Page Twenty 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



February, 1933 



Illinois Leads All 



States In Membership 



Report of Organization-Publicity 



Conference At Peoria Jan. 26 



C. E. Bamborough, 



Chairman 



C. E. BAMBOSOVOH 



FARM Bureau membership ex- 

 perience throughout the United 

 States clearly reveals that if the 

 organization is to maintain a serv- 

 ice program offering real benefits 

 to farmers it must be adequately 

 financed. Reduction in dues by 

 other State Farm Bureaus in- 

 variably has been followed by re- 

 duced membership. 



M. S. Winder, secretary of the 

 American Farm Bureau Federation, 



stated that when 

 he served as sec- 

 retary of the 

 Utah State Farm 

 Bureau the or- 

 ganization had a 

 $10 membership 

 fee, approxi- 

 m a t e 1 y 7,000 

 members, and a 

 real service pro- 

 gram which 

 represented the 

 farmers of the 

 state in tax 

 matters and leg- 

 islation and carried on organized 

 buying and other helpful projects. 

 Then the Board of Directors de- 

 cided to cut the dues to $5 in the 

 hope of doubling the membership. 

 The result was quite the contrary of 

 that expected. The membership 

 steadily declined largely because the 

 Farm Bureau was forced to dispense 

 with the services of its tax expert, 

 organization director, and other 

 employees. Within a few years the 

 membership had fallen from 7,000 

 to 1,800. 



Illinois puffers Less 



Secretary Geo. E. Metzger dis- 

 closed the results of a survey in 

 other states showing the decline in 

 membership since the high point 

 of the past six to eight years. Illi- 

 nois which has a higher member- 

 ship fee showed a smaller percent- 

 age reduction than any middle west 

 state, whereas the states having $5 

 fees and less showed the greatest 

 decline. Several Farm Bureaus which 

 have $10 dues showed greater re- 

 ductions in membership than the 

 I. A. A. but much less than reduc- 

 tions in the smaller fee states. 



An open discussion was held on 

 the question of the volunteer or- 

 ganization plan versus the paid 

 solicitor plan. No conclusions were 

 reached. ^-riV".;- •.■ i;' ' ; ;;. ■■-;•/■ ■ 



J. C. Spitler, state leader of farm 

 advisers, reviewed extension work 

 in Illinois over a 20 year period. He 



stated that few counties in Illinois 

 ever had taken advantage of the 

 1913 act which allows county 

 boards of supervisors to appro- 

 priate up to $5,000 annually for ex- 

 tension work in agriculture. Only 

 three or four counties in Illinois 

 make such appropriations at the 

 present time, he said. It has been 

 our experience that extension work 

 and Farm Bureau organization 

 thrive best where farmers them- 

 selves assume responsibility not 

 only for maintaining the organiza- 

 tion but also for directing exten- 

 sion and Farm Bureau work. 



Improve The Product 



George Thiem, director of in- 

 formation, called attention to the 

 need for maintaining favorable 

 public relations between the Farm 

 Bureau, its membership, non-mem- 

 bers, and the general public. If the 

 Farm Bureau is not thriving, the 

 first thing to do, he said, is to care- 

 fully analyze the situation, find out 

 where the weaknesses are, and then 

 correct them. When everything else 

 fails try improving the product, 

 said a wise advertising man. Let's 

 apply that advice to the Farm Bu- 

 reau. If the membership isn't up 

 to .par, try improving the service 

 program and make it so attractive 

 that farmers will want to belong. 

 There may be weaknesses in the 

 Farm Bureau management and if 

 so this situation should be corrected, 

 but oftentimes it is not so much 

 the personnel as lack of aggressive 

 administration of the service pro- 

 gram. More attention to publicity 

 to keep the members fully informed 

 about their opportunities for profit 

 in using Farm Bureau services was 

 urged as one way to build stronger 

 membership. 



Robert A. Cowles, treasurer of the 

 Association, led an active and valu- 

 able discussion on ways and means 

 of collecting Farm Bureau dues. He 

 outlined the collection plan de- 

 veloped by the treasurer, secretary, 

 and Mr. Vaniman by which com- 

 petent men are employed on a com- 

 mission basis — not exceeding 20 per 

 cent of the cash collected — ^to col- 

 lect past due items. C. E. Carrier 

 who was employed to collect in his 

 home counties, strongly urged Farm 

 Bureau leaders to act promptly in 

 collecting dues before they are more 

 than a year in arrears. "It is next 

 to impossible to make collections," 

 he said, "when the delinquent mem- 

 ber owes more than one year's 

 dues." 



The board of directors of the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association held 12 

 monthly meetings during 1932 with 

 only four absences. The board held a 

 brief session at Peoria Wednesday 

 morning Jan. 25 before the opening 

 of the regular meetings and confer- 

 ences of associated companies. 



Serum Association Makes 

 Good Record In Past Year 



Hear About Efforts To Prevent 

 Farmers From Vaccinating 



THE Illinois Farm Bureau Serum 

 Association during 1932 handled 

 more than 41,000,000 cc of serum 

 and virus for the benefit of 77 

 member counties Secretary Ray E. 

 Miller reported at the annual meet- 

 ing, Peoria, Jan. 25. I 



The report showed the organiza- . 

 tion to be in excellent financial 

 condition with a total net worth of 

 $23,188.80. The Association paid 

 dividends on all outstanding pre- 

 ferred stock. Cholera outbreaks, it 

 was reported, were considerably less 

 than in the previous year. 



Some discussion was had regard- 

 ing the efforts of organized vet- 

 erinarians to prevent farmers from 

 vaccinating their own pigs. The at- 

 tack, brought to a head in the re- 

 port of the so-called Shannon in- 

 vestigation committee, centered on 

 farm advisers for their efforts in 

 advocating livestock sanitation and 

 disease prevention. It was brought 

 out that the attack against Farm 

 Bureau Serum Service was prompted 

 by the reduced income and profits 

 of veterinarians who believe that 

 they alone should be allowed to im- 

 munize pigs. 



All the evidence shows that for 

 the most part farmers who vacci- 

 nate their own pigs are more care- 

 ful in the use of serum and virus 

 than professionals and that as a re- 

 sult there has been less loss in Illi- 

 nois from hog cholera and other 

 swine diseases since the Farm Bu- 

 reaus took hold of the situation. 



The fact that farmers are now 

 saving thousands of dollars an- 

 nually not only in the cost of pro- 

 tecting their herds against cholera, 

 but also in the less frequent losses 

 of livestock as shown by facts and 

 figures, is unanswerable argument 

 favoring the continuation of this 

 helpful service, members agreed. 



The report before the Shannon 

 Committee regarding activities of 

 the Farm Bureaus in hog cholera 

 control and livestock sanitation 

 work, together with many spurious 

 conclusions was submitted by D. F. 

 Luckey, secretary of the Illinois 

 State Veterinary Medical Ass'n. 



Directors of the Serum Associa- 

 tion all were re-elected. Chas. S. 

 Black of Jacksonville was added to 

 the board as a representative of the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association. Of- 

 ficers and directors of the Associa- 

 tion are as follows: Samuel Sorrells, 

 Raymond, president; Edgar Wal- 

 ther, Port Byron, vice - president; 

 Ray E. Miller, Chicago, secy.-treas.; 

 Adam McWilliam, Toulon; W. H. 

 Stockley, Earlville; A. B. Schofleld, 

 Paxton; James Gillespie, Lawrence- 

 ville. 



