FARM BOARD TO FARM STRIKE 4 2 7 



that the dairy farmers were as hard hit as the others. Dairy production 

 was pretty well within domestic demand and the farmers were in a some- 

 what better position to benefit from the existing tariff system than were 

 the other producers. 73 The policy with respect to the dairy industry was 

 to extend aid to the local cooperatives and the regional associations. Under 

 this arrangement, five regional butter-marketing organizations were estab- 

 lished, including two in the western Middle West the Land O'Lakes 

 Creameries, Incorporated, with headquarters in Minneapolis, and the 

 Dairy and Poultry Cooperatives of Chicago. All dairy products shipped 

 cast of the Rocky Mountains or the Continental Divide by the western 

 associations were handled by Land O'Lakes, and similar products shipped 

 to the Far West were to be handled by the regional cooperatives on the 

 Pacific Coast. In fact working agreements had been entered into by all 

 these associations to help them minimize competition and give to them a 

 greater influence on the markets. The National Cheese Producers' Federa- 

 tion at Plymouth, Wisconsin, was a regional sales organization owned 

 and controlled by cooperative cheese factories in Wisconsin. This was a 

 natural location because two-thirds of the cheese manufactured in the 

 United States came from Wisconsin and adjacent territory. 74 



Shortly after the dairy program of the Board was announced, the 

 advisory committee suggested that the farmers reduce the size of their 

 herds in order to overcome the surplus in dairy products. They were 

 asked to slaughter their low-producing and unprofitable cows. This was 

 hardly taken in a welcoming manner. According to A. J. McGuire, the 

 general manager of the Land O'Lakes, the problems of the dairy pro- 

 ducers were due neither to too many cows nor to too many farmers. 

 Rather, he said, "A protective tariff against coconut oil coming from 

 the Philippines is the biggest need of the dairy men right now." McGuire 

 also added that the difficulties of dairy farming were aggravated by the 

 fact that there was one pound of oleomargarine produced in the United 

 States for every pound of butter, and charged that too many farmers 

 used substitutes which competed with their products. Farmers who sold 

 their cream and used skim milk on their tables, or who sold their butter 

 and spread their bread with oleomargarine, were doing their industry very 



73. Pioneer Press, January 14, 1930. 



74. F.F.B., Cooperative Marketing Mafes Steady Growth, pp. 48-49. 



