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I. A. A. Record— April. 1»34 



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I li Li I N OlS 



COLTVBAL ASSOCIA 



RE CO 



^ /A. 



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To advance the purpose for which the Farm Bureau was or- 

 ganized namely, to promote, protect and represent the busi' 

 ness, economic, political and educational interests of the 

 ' farmers of Illinois and the nation, and to develop agriculture. 



■: George Thiem, Editor • • 



'■■ y'''-"' ''■■■■'V'': ':'■'■■■ ':S John Tracy, Ass't Editor. ^:•^■ v';;'-'' :••••'-■.:■■'•■:::• '■' 



Published monthly by the Illinois Agricultural Association at 165 So, 

 Maim St., Spencer, Ind. Editorial Officer, 608 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, 

 111. Entered as second class matter at post office, Spencer, Ind. Accept- 

 ance for mailing at special rate of postage provided in Section 412. 

 Act of Feb. 28, 1925, authorized Oct. 27, 1925. Address all communications 

 for publication to Editorial Offices, Illinois Agricultural Association Record, 

 608 So. Dearborn St., Chicago. The individual membership fee of the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association is five dollars a year. The fee includes 

 payment of fifty cents for subscription to the Illinois Agricultural As- 

 sociation Record. Postmaster: In returning an uncalled for missent copy 

 please indicate key number on address as is required by law* 



•••' ■'"'•'"■■^ ••■■ ■":-'-'■'■■'''■ ■■■■-•■ OFFICERS . . :/i;-' ■;•■'■ :-':^';-'; ;■■''■ ''' "'""■'■^ 



President, Earl C. Smith .....Detroit 



Vice-President, A. R. Wright Varna 



Secretary, Geo. B. Metzger Chicago 



Treasurer, R. A. Cowles Bloomington 



BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

 . V • (By Congressional District) 



Ist to 11th. . . . B. Harris, Grayslake 



12th E. B. Houghtby , Shabbona 



13th C. B. Bamborough, Polo 



14 th .Otto Stef fey, Stronghurst 



15th M. Ray Ihrig, Golden 



> 16th Albert Hayes, Chillicothe 



17th E. D. Lawrence, Bloomington 



18th Mont Fox, Oakwood 



19th Eugene Curtis, Champaign 



20th Charles S. Black, Jacksonville 



2l8t Samuel Sorrells, Raymond 



. 22nd A. 0. Eckert, Belleville 



23rd W. L. Cope, Salem 



24tb Charles Marshall, Belknap 



25th R^ B. Endicott, Villa Ridge 



DEPARTMENT DIRECTORS ; >; v 



Comptroller J ... .J. H. Kelker 



Dairy Marketing j. B. Countiss 



E^nance r. a. Cowles 



Fruit and Vegetable Marketing H. W. Day 



Information George Thiem 



Insurance Service V. Vanlman 



l^S** Donald Kirkpatrlck 



Live Stock Marketing Ray B. Miller 



5'^*^® C. E. Johnston 



Organization 6. B. Metzger 



Produce Marketing p. a. Gougler 



Taxation and Statistics j. C. Watson 



Transportation Div'n , .G. W. Baxter 



ASSOCIATED ORGANIZATIONS 



Country Life Insurance Co L. A. Williams, Mgr, 



Farmers Mutual Reinsurance Co J. H. Kelker, Mgr. 



Illinois Agricultural Auditing Ass*n P. D. Ringham, Mgr. 



Illinois Agricultural Mutual Insurance Co A. E. Richardson, Mgr. 



Illinois Farm Supply Co L. R. Marchant, Mgr. 



Illinois Fruit Growers Exchange H. W. Day, Mgr. 



Illinois Grain Corp Harrison Fahrnkopf , Mgr. 



Illinois Livestock Marketing Ass*n Ray Miller, Mgr. 



Illinois Producers Creameries.. .F. A. Gougler, Mgr., J. B. Couatiss, Sales 



Soybean Marketing Ass'n J. W. Armstrong, Pres. 



Return Your Friends To Office 



HE Illinois Agricultural Association has endeavored 

 since its organization to represent and protect the 

 best interests of Illinois farmers in legislation. At 

 the same time it has endeavored to be constructive, non- 

 partisan, fair, and helpful to successive administrations in 

 working for good government and the welfare of the State 

 as a whole. 



