RockFord Milk Producers 



Harmony Reigns on This Market Between Producers, 



Distributors and Consumers 



ONE OF the thriving milk pro- 

 ducer co-operatives in Illinois is 

 the Midwest -Dairymen's Com- 

 pany representing some 700 producers 

 around the Rockford market. During 

 the past year this organization, under 

 the direction of an active board of 

 directors and an able manager, Wiikie 

 Lee, assisted in stabilizing marketing 

 conditions at Rockford, initiated a 

 successful quality improvement pro- 

 gram, developed a fine working re- 

 lationship with all the distributors, 

 laid plans for boosting consumption 

 of dairy products, and added a com- 

 fortable reserve to its treasury. 



The road to success for the Midwest 

 followed a meeting of the board more 

 than a year ago with J. B. Countiss, 

 dairy marketing director with the lUi- 

 :nois Agricultural Association. Mr. 

 Countiss outlined a program and sug- 

 gested the employment of Wiikie Lee, 

 a former classmate at the University 

 of Illinois, as manager. 



Setup Changed 



s ■-. 



.:«>.• 



At the annual meeting and dinner in 

 February, attended by practically all 

 the milk producers serving that mar- 

 ket, the organization changed from a 

 T membership to a stock setup and voted 

 to issue "B" stock to the Illinois Agri* 

 cultural Association. 



As a result of the quality improve- 

 ment program the average bacteria 

 count on bottled milk was reduced 

 from 50,000 per cubic centimeters to 

 approximately 12,500. This was done 

 largely by getting members to sterilize 

 utensils with chlorine solution just be- 

 . fore milking, and through prompt cool- 

 ing. .-, 



"This inexpensive program we find 

 saved a good many thousand pounds 

 of milk which otherwise would have 

 been returned to the farm," said Lee. 

 "We believe our producers are happy 

 with the way this program has worked 

 out. A good many farm housewives 

 told us that the milk they save for 

 their own use keeps much better than 

 ■before. ,^; '7 -• ' - '• '■ ^::^;P:. ': •' :..:' \ 



"We have had splendid co-operation 

 of our producers, distributors, and 

 inilk haulers during the past year,'* 

 continued Lee. "We have secured this 

 by attempting to be fair to all parties 

 concerned and to understand their 

 problems. We have found in the mat- 

 ter of service to our distributors that 



the old time bargaining association, 

 organized for the one purpose of se- 

 curing the highest possible share of 

 the consumer's dollar, is being re- 

 placed by an organization, which in 

 addition to the bargaining function as- 

 sists in eliminating unfair trade prac- 

 tices, price cutting, slipshod advertis- 

 ing methods, etc. Through such co- 

 operation we can secure a larger per- 

 centage of the consumer's dollar than 

 heretofore. We have found that the 

 inefficiency of our distributors ^reflects 

 in the spread in price between what 

 the consumer pays and what the pro- 

 ducer receives. 



Simple Classification 



\.- 



"On January 1, 1933, our market 

 discarded the old method of selling 

 milk on the basis of distributors' sales 

 reports on various uses. We adopted in 

 its place a classification more simple 

 and fair. To all of our distributors, 

 except one, we charge Class I price 

 for all milk delivered, regardless of 

 its use, so that as soon as we receive 

 and total up — at the end of the month 

 — ^the amount of milk received and 

 the differential for test, we can figure 

 exactly what their statement should 



be. V-, •, • :•...■;':•-•■.;..■•■. -.s- 



'*To the one exception we sell two 

 classes of milk: Class I for their 

 fluid milk and cream requirements at 

 Class I price, while the milk used for 



ice cream mix is sold on the basis of 

 Class II price, which is the price paid 

 at adjacent condenseries. This classi- 

 fication has been verified semi-an- 

 nually by our own auditor, as a pro«^ 

 tection to ourselves and the other 

 distributors in the city. All additional 

 milk is sold to condenseries at the pre- 

 vailing condensery price. 



"All milk sold by this Association 

 is tested by our own tester, with the 

 privilege on the part of the distrib- 

 utor to re-check should he so desire. 

 This has worked out very satisfac- 

 torily, both for the producer and the 

 distributor. ^a 



Adopt Zoning Plan ;. : v 



"As a result of the per capita con-^ 

 sumption being reduced from .82 of a 

 quart, three years ago, to a present 

 .77 of a pint, we have gone into an 

 educational program for the purpose 

 of giving the consumer a better con- 

 ception of the quality and food value 

 of our product. V: t^^^^ : 



"Early in the spring of 1933 our 

 organization adopted a zoning plan 

 which provides for taking in new pro- 

 ducers and giving them a base of 50 

 per cent of the average of their first 

 three full months' production, provid- 

 ing they live within a radius of eight 

 miles from the central part of the 

 city. Outside of that zone, old memr: 

 berships were continued where they 

 remain within the regular established 

 route. The purpose of this action was 

 to keep from extending our milk shed 

 out further. This policy has had a 

 tendency to concentrate our inside 

 area immediately adjacent to the city, 

 and the results have proved the plan 

 to be sound. . . : .; 



-,;...;■■•;/' ;\t;:;:"-v..;-;/v-:-.';".^''::^': 



"We also changed our base plan. 





■ ••■.*•■ V- 



\» «. 



:■••< . 



President H. M. Mainland, left and Wiikie Lee, manager of tlie Hidwest Dairymen's Company, 

 Rockford, talking over the ABSOciation's good ihowing during the past fiscal year. The Midwest haa 

 700 producer memben and furnished 12 diitrihutori with their entire milk supply during tke past year. 



•j.^ 



I-, . A - . .. \^ - 



JUNE. 1»34 A Jl 



1 . ■ 



/» ••■ 



■ iv' • •'■ 



