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A. A. RECORD 



EXTRA EDITION, JUNE, 1932 



NEW ARMORY AT DECATUR 



0, In June, 1912, 

 foundation of the Farm 

 Illinois was laid in De- 

 Kankakee counties. Both 

 3ns in these counties were 

 first as soil and crop im- 

 ; associations. Later as 

 came aware of the larger 

 affecting their industry 

 ie beyond their line fences 

 the need for a strong, 

 )rganization to fight for 

 try and represent them 

 islative and rate-making 



5 learned that their job 

 finished when they grew 

 for market; that the way 

 ?as marketed was of equal 

 e to its production. This 

 1 gave rise to the Farm 

 lovement as we know it 

 nr years after the launch- 

 e local organizations in 

 nd Kankakee the Illinois 

 ral Association was formed 

 ation of county Farm Bu- 



Eckardt, first county ad- 

 JeKalb county, and John 

 of Kankakee county, old- 

 r in point of service in the 

 began work simultaneously 

 1, 1912. The DeKalb 

 oil Improvement Associa- 

 been organized on March 

 and the Kankakee County 

 Crop Improvement As- 

 followed on April 20, the 

 ir. These were the first 

 in the United States to 

 definit.e-tarmer's organiza- 

 ktryon a full program of 



on and marketing service 



lers. 



Tazewell in '13 



^e 1, 1913 Tazewell county 

 3d and adopted the name 

 ?11 Count v Farm Bureau." 

 said to be the first time 

 e was used in the United 

 In 1913 eight new counties 

 ''arm Bureau work brinQ;ine 

 il of organized counties to 

 iS'ear later the Smith -Lever 

 a s passed apnropriatine 

 for county agents. In that 

 fe more counties ore;anl7eH 

 g the total to 15 Bv 1919 

 county Farm Bureaus had 

 •^anized. and by 1921 there 

 5 counties in which there 

 :tive Farm Bureau organiza- 

 perating. 



niinoi.s Aerlcultural Assocla- 

 rved first as a medium for 

 ^ Farm Bureau leaders to- 

 to discuss sta^e and national 

 IS. Its earlv efforts were con- 

 rgely to representlnsr Illinois 

 ture In the state legislature. 

 1919 the founders of the 

 bureau visualized the nos- 

 J? of a stronar. well-financed. 

 t organisation tx3 represent 

 < In Questions too lar«?e for 

 aals and coun^v units to 

 And so the Illinois Aerl- 

 1 Association was reorgan- 



ized on its present basis with a 

 $4.50 annual membership fee and 

 a staff of men carefully selected to 

 carry out the adopted program. 



>; ■ Given First Attention 



Legislation, taxation, representa- 

 tion before rate-making bodies, and 

 organized buying of agricultural 

 limestone and ground rock phos- 

 phate were given chief attention. 

 Nejct co-operative marketing with 

 departments for each commodity 

 were set up so as to help producers 

 retain control of their product un- 

 til it reached the processor or con- 

 sumer. 



The Producer co-operative live- 

 stock marketing associations, the 

 milk and produce co-operatives now 

 operating in almost every market 

 center in and adjoining Illinois, the 

 Illinois Fruit Growers Exchange, 

 the Egyptian Seed Growers Ex- 

 change, the wool pool, and now the 

 Illinois Grain Corporation were 

 outgrowths of that early movement 

 to give the farmer a vo'ce in the 

 sale of his products. ;, •;•,;..;/, 



Early in 1924 a new ser ice was 

 added when the present- Illinois 

 Agricultural Auditing Association 

 was organized then as the Illinois 

 Agricultural Co-operatives Associa- 

 tion. The primary object of this 

 service was to provide an adequate 

 and competent audit and account- 

 ing service for co-operative associa- 

 tions and agricultural organiza- 

 tions. 



Later Services 



The Farmers Mutual Reinsurance 

 Co. was launched a year later on 

 November 21, 1925 to provide fire, 

 hail, windstorm insurance, and re- 

 insurance for local farm mutuals. 



Next came the Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Mutual Ins. Co i-n-1926, the 

 Illinois Farm Sunnly Co. in 1927, 

 and the Country Life Insurance Co. 

 In 1929. Throughout this period 

 were organized many co-operatives 

 about market centers and in rural 

 communities throughout the state. 



Ten years as:o at the 10th Anni- 

 versary Celebration in DeKalb. 

 Eugene Davenport, then dean of 

 the State CoUesre of Agriculture, 

 wrote of this celebration: "Illinois 

 farm neople from everv corner of 

 the great commonwealth, from the 

 roll ins: hills, the fertile bottoms, 

 and sweeping prairies, commemo-^ 

 rate the organization of the first 

 Farm Bureaus in Illinois. They are 

 gathered to celebrate the achieve- 

 ment of 10 years, and to look for- 

 ward to the great promise that lies 



ahead — a promise of a profitable 

 and permanent agriculture and a 

 successful and satisfactory farm 

 life." v.-^;. .; 



So on July 4 will members of the 

 Farm Bureau gather in every 

 county, mindful of the fear and 

 paralysis that for the present grips 

 the nation; conscious of the greed 

 and exploitation largely responsible 

 for the condition of the country, 

 but steadfast in support of organ- 

 ized effort, and looking ahead to a 

 more successful and satisfactory 

 farm life. 