This policy has been adhered to in the regular and spe- 

 cial sessions of the present General Assembly. In bring- 

 ing to the membership, in the accompanying article, a re- 

 port of leading measures considered in the regular and 

 first special sessions, an effort has been made to present 

 briefly the issues of greatest consequence to agriculture 

 and to show by official records how downstate senators 

 and representatives voted thereon. 



To place the welfare of their constituents as a whole 

 above partisan considerations is the obvious duty of mem- 

 bers elected to the state legislature. Farmers have a right 

 to expect that due consideration be given agricultural in- 

 terests by the men and women representing them at 

 Springfield. •;■:.. ..,. 



Vfe ask that every member of the County Farm Bu- 

 reaus and Illinois Agricultural Association carefully read 



this report of the legislative committee and study the vot- 

 ing records of their legislators, most of whom are seek- 

 ing renomination in the April primaries. 



By actively supporting only candidates for re-election 

 who are considerate of the welfare of agriculture as 

 shown by their voting records, farmers can best exercise-; 

 proper influence to secure honest, fair, and constructive 

 legislation. Only by so doing can they hope to have effec-. 

 tive representation in the legislative councils of the state 

 and nation. S ■'■'■■■''::'■'■ -'■^^'■^^^ . V'-A'-.^y';./'''^ ••■•;'; 



c Let's Try Co-bpeirative Marketing 



HAT the smaller interior packers in Iowa and 

 Minnesota started the vicious circle of lower and 

 lower hog prices by buying direct from farmers 

 for less is the interesting opinion advanced by Prof. Ashby 

 of the Illinois College of Agriculture at the recent annual 

 meeting of the Chicago Producers. Aided by an advan- 

 tageous freight rate on dressed meats to eastern markets, 

 and by lower cost hogs, these interior packers, he says, 

 were enabled to undersell the larger packers operating at 

 Chicago and other terminal markets. ■ ^ 



Spurred on by this competition the big packers went 

 to the country also to buy the better light hogs for less 

 with the result that prices at the terminal markets, suf- 

 fering from less buying competition, were constantly 

 driven lower. And as the terminal prices were driven down, 

 prices in the country which are based on the Chicago 

 market, also declined. 



This is a logical explanation of the effect of direct buy- 

 ing on hog prices. More important price-determining 

 factors, of course, are the total supply of hogs, and the 

 outlet for dressed pork and lard both at home and abroad. 

 Foreign demand for our pork and lard we know has al- 

 most vanished although supplies have been maintained. 

 Buying power in our industrial centers likewise has been 

 below standard. Thus the influence of the direct buying 

 trend on price is difficult to measure. -• • ' -■- ■ • ■■■ • ■ " ■ ^^-^ 

 President Earl Smith, speaking at the same meeting, 

 outlined the solution to the problem though it is not an 

 easy one. That is to ORGANIZE producers, ORGANIZE 

 both for production control and marketing so as to feed 

 a supply of hogs into a price. Farmers never have really 

 tried co-operative livestock marketing. Why not give it a 

 trial by concentrating 75 per cent or more of livestock in 

 our own co-operative agencies whether at the terminals or 

 at county points ? Farmers are organizing under the corn- 

 hog program to reduce hog supplies in the coming year. 

 From 85 to 90 per cent of corn-hog growers are going 

 along with the reduction program in Illinois and Iowa. 

 Let's apply the same organization to marketing and cut 

 out this business of one producer underselling another. 



Narrowing the Spread 



How a meeting of cream producers held in Ford 

 county many years ago resulted in raising the price 

 of butterfat locally from 37 to 40 cents a pound 

 was related by A. D. Lynch of St. Louis at the recent 

 annual meeting of the Farmers Creamery Company, 

 Bloomington. 



The meeting was held over a store, Mr. Lynch said, and 

 directly across the street there was a private cream sta- 

 tion. On the blackboard in front of the station the pro- 

 prietor had posted the price of 37 cents per pound. The 

 station was open that evening apparently to attract at- 

 tention of farmers attending the meeting. While the ses- 

 sion was underway, the cream station operator learned 

 that the producers were organizing a co-operative cream 

 pool. A few hours later when the meeting adjourned, 



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