Pane Sixteen 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



March, 19S1 



42 Commission Companies 

 Suspended at E. St. Louis 



• Forty-two commission companies, 

 located at St. Louis National Stock 

 Yards, 111., were "suspended from reg- 

 istration" February 25 by order of C. 

 F. Marvin, acting Secretary of Agri- 

 culture, as a result of evidence show- 

 ing violation of the packers and stock- 

 yards act which the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture administers. 



A hearing resulted in testimony that 

 the commission companies, in question, 

 refused to sell or buy live stock or have 

 any business relations with two other 

 market organizations. The suspension 

 becomes effective March 16 aad con- 

 tinues for a period of 90 days, except 

 that the Secretary of Agriculture may 

 modify or set aside the provisions of 

 the order if the suspended firms cease 

 ihe discriminatory practices. : ;• 



The decision of the acting secretary, 

 based on voluminous testimony, stated 

 in part, "The evidence in this case 

 clearly discloses a general widespread 

 attempt to deny the advantages of an 

 open competitive market to an agent 

 for the farmer or shipper and to an 

 order buying company as agent for 

 various merr^bers of the packing indus- 

 try. This is a grave injustice to their 

 principals. . . . The record discloses 

 nothing to excuse the conduct and ac- 

 tions of the respondents toward the 

 National Order Buying Company and 

 the Producers Live Stock Commission 

 Association, legally registered and with 

 the legal right to operate at the stock 

 yards. The establishment of an open 

 competitive market is one of the prime 

 essentials which the packers and stock 

 yards act of 1921 was designed to ac- 

 complish and perpetuate." 



In the course of the heai"Ing, during 

 which more than 2,800 pages of testi- 

 mony were taken, the evidence dealt 

 with the various ramifications of live 

 stock marketing including the provi- 

 sions of the agricultural marketing act 

 which is administered by the Federal 

 Farm Board. Referring to objections on 

 the part of the old-line commission 

 firms to Farm Board policies, the deci- 

 sion stated, "However much objection 

 the respondents or any of them may 

 have to the agricultural marketing act 

 or the policies of the Federal Farm 

 Board, the same cannot constitute any 

 excuse or justification to a boycott or 

 unjust discrimination or unfair practice 

 under the packers and stock yards act." 



Soybean Ass'n. Officers 



The following officers were recently 

 elected by the new board of directors 

 of the Soybean Marketing Association: 

 John W. Armstrong, president; Dwight 

 Hart, vice-president; W. G. McCor- 

 mick, secretary; R. A. Cowles, treas- 

 urer; J. H. Lloyd, assistant secretary. 



The Board named the foUowine 

 members as its Executive Committee: 

 John W. Armstrong, Dwight Hart, 

 W. G. McCormick, Samuel Sorrells, 

 W. J. Sandusky. ; V . - 



Chicago Producers 



Do Big Business 



During 1930 the Chicago Producers 

 handled about $30,000,000 worth of 

 live stock, 60 per cent of which came 

 from Illinois farmers. 



The National Live Stock Marketing 

 Association last year handled approxi- 

 mately $175,000,000 worth of live 

 stock. 



Dixon-Kewanee High 



Line Case Is Settled 



Rates of compensation to farmers for 

 la^id traversed by the Dixon-Kewanee 

 high line of the Super Power Com- 

 pany were agreed upon at a^ confer- 

 ence between officials of the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association, the utility 

 company, and the Farm Bureau land 

 owners committee, held in the I. A. A. 

 offices on March 6. 



Twenty-five farms in Lee tnd White- 

 side counties were affected by the 

 settlement. This case has been in con- 

 troversy more than a year. Both the 

 interests of the utilities and the land 

 owners were served by settling out of 

 court. ':''/;.:' .'/■- •*. . 



Vermilion Service Co. 



Six thousand dollars have been sub- 

 scribed by Vermilion County Farm 

 Bureau members for a co-operative oil 

 company. The new organization will 

 be known as the Vermilion County 

 Service Company. When $20,000 is 

 raised, the company will buy equip- 

 ment and start operating. 



Crawford-Jasper Shipping Associa- 

 tion (Joe Brown, manager) held its 

 annual meeting at Oblong February 26. 

 Manager Scott Meiks of Indianapolis 

 and Ray Miller of the I. A. A. were 

 the speakers. . ' ' ; 



B. F. Beach of Michigan '^''^ 

 Speaker Peoria Meeting 



FLUID milk producers can, if they 

 work together within any market- 

 ing area, exercise more control over 

 their marketing than almost any other ' 

 group of farmers, B. F. Beach, mana- 

 ger of the Michigan Milk Producers 

 Association, told members of the IlH- 

 nois Milk Producers at their recent dn|- 

 nual meeting in Peoria. 



Mr. Beach stated that the depressed 

 automobile industry in southeastern 

 Michigan resulted in a decline of 25 

 per cent in local milk consumption in 

 and about Detroit. At Flint the mar- 

 ket suffered a 50 per cent decrease in 

 milk consumption. : .'. ' 



He believes that the base and sur- 

 plus plan of milk prices is the best yet 

 devised for controlled production and 

 seasonal surpluses. The educational 

 value of the plan is important because 

 every member knows that his average 

 price per 100 pounds declines when he 

 increases production where there al- 

 ready is a surplus, he said. 



Beach expressed the view that lack 

 of consumer buying power is the prin- 

 cipal reason for low farm prices. The 

 Michigan Milk Producers has been op- 

 erating about 15 years. The speaker 

 stated that the Association has over- 

 come a condition in which farmers 

 formerly underbid each other in the 

 market and reaped lower prices. 

 "Through organized effort they are 

 now working together using their bar- 

 gaining power to obtain a fair price," 

 he said. 



The Mid-West Grain Corporation 

 handled 135 carloads of grain, or 

 more than 200,000 bu. in the yveek 

 ending Feb. 28. 



Uncle Ab says there is one hard- 

 Tvorking committee from -which 

 every member should resign — and 

 that's the Rumor Committee. 



^110,000,000 Loaned 



On Farm Crops 



The 12 federal intermediate credit 

 banks during 1930 loaned approximate- 

 ly $110,000,000 to farm commodity 

 marketing associations. The law speci- 

 fies that not more than 75 per cent of 

 the value of the products in storage 

 can be loaned. 



The intermediate credit banks are 

 further protected by the privilege of 

 calling for a reduction of their loans 

 should the market price reach the level 

 where the loan exceeds 75 per cent of 

 the value of the crop in storage. ' 



Edgar county, Illinois, led all others 

 in consignments to the Producers dur- 

 ing February. A total of 24 cars re- 

 ceived represented an increase of eight 

 cars over February a year ago. 



Vermilion county was the next larg- 

 est consignor with a total of 20 cars, 

 representing an increase of 1 5 cars over 

 February, 1930. Other counties show- 

 ing increases were Effingham and Iro- 

 quois. : -vrT: ; 



■f.t. 