LAUNCH DRIVE 

 TO RAISE PRICE 



(Continued from page 1) 



The executive session lasted un- 

 til almost noon, and the waiting 

 crowd was kept busy by J. H. Check- 

 ly, Logan county farm adviser who 

 led in community singing. 



President Smith was greeted with 

 a two-minute ovation when he 

 mounted the platform. He did not 

 waste time in preliminaries. He 

 stated that the condition of the 

 Illinois farmer had been growing 

 worse and worse and that reports ,. 

 of staff members pointed to a . ' 

 critical situation. <y .; ..: • : N;. ' C 



^ . Smith Explains Bill ;.>,.! ... 



Explaining the operation of the 

 emergency price raising plan, Mr. 

 Smith cited an example of a 

 farmer selling 1,000 bushels of 

 wheat. If the survey of the secre- 

 tary of agriculture showed that 75 

 per cent of the wheat crop was 

 needed for home consumption, the 

 farmer would have 250 bushels de- 

 ducted from his total and receive 

 negotiable paper for 750 bushels. 



"We do not intend. to wait until ^ -^^ 

 the excise tax of 42 cents is col- 

 lected before paying off," he said. 

 "We expect that unappropriated"" 

 resources of the treasury be used in .■ • 

 payment and that those funds be ';V^' 

 repaid through excise tax levy. 



"On May 23 I went to Washing- 

 ton to see what could be done 

 about it," he said. "With me were 

 other farm leaders, interested in 

 finding some relief for not only .;..•, 

 Illinois farmers, but the farmers '. 

 of the nation. We wanted to know ' ;• v 

 what was being done to get rid of : . 

 accumulated crop surpluses. 



Credit Only Tentporary 

 "All we heard was discussion of 

 ways and means to extend more 

 lines of credit to more people. With 

 prices of farm products at the 

 point where we ship our capital 

 away whenever we ship our corn 

 or hogs, what good is credit going 

 to do us? It is merely temporary. 

 "We asked if America could come 

 back if farm prices were not 

 brought back. We got blank looks. 



"We told these party leaders that 

 the way .to stop the depression was 

 to hurdle it instead of trailing it. 



"We got the job of working it 

 out ourselves. We have drafted the 

 bill and it has been presented by 



Decatur's Armory Never Saw Such a Large Assembly 



ORGANIZATION CUTS UME- 

 STONE PHOSPHATE COST 



(Continued from Page 2, Col. 7) 



of the I. A. A., it has sold directly 

 and otherwise supervised a total of 

 approximately 243,000 tons of phos- 

 phate. In a matter of dollars, this 

 represents an expenditure on the 

 part of the Illinois farmer for this 

 one commodity alone, of approxi- 

 mately $1,950,000.00, exclusive of 

 freight which approximated $1,150,- 

 000.00, or a total of $3,100,000. 



As was true with agricultural 

 limestone, a plan was worked out 

 whereby the Farm Bureau member 

 could purchase phosphate on a dif- 

 ferential of 50c per ton under the 

 price paid by non-members This 

 feature alone has saved the mem- 

 ber farmer in this state approxi- 

 mately $100,000. A further saving. 



Congressman Rainey. In a confer- 

 ence with the Illinois delegation, 

 at which all downstate members 

 were present who were in Wash- 

 ington, Mr. Rainey, as dean of the 

 delegation pledged the solid sup- 

 port of the group. There were no 

 Cook county men there, but they 

 were invited." 



Details of the demonstration and 

 Dedication Day program ^were ex- 

 plained by Secretary Geo. E. Metz- 

 ger after Larry Wil,liams briefly 

 sounded the call for an aggressive, 

 fighting spirit in a rousing address. 



Copies of the plan together with 

 photostats of floats and blue prints 

 telling how to construct them were 

 handed out or sent to each county 

 Farm Bureau. 



In each county a general Dedica- 

 tion Day committee with sub-com- 

 mittees for program, prize contest, 

 floats, publicity, parade, etc. will 

 carry out the July 4tfi celebration. 



Vernon Vaniman called on for 

 brief remarks paid tribute to the 



impossible to estimate, has- been great loyalty of the Farm Bureau 

 made due to I. A. A. bargaining leaders and members in Illinois, 

 power and to supervisional service, pointing to the fact that hundreds 

 which guaranteed, quality, fineness had got up before daylight that 

 of grinding, and correct weights. morning to be at the meeting. 



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An Artist's Drawing of One of the Floats Proposed For the July 4th Parade 



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