February J 1952 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



Page Seventeen 





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85 Counfies Given Aid on 

 Public Utility Problems 



Estimate Value of Organizaticm at 

 Half Million Dollars or More 



AS THE result of advice and repre- 

 sentation in public utility matters 

 made available in 1931 through the 

 Farm Bureau and Illinois Agricultural 

 Association, Illinois farmers are at least 

 a half million dollars better off than 

 they would have been if they had acted 

 alone, a review of the year's work on 

 problems of this nature reveals. ' 



According to the annual report of 

 the I. A. A. transportation department, 

 eighty-five counties shared in this ser- 

 vice which includes such matters as 

 freight rates, train service, shipping fa- 

 cilities, railroad station closing cases, 

 railroad right-of-way cases, pipe lines, 

 telephone complaints, electric transmis- 

 sion lines, and rural electrification. 



Pipe line systems were in process of 

 extension in 3 5 counties during the 

 year. As a result of the, combined efforts 

 of the Illinois Agricultural Association 

 and County Farm Bureaus, landowners 

 of the state received approximately 

 $3 50,000 more for pipe line easements 

 and damages in construction than the 

 companies originally offered. In La- 

 Salle county alone landowners received 

 $30,000 more for the pipe line right- 

 of-way across the county than they 

 were originally offered. 



-f Dixon-Freeport Case •.^: 



Early In the year through the joint 

 efforts of committees from Stephenson, 

 Ogle and Lee counties and representa- 

 tives of the I. A. A. an agreement with 

 power officials regarding settlement for 

 an electric transmission line right-of- 

 way between Dixon and Freeport pro- 

 cured for landowners $20,000 more 

 than previously offered by the com- 

 pany. , --_ 



A total of 42 complaints from 31 

 counties on telephone rates, service, and 

 right-of-way matters were handled by 

 the state association. Information was 

 given during the year in response to 

 104 requests for quotations of freight 

 rates and interpretation of tariff rules 

 on such commodities as grain, livestock, 

 fruits, vegetables, and agricultural lime- 

 stone. v-:."'^^\ '.-■■■'''■/:■■':' ' 

 Other Service Given /•;:•: 



The I. A. A. also handled 26 cases 

 dealing with shipping facilities, 20 cases 

 resisting the closing of local stations, 

 and 159 cases pertaining to right-of- 

 way problems such as railroad fences, 

 cutting weeds on right-of-ways, repair 

 of farm crossings, and drainage com- 

 plaints. 



Transportation service was also given 

 to the Chicago Producers Commission 

 Association, the Egyptian Seed Growers 

 Exchange, the Illinois Farm Supply 

 Company, the Ilinois Fruit Growers Ex- 

 change, the Illinois Grain Corporation, 

 the Illinois Livestock Marketing Asso- 

 ciation, the National Livestock Market- 

 ing Association and National Order 

 Buying Company, and the Soybean Mar- 

 keting Association. 



In addition to this service, the I. A. A. 

 claims department collected 832 claims 

 against public utility companies total- 

 ing $20,159.88. 



Decline in 1931 Farm 



Income Shown by U.S.D.A 



The year 1931 was reasonably pro- 

 ductive of crops but was marked by 

 another staggering decline in the price 

 of farm products, says the Department 

 of Agriculture In its January report on 

 the agrlcidtural situation. The decline 

 in prices places farm products at ap- 

 proximately 50 per cent of their 1929 

 value. 



Farm crops, although 10 per cent 

 larger In 1930, had a gross value of 

 $4,123,000,000 as compared with $5,- 

 819,000,000 in 1930. Packers paid 

 farmers $1,103,000,000 for 10,834,- 

 000,000 pounds of meat the first ten 

 months of the year, as compared with 

 $1,553,000,000 for 10,759,000,000 

 pounds in the corresponding period of 

 1930. The price decline during the past 

 year shrank the value of crops nearly 

 $1,750,000,000 and of meat nearly 

 $500,000,000, according to the report. 



Co-operatives in fflfhofs 

 Handle Many Commodities 



Huge Volume of Farm Crops Now >; 

 Marketed Through Farmers* ;': 



Own Agencies :;r';';"v- ;;'.;■."■.:;.. 



A. F. B. F. Working on 



Legislative Program 



A six-point program covering the 

 Agricultural Marketing Act, rural cred- 

 its, the monetary problem, taxation, 

 speculation, and Philippine independence 

 covers the chief Interests of the Ameri- 

 can Farm Bureau Federation In the pres- 

 ent session of congress, according to a 

 recent announcement by President E. A. 

 O'Neal. 



President Earl C. Smith Is a member 

 of the A. F. B. F. legislative committee 

 which met in Washington several weeks 

 ago with representatives of the Grange 

 and Farmers' Union to develop plans for 

 a joint program of agricultural legis- 

 lation. Mr. Smith was unable to attend 

 this meeting. ■'"' ■ C . > -•'•^ 



Farm Bureau policies as determined at 

 the recent national convention in Chi- 

 cago will guide the A. F. B. F. repre- 

 sentatives in ajl their dealings. Presi- 

 dent O'Neal said. ^ •■ 



CO-OPERATIVE marketing progress 

 in all commodities was reviewed at 

 the marketing conference held during 

 the I. A. A. convention at Rockford 

 on Jan. 28. 



Illinois farmers now have agencies for 

 marketing milk, fruits, vegetables, live- 

 stock, grain, soybeans, butterfat, red 

 top seed, and other commodities. Sev- 

 eral of these are afiiliated with national 

 marketing organizations. 



More than 23,000 carloads of live- 

 stock were handled through Producers* 

 Commission Associations or sold direct 

 to packers during 1931. Early in the 

 year the Illinois Livestock Marketing 

 Association was organized to co-ordi- 

 nate the work of county and district 

 marketing associations and direct the 

 movement of livestock to the best mar- 

 kets. 



The Illinois Grain Corporation, or- 

 ganized In 1930, now has 80 member 

 elevators as compared with 32 at the 

 beginning of 1931. - These elevators 

 have a combined business of 14,000,- 

 000 bushels of grain annually. 



1,000 Cars Perishables 



The Illinois Fruit Growers Exchange 

 last year handled nearly 1,000 cars of 

 fruits and vegetables, selling to 200 

 markets in 23 states and three Canadian 

 provinces. 



Practically every milk market in Illi- 

 nois is now organized and It is estimated 

 that around 8 5 per cent of the fluid 

 milk in the state is marketed through 

 co-operatives. 



The Illinois Produce Marketing Asso- 

 ciation handled more than 3,000,000 

 pounds of butterfat during 1931 

 through its 48 member county associa- 

 tions. The first co-operative marketing 

 of cream was begun In 1924. 



The Soybean Marketing Association 

 last year handled for members 1,500,- 

 000 bushels of soybeans as compared 

 with 1,150,000 in 1930. This co-oper- 

 ative has operated only two years. 



Nearly 1,000 new members were 

 signed up by the red top seed co-opera- 

 tive, the Egyptian Seed Growers Ex- 

 change in 1931, increasing the member- 

 ship to 2,738. In 1930 the volume was 

 a little less than 700,000 pounds of 

 fancy seed. The 1931 volume, although 

 not yet determined, is expected to be 

 larger than in any previous year.' 



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Ask your neighbors to join the Farm 

 Bureau. 



