TheN 



ew 



Or- 



S ganization Plan 



By Sec'y. George E. Metzger 



DURING the past two years per- 

 haps more study has been given 

 to organization by the staff 

 and officers of the Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Association than to any other 

 activity connected with the Farm Bu- 

 reau movement. 



These studies have necessarily been 

 due largely to the serious financial 

 condition brought about by business 

 depression. For many years the As- 

 sociation and County Farm Bureaus 

 have been using a volunteer system of 

 signing members. During the depres- 

 sion it became apparent that the vol- 

 unteer system 

 could not be con- 

 sistently followed 

 and the member- 

 8 h i p properly 

 maintained. 

 Therefore, some 

 experimen ting 

 was done, as is 

 common in all 

 business ci r cl e s 

 during this pe- 

 ri od, through 

 which small com- V ;, ; 

 missions were allowed a selected group 

 of men for the signing of membership. 



During a six months' period this 

 system resulted in the signing of 13,- 

 396 new members. After careful study 

 of this piece of work the I. A. A. 

 Board of Directors decided to intensify 

 the district plan of organization which 

 had been in effect for seven years, by 

 virtually placing a county organization 

 director in charge of organization and 

 collection work in each county or in a 

 very small group of counties. - v 



V. VANIMAN 



■ rji^i^ 



I' '•.\;<;';;C: r'v-''-- 71 Counties Act■:::;^•^•::.^^^•;^?■' 



A contract involving this principle, 

 with modest commissions to a county 

 organization director was worked oUt 

 and is now being presented to County 

 Farm Bureau boards of directors. As 

 of the date of this writing (May 15, 

 1934) 71 county Farm Bureau boards 

 have taken favorable action — 21 

 county organization directors have 

 been appointed by the secretary of the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association and 

 approved by the County Farm Bureau 

 boards and are, or will be, actively 

 engaged in their duties by June 1. 

 Probably another 15 or 20 county or- 

 ganization directors will have been 

 appointed and approved by the time 

 this article goes to press. Under the 

 agreement the county organization di- 

 rector becomes responsible for all or- 



MEETING OF LOCAL ADJUSTERS AT AMBOY, ILLINOIS ON APRIL 17. 



One of a series of seven meetings for local adjusters sponsored /by the lUinois Agricultural 

 Hutual Insurance Company. Center, Ass't. Mgr. Leslie V. (for Vim & Vigor) Drake. Right, Frank 

 £. (for Elegant) Billings. The man to the left in the vrrinkled suit is Manager A. E. Richardson^ 



ganization and collection activities 

 within the county. ■ ^ v 



This does not mean there will be no 

 volunteer work done. It does not mean 

 that the County Farm Bureau board 

 of directors or the farm adviser is en- 

 tirely relieved from membership re- 

 sponsibility. It does mean, however, 

 there will be an active directing head 

 for organization activity within the 

 county who will be responsible to a 

 county organization committee and to 

 the director of organization of the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association.- : * 



■;''',,: Uniform Agreement 



Further progress is being made in 

 organization affairs by an attempt by 

 the County Farm Bureau and Illinois 

 Agricultural Association to stand- 

 ardize many of the activities now 

 being carried on either directly or 

 through subsidiary organizations. 

 'A master uniform agreement has 

 been prepared, under the direction of 

 the board of directors of Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association, which is being 

 carried to all County Farm Bureau 

 boards for consideration and approval. 

 This agreement sets forth many of the 

 relationships existing between the 

 County Farm Bureau and Illinois Ag- 

 ricultural Association, and when 

 signed by proper officers of the Illi- 

 nois Agricultural Association and 

 County Farm Bureau, both parties 

 agree to attempt to standardize ac- 

 tivities so that such matters as the 

 definition of "membership in good 

 standing" and other policy matters 

 may become more uniform between 

 the various County Farm Bureaus of 

 the state. ^^ 



After the county organization direc- 



tor is appointed and approved, the co- 

 ordination of their work throughout 

 the state will be under the direction 

 of V. Vaniman, recently appointed di- 

 rector of organization service of the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association. Mr.; 

 Vaniman will prepare a sales service 

 sheet which will go regularly to the 

 county organization directors. They 

 will report to him regularly their ac-^ 

 tivities within the county. 

 ,:■ Under the direction of the secre- 

 tary of the Illinois Agricultural As- 

 sociation, a new record system is be-- 

 ing worked out whereby the member- 

 ship standing of each Farm Bureau 

 member can be more quickly and ac- 

 curately traced, either from the office 

 of the Illinois Agricultural Associa- 

 tion or County Farm Bureau. ^' 



At date of writing, approximately 

 75 counties have taken favorable ac- 

 tion approving the agreement. We 

 expect to make it 100 per cent by 

 July 1. 



Consider Sovtean Problem 



i A recent meeting was held in the 

 I. A. A. offices at the call of John 

 W. Armstrong, Champaign, president 

 of the Soybean Marketing Association, 

 to consider possibilities of new and 

 broader outlets and a better system of 

 marketing Illinois' coming soybean 

 crop. ■■-• -^ .:•.•:.:.■ .- 



A further meeting will be held the 

 latter part of May to hear reports of 

 committees designated to work on va- 

 rious angles of the problem.^ ;• - . 



f. '■•• .. >■■■■ 



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: • • ) . 



•( .• 



r. Vf . Jfiemeyer has been named genftral ag-ent 

 of the Farm Credit Administration of St. Louis. 

 He succeeds Wood Netherland who left May 1 

 to go with a private bank. 



JUNE, 1934 



ii 



