.•■i.-' 



Page Six 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



February, 1931 



locally to that broader and greater field 

 where alone they can influence and 

 stabilize the price of grain. 

 ^ — -—"—^ Member of National 





"The Illinois Grain Corporation is a 

 regional member of the Farmers Na- 

 tional Grain Corporation, which was 

 established by the Federal Farm Board 

 in an effort to merge the largest pos- 

 sible volume of grain in a national way. 

 It must be apparent to all that only by 

 and through such volume control can 

 farmers expect to influence or stabilize 

 price. . ':' •/'"•■'■■r» ■"■ ■> .-.:•:■»■'■.■„■■. :.';;■'•' .,:-".^'-'- 

 • "I submit that if the theories upon 

 which the Farmers National Grain Cor- 

 poration is builded are realized in a 

 practical way by farmers, results can 

 and will be obtained. Especially is this 

 true of corn. A survey shows that ap- 

 proximately three-fifths of all, corn 

 which finds its way into the channels 

 of trade originates in Illinois', Iowa and 

 Nebraska. The merging of farmer ele- 

 vator interests of each state into a re- 

 gional agency and of the three regional 

 agencies, thus establishing sales control 

 of their total volume in a central unit 

 such as the Farmers National Grain 

 Corporation, would immediately make 

 it possible for those guiding the policies 

 of the central unit to influence, if not 

 control, price. 



Possibilities in Corn 



"As a nation, we import very little 

 corn. Tariff protection has been only 

 partially effective and can easily be 

 made more effective. Those controlling 

 such a tremendous volume of corn 

 could easily stabilize its price at the 

 highest level that demand would allow, 

 which in turn, would be controlled 

 only by supply and by general eco- 

 nomic conditions of the nation.. Wild- 

 ly fluctuating markets in this basic 

 commodity have been made possible, 

 first, by millions of farmers competing 

 with one another in limited periods of 

 time to sell it; next, by elevators com- 

 peting with one another in the markets 

 to sell it; thus making it possible for 

 a very few men or interests to gain 

 control of the commodity at low 

 prices and later to secure varying mar- 

 gins of profit through such control. 



"I know of no way whereby farmers 

 can build, own and control their mar- 

 keting system except, first, by building, 

 owning and controlling the local ele- 

 vator to which they deliver thejr grain; 

 second, by combining the interests of 

 all such elevators through ownership 

 and control of a regional agency; and 

 third, by the merging of regional in- 

 terests and of their volume of grain in 

 a central or national unit through 

 which all farmer-owned and controlled 

 grain of the system would enter the 

 channels of trade. 



Opposition Active 



"So far as I have learned, no one has 

 yet offered a constructive criticism of 

 such a farmer-owned and farmer-con- 

 trolled marketing system, although 

 much opposition has appeared. It was 

 only natural tO' expect opposition from 

 what is commonly known as the grain 

 trade. No one had a right to expect, 

 however, that men supposedly working 

 for farmers* interests and even under 

 the guise of so-called farmers' organi- 

 zations, would attempt to defeat the 

 purposes of sucjh a farmer-owned and 

 farmer-controlled agency as is intended 

 in the Illinois Grain Corporation. 



"I would not be understood as deny- 

 ing anyone, whether within or with- 

 out farmers' ranks, the right to point 

 out weaknesses in a new co-operative 

 effort. The I. A. A. has always courted 

 constructive criticism. A sounder and 

 more efficient program is often the re- 

 sult of such expression. I do deny, 

 however, to anyone, and especially one 

 sailing under false banners, the right to 

 resort to innuendo and false propaganda 

 in an effort to destroy the confidence 

 of farmers in a program being devel- 

 oped in their behalf. Especially is this 

 true when not a weakness has been 

 pointed out or a constructive sugges- 

 tion made as to how the program might 

 be strengthened. 



"The Illinois Grain Corporation has 

 been confronted with some opposition 

 of this kind which has somewhat 

 slowed its development. Many farmers' 

 elevators, as well as farmers, are be- 

 coming awake to the motives and pur- 

 poses of this opposition. I see no per- 

 manent injury in such propaganda, for 

 if our projects are sound and right, 

 they will eventually succeed in spite of 

 all opposition. If they are not built on 

 a firm foundation and are not answer- 

 ing a real need, nothing we say or do 

 will make them succeed. 



• Farmers Hold Keyv > ^ 



"As I view the situation, farmers hold 

 the key to the extent results will be 

 obtained. They certainly have the op- 

 portunity to collectively control the 

 policies of their local elevators and 

 through their local elevators, to con- 

 trol their regional units, such as the 

 Illinois Grain Corporation. Through 

 the regional units they can control their 

 central or national machinery. 



"The Illinois Agricultural Association 

 has discharged its duty and obligation 

 to its member grain producers of the 

 state by the development of Illinois 

 Grain Corporation. The machinery Is 

 set up and Is functioning smoothly. It 

 is set up in such manner that only grain 

 producers can control or dictate its 

 policies. The extent of its success or 

 failure to serve farmers' needs will be 



determined by the manner in which 

 farmers take advantage of their oppor- 

 tunity to direct their grain in and 

 through truly co-operative channels. 



"We have all witnessed the contin- 

 ued and ever-increasing opposition be- 

 ing developed in a national way. We 

 recognize it in our own state. We hear 

 of it in other states. May I again re- 

 peat — farmers alone have within their 

 control the answer to this challenge. 

 The Illinois Agricultural Association 

 will continue as In the past to assist 

 the grain producers of Illinois to the 

 full extent such assistance may be de- 

 sired by those whom the grain produc- 

 ers elect to guide the affairs of the Illi- 

 nois Grain Corporation. . ' [,v " ' ^^ 

 Soybean Marketing 



"In the fall of 1929, the Farm Bu- 

 reaus of the main soybean growing' 

 counties of central Illinois organized the 

 Soybean Marketing Association. With 

 the advice of the Legal and Grain 

 Marketing Departments of the I. A. A., 

 it was incorporated on a capital stock 

 basis. Membership contracts were ac- 

 quired covering an aggregate of one 

 and a quarter million bushels. 



"In the summer of 1930, the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association was asked by 

 its Board of Directors to assume man- 

 agement of its affairs. It was found 

 that very little capital stock had been 

 sold, in fact, only limited efforts had 

 been made to do so. The harvest sea- 

 son was fast approaching. Although 

 fully recognizing the difficulties of the 

 situation, the Board of Directors of the 

 I. A. A. responded to the above men- 

 tioned request and consequent responsi- 

 bility. Personnel was retained and em- 

 ployed and in a few weeks handled 

 1,130,000 bushels of beans. .,y •; 



"It was early recognized that unless 

 substantial credit and storage facilities 

 were acquired, the price of soybeans 

 would decline to unheard of levels. To 

 secure proper storage facilities as well 

 as to be enabled to make advances to 

 growers, credit running into the hun- 

 dreds of thousands of dollars had to be 

 secured. Although successful in this 

 instance, largely because of the friendly 

 attitude of governmental credit agen- 

 cies and the co-operation of Mr. George 



)ne of^h( 

 commercial b^k, 



either seeking or expecting a repetition 

 of this experience. Through the splen- 

 did co-operation of these credit agen- 

 cies, the Association has marketed over 

 700,000 bushels of its beans on a basis 

 that allowed an advance of $1.00 per 

 bushel to its members. It has in bonded 

 storage approximately 425,000 bushels. 



Capital Stock Basis 



"The Board of Directors of the Soy- 

 bean Marketing Association is now giv- 



Jewett, one of^he heads of a Chicago 

 no one is justified in 



nommation: 

 declared un 





