February, 1932 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



Page Thirteen 



Tonnage Limestone and 

 Phosphate Lower in 1931 



Quality Material Remains High, 



Annual Report of J. R. Bent 



States 



ALTHOUGH agricultural limestone 

 and ground rock phosphate for ag- 

 ricultural purposes were lower in cost 

 in 1931, there was a substantial reduc- 

 tion in the tonnage used during the 

 year, J. R. Bent, director of the lime- 

 stone-phosphate department of the Illi- 

 nois Agricultural Association, showed 

 in his annual report released at the I. 

 A. A. convention last week. 



"Several factors have combined to 

 cause this," he said. "Chief among 

 them is low farm income which cut 

 in on the phosphate and limestone de- 

 mand during the latter half of the year 

 when normally the greatest use is made 

 of these commodities. 



"During the spring the tonnage fig- 

 ures compared quite favorably with a 

 similar period in 1930, but with the 

 continual decline in farm prices, coupled 

 with bank closings, farmers were un- 

 able to secure funds to purchase these 

 soil improvement materials. As a result 

 sales could not be made by the com- 

 panies except on a basis of extended 

 payment dates. 



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 February and March, 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 ofGcers and 

 directors as provided for in the by-laws of 

 the Association. 



During February annual meetings will be 

 held in McHenry, Will and DeKalb counties. 



During March annual meetings will be 

 held in Kankakee, McDonough, Boone and 

 Winnebago counties. 



Feb. 1, 1932. v S-?^r.^.'::^''v-'; ';;'' 



Signed, .■•.■.„-■':■ ',>f.<: 



G. E. Metzger, Secretary. 



Drought Also Cause 



"Another cause in the shrinkage in 

 tonnage, especially in the southern part 

 of the state, is the fact that the severe 

 drought of 1930 resulted in clover fail- 

 ures in many fields which previously had 

 been limed and these fields were put 

 back into clover in 1931 instead of ad- 

 ditional fields which normally would 

 have been limed and used for that pur- 

 pose. 



"An estimate for the state indicates 

 that the amoimt of these commodities 

 used in 1931 was about 40 per cent of 

 the amount used in 1930. Ninety-three 

 County Farm Bureaus, representing 97 

 counties, signed limestone contracts 

 with the I. A. A. at the beginning of 

 the year to take advantage of the dis- 

 counts secured through the organiza- 

 tion. -- .-■'-,. 



"When it came time for the com- 

 panies to submit prices for the second 

 half of the year, the I. A. A. refused 

 to accept them, and the final result was 

 a general reduction throughout the 

 state. Although there was struggle, 

 which came near disrupting the agree- 

 ment, all the prominent companies, ex- 

 cept one, agreed to reduce prices and 

 extend the agreement. But even the 

 low prices failed to produce business. 



"Under conditions such as prevailed 

 in 1931, it was natural to expect that 



quarry operators would become careless 

 and indifferent in the matter of the 

 grade of the material. It is, therefore, 

 gratifying to be able to report that in- 

 stead the grade has been steadily im- 

 proved. Under pressure from the I. A. 

 A. various companies have installed finer 

 screens and better methods of cleaning 

 and preparation." 



Armour & Co. Packers 

 Report $23,000,000 Loss 



THAT declining meat prices in 1931 

 hit the packers a hard blow is in- 

 dicated by the $23,000,000 deficit re- 

 cently reported by Armour and Com- 

 pany for the year just closed. The 

 surplus of the company was cut from 

 $43,000,000 to $20,000,000. An in- 

 ventory loss of $22,000,000 was sus- 

 tained. 



Although tonnage sales were prac- 

 tically the same, price declines in vari- 

 ous meat products ranging from 20 to 

 50 per cent reduced the gross income to 

 about 70 per cent of the 1930 returns. 



Despite the poor earnings, however, 

 the company retired $5,000,000 of 

 funded debts, nearly $7,000,000 of pre- 

 ferred stock of subsidiary . companies, 

 and $2,000,000 of Illinois preferred 

 stock without additional financing, the 

 annual statement said. Current assets 

 on October 31 totaled $138,616,230, 

 while current liabilities were only $13,- 

 724,177. Cash on hand was $33,208,- 

 706, an increase of $21,305,979. 



"Current operating costs have been 

 so adjusted that results for recent 

 months have been on a more favorable 



Soybean Ass'n. Handles 



Larger Yolunne in 1931 



Quality of Crop Excellent, Report 

 Membership Gain Over 1930 



THE volume of 1931 soybeans han- 

 dled through the Soybean Market- 

 ing Association showed a considerable 

 increase over the 1930 volume, accord- 

 ing to the annual report of Wilbur H. 

 Coultas, manager of the association. 



"The quality of our 1931 crop was 

 excellent," said Mr. Coultas, "and most 

 of the carloads handled were good en- 

 ough to grade No. 2. A few cars grad- 

 ed No. 3 and only three cars graded 

 sample. There were four carloads of 

 outstanding quality which graded No. 1 

 and received a premium of one cent 

 per bushel." -; ■ ;* IS ^' 



229 Elevators 



He estimates that by the time the 

 1931 crop is disposed of, the association 

 will have handled 1,500,000 bushels 

 during the year. Last year the volume 

 was 1,150,000 bushels. This year's 

 beans were handled through 229 co-op- 

 erating elevators located in 30 counties. 

 The members' beans were handled and 

 reported by the contracting elevators 

 for an average handling charge of ap- 

 proximately three cents a bushel. 



During the summer membership cam- 

 paign, 1,118 new members were signed, 

 bringing the total membership to 4,096. 

 Four new counties signed a sufficient 

 number of members to organize and 

 elect advisory councils. 



"Because there was some demand on 

 the part of contract elevators to handle 

 quantities of beans from non-member 

 growers, the Soybean Marketing Asso- 

 ciation handled a large processor's daily 

 bids on a brokerage basis," Coultas said. 

 "Thirty-nine carloads of non-member 

 soybeans were handled on this account. 



Want to Get In 



"There was an increase in acreage of 

 harvested soybeans in other corn belt 

 states in 1931 and there has been a large 

 niunber of requests on the part of grow- 

 ers in other states to take advantage of 

 the pooling privileges of the Soybean 

 Marketing Association. In all probabili- 

 ties, the board of directors and corpor- 

 ate management will arrange to broaden 

 out their field to take in growers from 

 other states, looking toward the forma- 

 tion of a central marketing association 

 and the consequent control of a larger 

 volume of the commodity." 



basis," said T. G. Lee, president. "It 

 is apparent that stabilization of com- 

 modity values and any subsequent im- 

 provement in general business conditions 

 should be favorably reflected in the 

 earnings of the company." 





