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 cultural Association Record, 608 So. Dearborn St., Chicago. 



Number 9 



SEPTEMBER, 1931 



Volume 9 



I. A. A. Testifies Before 



Commerce Commission 



15 Per Cent Rate Increase Would 



Add $2,500,000 to $3,000,000 



to Grain and Livestock 



Freight Bill 



Farmers National Grain 



Corp. Buys Mid- West 



Change Does Not Affect Relation of 



Member Farmers' Elevators and 



Illinois Grain Corp. 



AN increase of 15 per cent in 

 freight rates on Illinois farm prod- 

 ucts would place an additional burden 

 of $2,500,000 to $3,000,000 annually 

 on Illinois grain and livestock alone. 

 President Earl C. Smith testified Sep- 

 tember 4 before the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission in Chicago. 



"Anything tending to reduce the 

 farmer's present income would have to 

 be taken from his capital investment, 

 for with few exceptions almost every 

 commodity is now being produced at a 

 loss," he said. 



Many Witnesses 



. — ^ ■•■*■. 



The hearing on Friday, September 4, 

 gave the farmer his day in court. Heads 

 of the important nation-wide and mid- 

 west farm organizations appeared as 

 witnesses. Edward A. O'Neal, president 

 of the American Farm Bureau Federa- 

 tion; Chas. E. Hearst of Iowa; W. H. 

 Settle of Indiana; Chas. E. Ewing, pres- 

 ident of the National Livestock Market- 

 ing Association; Sen. Smith Brookhart 

 of Iowa; C. E. Huff, president of the 

 Farmers National Grain Corp., Chicago, 

 and others testified before the Com- 

 mission. . 



Would Add $150,000,000 



In a statement released by the Amer- 

 ican Farm Bureau Federation, O. W. 

 Sandberg, director of transportation, 

 declared that more than $150,000,000 

 would be added to the farmer's annual 

 freight bill if the increase is granted. 

 Most of this burden would fall on the 

 great agricultural districts of the middle 

 west, from Illinois to the Rockies, he 

 said. -:, ., ,.,-:, „^: 



"We will admit," Sandberg said, 

 that the railroads have a problem, but 



agriculture's problem is vastly more 

 aggravated and our farmers have faced 

 it for more than a decade, while the 

 railroads did not begin to worry until 

 slightly more than a year ago. 



He presented evidence showing that 

 during the last decade agriculture suf- 

 fered a decline in value of $2,670 per 

 farm, whereas during the same period 

 the railroads were able to add about 

 $8,000,000,000 to their book value. 



$21.85 on Car Corn 



It was shown that a carload of Illi- 

 nois corn would call for $21.85 more 

 freight charges if the 15 -cent increase 

 became effective. In the same way the 

 Kansas wheat farmer would face an in- 

 crease of $27.99 on each carload of 

 grain shipped to America. Donald Kirk- 

 patrick, legal counsel, and L, J. Quasey 

 of the I. A. A. assisted in getting the 

 evidence before the Commission. 



Chas. E. Ewing, president of the Na- 

 tional Livestock Marketing Association, 

 gave a dramatic analysis of his farm 

 experiences in operating 2,000 acres of 

 land in Macon and McLean counties, 

 Illinois, uring the past 10 years. "On 

 wheat, oats and corn raised this year," 

 said Mr. Ewing, "the owner's income 

 lacks from $2 to $5 an acre of paying 

 expenses. 



"The livestock industry of America 

 is the backbone of agriculture," he said. 

 "Two-thirds of the agricultural lands of 

 America produce hay and forage which 

 must be marketed through livestock. 

 The livestock industry is in no position 

 to carry an added burden. It has been 

 bled white. This 15 per cent increase 

 in rates would impose an additional bur- 

 den of $14,000,000 to $15,000,000 

 annually for livestock to carry. 



DIRECTORS of the Illinois Grain 

 Corporation meeting in a special 

 session in Chicago, Sept. 3, voted unani- 

 mously to approve an operating con- 

 tract with the Farmers National Grain 

 Corporation under which the latter will 

 acquire through purchase the entire as- 

 sets and personnel of the Mid-West 

 Grain Corp., sales subsidiary of the Illi- 

 nois regional. The transfer will become 

 effective immediately. ' * 



This action represents another step in 

 the movement to consolidate the co- 

 operative grain mar- 

 keting agencies of 

 the country so as to 

 give the grain pro- 

 ducers of America 

 an efficient and eco- 

 nomical nation-wide 

 sales organization 

 controlling the bulk 

 of the country's an- 

 nual production. 



Through its per- 

 sonnel, the Mid- 

 West Grain Corpora- 

 tion holds memberships on the Chicago 

 Board of Trade, the St. Louis Mer- 

 chant's Exchange, and the Peoria Board 

 of Trade. In addition to its main office 

 at 608 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, 

 the Mid-West has branch offices in St. 

 Louis, Peoria, Decatur, Jacksonville and 

 Pontiac, Illinois. 



Organized less than a year ago to 

 handle and sell the grain deliver^ by 

 the 71 Illinois farmers' elevators and 

 co-operative grain companies holding 

 membership in the Illinois Grain Corp., 

 the Mid-West Grain Corporation de- 

 veloped rapidly, handling more than 

 3,000 cars of grain during its first six 

 months of operation. Its largest month 

 was in July this year when a total of 



(Continued on page 4, column 1) 



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