

Januaryy 1932 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



Page Thirteen. 



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Too Much Spread in Live 

 And Dressed Meat Price 



The high cost of distribution which 

 represents the many charges between the 

 livestock market and the retail counter 

 where the consumer buys the finished 

 product, is an important factor in the 

 present unduly low prices of cattle, hogs 

 and sheep, according to H. M. Conway, 

 statistician for the National Livestock 

 Marketing Association. 



"The tendency for packers and re- 

 tailers to maintain past charges makes 

 it necessary for them to take a much 

 greater proportion of the consumer's 

 dollar, thus making the present spread 

 between the producer and consvimer the 

 widest on record," said Conway. "With 

 free competition between foods, the con- 

 sumer will pay only so much for the 

 supply of meat available, with the result 

 that the producer is now carrying the 

 increased burden in the form of lower 

 livestock prices. 



"A similar change took place in 1920 

 and continued during the past 10 years. 

 The further widening that is now tak- 

 ing place means continued agricultural 

 depression with greater intensity." 



Henry County Mennbers 



Split a $13 .386 Melon 



THE third fiscal year of Henry 

 County Supply Company closed Sep- 

 tember 30. The sales for the period 

 exceed those of the preceding year by 

 a good margin and total $98,314.24. 

 The gain in sales of the different prod- 

 ucts ranges from 25% to 3S%, accord- 

 ing to a report given to the stockhold- 

 ers of the company on December 5 by 

 R. T. Ferguson, manager. 



A 7% preferred stock dividend and a 

 15% patronage refund, totaling some 

 $13,3?6.49, have been paid to the Farm 

 Bureau members of Henry 'county. 

 George F. Hayes is president of the 

 company. 



Drive 10.000 Miles and 



Save Farm Bureau Dues 



From figures compiled by several 

 service companies in the state, it is 

 shown that the average Farm Bureau 

 member who has a tractor and an auto- 

 mobile, or who has no tractor but drives 

 an automobile as much as 10,000 miles 

 a year, received more from 1931 patron- 

 age refunds on petroleum products than 

 his Farm Bureau dues cost him. 



The Shelby-EflSngham Service Com- 

 pany reports that the average patron 

 this year made purchases amounting to 

 $192.50. Some of the service com- 

 panies refimded as much as 24 per cent 

 of the total receipts from Farm Bureau 

 members. 



^^■■■■r^'-y-r-i' NOTICE ■'^'■^-'' 



ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL 



ASSOCIATION 

 ELECTION OF DELEGATES 



NOTICE is hereby given that in connection 

 with the annual meetings of all County 

 Farm Bureaus to be held during the months 

 of January and February, 1932, at the hour 

 and place to be determined by the Board of 

 Directors of each respective County Farm 

 Bureau, the members in good standing of 

 such County Farm Bureau and who are 

 also qualified voting members of Illinois 

 Agricultural Association shall elect a dele- 

 gate or delegates to represent such members 

 of Illinois Agricultural Association and vote 

 on all matters before the next annual meet- 

 ing or any special meeting of the Associa- 

 tion, including the election of officers and 

 directors as provided for in the by-laws of 

 the Association. 



During January annual meetings will be 

 held in Carroll, Cook, Douglas, Fulton, 

 Franklin, Greene, Knox, Lake, McHenry, 

 Macon, Mercer, Peoria, Sangamon, Tazewell, 

 Whiteside, and Woodford counties. 



During February annual meetings will 

 be held in Mason, Will and DeKalb counties. 



Jan. 1, 1932. 



Signed, 

 , V G. E, METZGER, Secretary. 



Farm Crop Values Drop 

 49 Per Cent in Two Years 



Based on December 1 prices, the total 

 value of the crops produced in the 

 United States in 1931 was estimated on 

 December 16 by the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture at $4,122,850,000 com- 

 pared with $5,818,820,000 in 1930. 



The decline in crop values compared 

 with two years ago is nearly $4,000,- 

 000,000, or 49 per cent. ■ nr' 



The decrease is shared by practically 

 all crops. About $1,043,000,000 of 

 the decrease is in corn, $8 54,000,000 

 in cotton and cottonseed, $446,000,- 

 000 in wheat, $386,000,000 in hay, 

 $263,000,000 in potatoes, $220,000,000 

 in oats and $130,000,000 in tobacco. 



Move to Unite Counties 



There is a movement in Minnesota to 

 'unite some of the smaller counties to 

 reduce the expense of local government. 

 This movement is also gaining a follow- 

 ing in Illinois. 



Commenting on the proposal an edi- 

 torial in Commercial West says in part: 

 "The idea is commendable. There are a 

 number of areas in Minnesota where 

 adjoining counties could well be united 

 and the saving would be of large extent 

 if the movement grows to proportions. 

 Unwieldy counties, of course, should 

 not be created, but 'whete the counties 

 are small the plan should work out satis- 

 factorily to all concerned." 



Uncle Ab says that most of us 

 tliink that a man who is different 

 must be wrong. 



I. A. Auditing Association 

 Makes 360 Reports in '3 1 



Complete 20 Per Cent More Audits 

 This Year Than Last 



THE yearly growth of the Illinois 

 Agricultural Auditing Association 

 indicates that Illinois farmers are oper- 

 ating their co-operatives and county 

 Farm Bureaus more and more on a 

 sound financial basis made possible by 

 regular and thorough audits. ' . ; ? , 



An average of one account a day, or 

 approximately 360 accounts, were au- 

 dited by the Association during 1931, 

 compared with 303 

 for the year before. 

 This is an increase of 

 20 per cent. The 

 Auditing Association 

 serves only organiza- 

 tions with an agri- 

 cultural connection, 

 such as f a r m e r s' 

 grain elevators, farm- 

 ers* oil companies, 

 p. E3. RinKiiam marketing associa- 

 tions, and general farm organizations. 

 It operates on a cost basis. 



The fact that the auditing and 

 business service was the first subsidiary 

 organized by the I. A. A. indicates the 

 importance attached to the use of 

 standard business methods in farmers* 

 organizations from the very beginning. 

 Even before the Association was 

 formed in 1924, the I. A. A. offered 

 auditing services to Farm Bureaus. 



The Association now acts as purchas- 

 ing agent for accounting supplies de- 

 sired by member companies, and oflfers 

 an advisory service on problems of ac- 

 counting. 



"Our big problem, like that of other 

 auditing companies, is to get a proper 

 distribution of accounts throughout the 

 year," said F. E. Ringham, manager. 

 "We have busy months and light 

 months, making it difficult to maintain 

 a full staff all the year. However, we 

 have been working toward the point 

 when we can get the fiscal closings of 

 our member companies distributed even- 

 ly over the year." 



The number of accounts audited by 

 months during 1931 shows the varia- 

 tion: January, 67; February, 34; March, 

 25; April, 19; May, 17; June, 22; July, 

 25; August, 27; September, 21; Octo- 

 ber, 35; November, 27, and December, 

 41 (estimated). 



The time to sell the unprofitable 

 cow is when she is found to b« un- 

 profitable; and she should be sold 

 to the butcher. 



4. 



