was usually 

 found in regions where dairying was a side line and cream shipments 

 were small. Such agencies were established by the Farmers' Equity Union 

 in Orleans, Nebraska; Aberdeen, South Dakota; and elsewhere. These 

 associations marketed their butter through the Chicago Equity Union 

 Exchange, which began business operations in I928. 58 



56. Land O'Lakes Creameries, Incorporated, Its Organization, Nature and History 

 (Minneapolis, 1934), pp. 19-27; A. W. McKay and C. H. Lane, Practical Cooperative 

 Marketing (New York, 1928), pp. 151-63; see also Deane W. Malott, Problems in 

 Agricultural Marketing (New York, 1938), pp. 227-33, for a discussion of the sales 

 policy of Land O'Lakes. 



57. Fetrow, Cooperative Marketing of Agricultural Products, p. 26. 



58. McKay and Lane, Practical Cooperative Marketing, pp. 168-69; Filley, Co- 

 operation in Agriculture, pp. 298-99. 



