Page Fourteen 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



March, 19} I 



Red Top Exchange 



Seeks More Members 



Manager Oelze Makes Known Plans 

 for Great Service to Southern 

 ' Illinois Farmers. 



A MEMBERSHIP campaign through- 

 out the red top growing area of 

 southern Illinois will be inaugurated 

 within the near future, according to 

 Manager E. J. Oelze, who made known 

 his and the directors' plans while con- 

 ferring at the I. A. A. offices recently. 



"It is our purpose," said Mr. Oelze, 

 "to bring the service of the red top 

 seed co-operative to other growers in 

 the territory. We have an unusual op- 

 portunity before us. Within a com- 

 paratively small territory embracing 

 such counties as Cumberland, Jasper, 

 Effingham, Fayette, Bond, Marion, Clay, 

 Richland, Lawrence, Edwards, Wayne, 

 Jefferson, Clinton, Washington, Frank- 

 lin, Hamilton, White, Williamson and 

 Crawford, approximately 90 per cent 

 of the red top seed of the world is pro- 

 duced. Through the Exchange we in- 

 tend to organize the bargaining power 

 of the growers in this area and mer- 

 chandise their product in an orderly 

 manner so that they will get all that 

 the market affords. 



No False Promises 



"We are not going to promise any- 

 thing impossible of accomplishment. 

 We do not promise to fix prices, nor 

 to sell for more than the market affords. 

 We do propose to avoid market gluts 

 and prevent wide fluctuations and un- 

 necessary spreads in the price received 

 by the producer and that paid by the 

 consumer. I believe this can be done 

 successfully by concentration of vol- 

 ume through one large efficient co- 

 operative organization such as ours. 



Over 2,000 Members 



"The fact that we now have more 

 than 2,000 members and that we 

 successfully merchandised some 30,000 

 pounds of fancy red top seed last 

 season at favorable prices, indicates 

 that farmers of southern Illinois are 

 backing this project. We have the 

 support of the Federal Farm Board, the 

 Intermediate Credit Bank of St. Louis, 

 the Illinois Agricultural Association, 

 and the County Farm Bureaus through- 

 out the territory. I believe we have 

 enough intelligence in our ranks to per- 

 form a satisfactory money-saving ser- 

 vice, and we appeal to the red top 

 growers not yet affiliated with us to 

 come in and help realize on the oppor- 

 tunities made possible through organi- 

 zation." 



The Egyptian Seed Growers' Ex- 

 change is now hiving its accoonts 



audited regularly by the Illinois Agri- 

 culttiral Co-Operatives' Association of 

 Chicago. A policy has been adopted of 

 keeping the members informed at all 

 times about the condition of the or- 

 ganization, financially and otherwise,- 

 The Seed Growers' Exchange has an 

 authorized capital stock of $2 50,000, 

 $2 J par value. 



New Plant 



The co-operative recently erected a 

 modern 60x90 ft. steel and concrete 

 warehouse containing strictly up-to- 

 date offices and directors' room. The 

 old warehouse, which contains the seed 

 cleaning equipment, will be used by the 

 feed grinding and mixing department 

 of the Egyptian Service Company, for 

 which the latter will pay rent to the 

 Exchange. 



A The new services all of which will 

 be under the management of Mr. Oelze, 

 are expected to have a favorable influ- 

 ence on the future of the Seed Ex- 

 change. 



Secy. Hyde's Annual 



Report Is Delivered 



N. Y. College Advises 



* Audits for Co-Ops. 



THE charge made for auditing a 

 firm's books may seem high, but so 

 is insurance, says F. A. Harper of the 

 New York state college of agriculture 

 in warning officers of farm co-opera- 

 tives of the dangers that may come 

 from lack of an audit. Too often the 

 audit is done by an auditing committee 

 of members who are likely to be in- 

 capable of auditing, and it is little more 

 than signing the manager's report, he 

 says. 



"Auditing is necessary to local asso- 

 ciations as a protection against dishon- 

 esty or carelessness. Carelessness is the 

 most subtle and dangerous of the two 

 and probably causes far more loss to co- 

 operatives than downright dishonesty — =■ 

 but that makes the loss no less costly. 

 The audit serves to protect the mem- 

 bers against dishonest management or 

 officials and serves also to protect hon- 

 est management and officials against 

 suspicions of dishonesty. Both members 

 and officials are served. 



"A competent auditor does more 

 than make an annual statement. He 

 can advise as to improving accounting 

 methods, the financial position, the 

 credit policy, and point out weakness 

 in the operation of the co-operative." 



The Illinois Agricultural Co-Opera- 

 tives Ass'n. specializes in auditing ac- 

 counts for co-operative associations on 

 an "at cost" basis. If your local co- 

 operative doesn't have a competent 

 audit regularly find out why. The I. 

 A. C. A. lervice safeguards the inveit- 

 ment3 of farmer itockholdtrs in its 



Urges Land Utilization Policy Be 



Adopted and Production 



Adjustment. 



PRODUCTION adjustments and a 

 more rapid development of a na- 

 tional land utilization policy are two 

 remedies for the agricultural depression, 

 Secretary Hyde declared in his annual 

 report to President Hoover. Secretary 

 Hyde also urged the necessity of or- 

 ganizing agriculture into effective co- 

 operative groups for collective action, 

 of changing the present tax system to 

 lighten the farmers' tax burden, and 

 of improving rural credit conditions. 



Income Down 



Gross farm income for 1930 will 

 probably be about $9,9JO,000,000, or 

 16 per cent less than for 1929, Secre- 

 tary Hyde reported. After noting the 

 reduced world demand for farm prod- 

 ucts, he emphasized the importance of 

 production adjustments as one factor 

 in improving the relationship of the 

 agricultural industry as a whole with 

 its market opportunities. 



He advocates acreage reduction, 

 states that dumping of surpluses abroad 

 is not feasible, that the indefinite 

 storing of surpluses tends to prevent, 

 rather than to cause, a rise of prices, 

 that tariff duties are not effective on 

 commodities produced largely for ex- 

 port, and that subsidies would increase 

 rather than restrain production. 

 Cut High Cost Acres 



He declares it does not follow be- 

 cause some farmers can produce at a 

 lower cost than others, that the low 

 cost farmers should do nothing to pre- 

 vent overproduction. Wise acreage ad- 

 justments, he added, can help to de- 

 crease the unit cost as well as the vol- 

 ume of production. He suggests the 

 elimination of higher cost acres, and 

 the concentration of remaining produc- 

 tion on the more productive land. 



"Commercial racketeering" was the 

 term applied by Governor Christianson 

 of Minnesota to the practice which he 

 said was disclosed "in an unguarded 

 moment" by a representative of the 

 chain stores, of offering standard, trade- 

 marked merchandise at cost or less, and 

 recouping losses by marking up other 

 lines. 



The concentration of ownership and 

 control of business, "unprecedented in 

 the history of the world," bodes no 

 good to the country, he said. ., . ., ,._ . 



A lot of good times arc minad by 

 excMii'v* anticipatioA. 



