Page Twenty-two 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



February, 1933 



Co-operative Finance New 

 ^^ Field For Organization 



C. V. Gregory and Department 

 Directors Address Market- 

 ing Conference 



SAM S0REELL8 



THAT farmers must soon get into 

 the field of co-operative finance 

 was the assertion made by C. V. 

 Gregory, editor of the Prairie Farm- 

 er, in the marketing conference at 

 the recent I. A. A. convention. Ap- 

 proximately 800 interested members 

 crowded into the ball room of the 

 Pere Marquette Hotel and a large 

 number were turned away because 

 of lack of room. 



The meeting was presided over by 

 Samuel S. Sor- 

 rells, chairman 

 of the market- 

 i n g committee 

 for the I. A. A. 



"You have 

 made millions of 

 dollars in the 

 past decade and 

 that money has 

 passed out of 

 your control into 

 banking institu- 

 tions in all parts 

 of the country," 

 he said. "By or- 

 ; ganlzing credit unions farmers' sur- 

 plus money can be kept in the 

 community where it is most needed. 

 From such a beginning we can build 

 r^ larger institutions in the future. 

 . For the present and perhaps for 

 . some years to come we may have to 

 depend on government credit, but 

 farmers should begin to plan to set 

 . , up their own financial credit 

 agencies on a sound basis." 



Not Enousii Alone 



In discussing co-operative mar- 

 : keting, Gregory said that the co- 

 operative program alone cannot 

 ,' save the farmer today. He said 

 they must adopt emergency meas- 

 ures. He expressed the belief that 

 patronage dividends are being over- 

 emphasized and are harming the 

 co-operative program. He believes 

 that the greatest opportunity in co- 

 operative marketing lies in concen- 

 trating a large volume of products 

 through the co-operatives to give 

 them bargaining power in influenc- 

 ing prices. 



W. H. Coultas reported that soy- 

 beans was one of the few farm 

 commodities, if not the only one, 

 that registered a price increase dur- 

 ing 1932. This was due in no small 

 measure to the volume of beans 

 controlled by the Soybean Market- 

 ing Association he said, and to the 

 Association's efforts in seeking and 

 finding export outlets, also in 

 stimulating new uses for soybean 

 products. 



F. A. Gougler, director of produce 



marketing, reported that more than 

 4,000,000 pounds of butterfat had 

 been marketed during 1932 by co- 

 operative produce associations. He 

 told the delegates that develop- 

 ments in the industry had rendered 

 necessary the establishment of co- 

 operative creameries because of un- 

 satisfactory outlets for cream, also 

 because of the immense quantities 

 of surplus milk accumulated on the 

 principal fluid markets. 



Much Surplus Milk 



J. B. Countiss, director of dairy 

 marketing, emphasized particularly 

 the immense quantities of surplus 

 milk which are being produced and 

 urged that both cream producers 

 and whole milk producers alike sup- 

 port the program as outlined by Mr, 

 Gougler. He described the co-op- 

 erative dairy rharketing organiza- 

 tions in Illinois which are now serv- 

 ing practically every principal mar- 

 ket. 



H. W. Day, director of fruit and 

 vegetable marketing, stated that 

 the extensive use of the truck is a 

 complicating factor in the market- 

 ing of fruits and vegetables. He 

 stated that this situation could be 

 corrected. by the centralized sale of 

 fruits and vegetables through the 

 Illinois Fruit Growers Exchange and 

 cited the accomplishments of that 

 organization in marketing apples 

 from western Illinois during the 

 past season. 



Harrison Fahrnkopf traced the 

 growth of the Illinois Grain Cor- 

 poration to its present membership 

 of 112 elevators throughout the 

 state. C. P. Cummings, manager, 

 told the delegates that Illinois 

 Grain Corp. had handled 9,463 cars 

 of grain during the past year or 

 14,500,000 bushels, and had a pres- 

 ent surplus of approximately $30,- 

 000. 



Livestock Biggest Crop 



Ray E. Miller, director of live- 

 stock marketing, stated that chang- 

 ing marketing conditions, partic- 

 ularly the use of the truck in trans- 

 portation and the increase in the 

 direct movement of livestock to 

 packers has resulted in the decline 

 of shipping associations. 



To meet this situation the de- 

 partment organized the Illinois 

 Livestock Marketing Association 

 with 8 district co-operative assem- 

 bling points and carried on educa- 

 tional work in 86 counties. Dur- 

 ing the 12 months' period ending 

 September 30, 1931 Illinois farmers 

 marketed through member agencies 

 of the National Livestock Market- 

 ing Association a total of 23,463 cars 

 of livestock. For the corresponding 

 period in 1932 they marketed 23,762 

 cars, although during the same pe- 

 riod terminal market receipts of 

 hogs on the Chicago market de- 

 clined 17 per cent. - - / 



O'Neal Lauds Work of 

 Organized Illinois Farmers 



A. F. B. F. President Tells About 



Lobbying at Washington in 



Stirring Address 



IF every state had an organization 

 like the Illinois Agricultural 

 Association we would have little 

 trouble in solving our problems, 

 President Edw. A. O'Neal, of the 

 American Farm Bureau Federation, 

 said in a stirring address before the 

 annual I. A. A. banquet in Peoria's 

 mammoth armory on Jan. 26. 



"The I. A. A. is the most influ- 

 ential state organization repre- ■ 

 sented at Washington. Your state 

 is carrying more than its share of ..:■ 

 the burden of fighting for the Amer- 

 ican farmer and you should feel .. 

 proud of the contribution you are ' 

 making for agricultural welfare in 

 America," he said. 



O'Neal gave an intimate descrip- 

 tion of lobbying at Washington for : 

 the domestic allotment bill and ', 

 other farm measures. He predicted 

 the passage of an honest dollar . 

 measure either in the present ses- 

 sion or in a special session of Con- 

 gress. 



Roosevelt With Us 



He expressed the assurance that -, 

 President-elect Roosevelt will co- 

 operate with organized farmers of 

 the nation in working out a new . 

 policy for agriculture. Mr. O'Neal 

 told of a conference he had had - 

 only a week before with the Presi- 

 dent-elect in which he secured a 

 definite promise that everything he 'I 

 said in his Topeka address in regard ," 

 to farm mortgages and surplus con- ,, 

 trol, he still supports. He further 

 confirmed this, said O'Neal, by ask- 

 ing help from Senator McNary, ; 

 chairman of the Senate Committee 

 on Agriculture, in passing the sur- < 

 plus control bill so that it could be ;, 

 expedited into law before March 4. - 



O'Neal stated that while farmers 

 have been successful in securing at- 

 tention in Washington other groups 

 are spending from six to 50 times as 

 much annually at the national 

 capitol as is the American Farm 

 Bureau. It is nothing unusual, he 

 said, for industrial and business 

 groups to spend more in one week 

 sending men into Washington than 

 we spend in a whole year. .:- 



The outspoken A. F. B. F. presi- 

 dent expressed the belief that on 

 farm legislation it is doubtful if the 

 Congress could function without 

 the leadership of the united farm 

 organizations. The farm organiza- 

 tions have succeeded in crystalliz- 

 ing support behind a definite pro- 

 gram and overcoming to some ex- 

 tent the lack of unity among the 

 members of the Congress, O'Neal 

 said. 



(Continued on page 26) -:^ ■- V; 





