.;•• 



..■•.."' 



M*. 



/\/\/\ 



icense nearinqs 



Milk Producers Seek Fair Prices Under Market Administrator 



THE age-old battle of the milk pro- 

 ducer in his efforts to gain a fair 

 share of the consumer's dairy dollar 

 was re-enacted at a series of hearings 

 sponsored by the AAA held at Peoria, 

 Rockford, Champaign, Bloomington, 

 Danville, Decatur and Benton during Au- 

 gust. 



Chief Examiner for the federal Ad- 

 justment Administration was Harry C. 

 Cook, assisted by J. T. Flythe, govern- 

 ment attorney; George Irvine, economist; 

 Daniel M. Dent of the Consumers' Coun- 

 cil; and P. S. Milberg, official reporter 

 for the National House of Representa- 

 tives who took down testimony and evi- 

 dence. 



;; At Peoria where the Roszell Bros, are 

 reported to have told so-called "inde- 

 pendent" milk producers that they would 

 lose their market unless they oppose a 

 government license, a warm two-day ses- 

 sion was held. On the opening morning 

 the Red Room of the Jefferson Hotel, 

 hot and stifling, was packed with pro- 

 ducers who overflowed into the corridors 

 long before the opening of the meeting 

 at 9:30 A. M. v^ v ^ 



■ ■ ■ •■■■•• _>:■,',_"■■. .:■ . , . . ■ •" ••••' 



^ /'Independent'* Badges ■ C 



, Bystanders stated that Roszell's had 

 organized the "Independents" and pro- 

 vided trucks to haul them to the meet- 

 ing from points as distant as Pontiac, 

 more than 50 miles away. Wearing large 

 badges labeled "Independent" these pro- 

 ducers who plainly had been misinformed 

 filled the front seats at the opening ses- 

 sion. 



By the end of the day the "Independ- 

 ents" were a disillusioned lot of pro- 

 ducers who realized they had been duped, 

 that there was nothing in the proposed 

 license to bar their milk from the Peoria 

 market. The badges were conspicuous by 

 their absence the second day. 



Witnesses who appeared for the Peoria 

 Producers Dairy, representing the or- 

 ganized milk producers in the territory, 

 were: President Ryland Capron, Man- 

 ager Wilfred Shaw, Secretary John Ha- 

 genstoz, Albert Hayes, president of the 

 Peoria County Farm Bureau, and oth- 

 ers. Donald Kirkpatrick and Paul 

 Mathias of the I. A. A. legal department, 

 J. B. Countiss, dairy marketing director, 

 and George Thiem, director of informa- 

 tion, attended the hearing. 



Attorneys Heyl and Bradley repre- 

 sented the Roszell Dairy and the Illinois 

 Milk Dealers Association which seemed 

 to be leading the fight against the li- 

 cense. Opposing witnesses were largely 



local producers who had been given spe- 

 cial consideration in prices for their milk; 

 Officers of the Producers Association 

 disclosed that farmers were getting a lit- 

 tle more than $1 per cwt. as a net 

 weighted average price for milk while 

 dealers were charging the consumer 10 

 cents a quart. Organized producers are 

 asking for a Class I price of around |2 

 per cwt., 92 score butter plus 20 per cent, 

 plus 20 cents per cwt. for Class II, and 

 approximately butterfat plus 10 cents for 

 Class III. 



' '." 'i • 



' •' Attack Cooperative 



In cross-questioning President Capron 

 of the Producers Dairy, Attorney Heyl 

 for the distributors sought to attack the 

 co-operative and shake the confidence of 

 organized producers in their Association. 



Manager Shaw testified that much of 

 the milk entering the Peoria market was 

 manufactured into such products as but- 

 ter, cheese, ice cream mix, etc., which 

 entered interstate commerce. The dis- 

 tributors' attorney tried unsuccessfully 

 to undermine this testimony. Shaw also 

 stated that local distributors had shipped 

 dairy products to St. Louis at the time 

 of the strike there. 



The chief argument advanced by the 

 distributors was that the milk license 

 would disturb the market and that the 

 government had no jurisdiction because 

 their business was strictly intrastate. 

 "This market has been in a disturbed 

 condition for several years," said Albert 

 Hayes, speaking for the producers, "and 

 this meeting is a fair sample of what 

 we've had to contend with." He stated 

 that many markets were now operating 

 successfully under AAA milk-licenses 



which have been helpful in improving 

 conditions for the producer. 



Archie McPhedran of Peru, president 

 of the Mississippi Valley Milk Producers 

 spoke briefly reviewing conditions at 

 Peoria and other markets and pointing 

 out the need at Peoria and other markets 

 for narrowing the price spread between 

 producer and consumer. 



Answering the question why the Pro- 

 ducers Dairy was not able to pay more 

 than the dealers for milk, Mr. Hayes 

 stated that only 20 per cent of milk re-* 

 ceived by the Producers Dairy goes in- 

 to the fluid milk class which commands 

 a premium, whereas nearly all of the 

 milk purchased by other distributors 

 goes into the fluid class which retails at 

 10 cents per quart. 



At Rockford where distributors and 

 producers have been getting on well un- 

 der a contract which pays the farmer 

 $1.85 per cwt. for all milk delivered. 

 President Mainland and Manager Wilkie 

 Lee of the Midwest Dairymen's Company 

 testified for the producers. They re- 

 quested that the operation of a license 

 be postponed for this market until the 

 occasion for its use arises. At Rockford 

 the so-called "dip" stations on the out- 

 skirts of the city, of which there are 

 more than 30, opposed the license. Dis- 

 tributors expressed the belief that the 

 license was not needed at that market. 

 Attorney Heyl also represented distribu- 

 tors at Champaign. :---y:i^::'-y:M''- ; ' 



■..%•■ v'-v ■-'■'■ ^A • ^'w' ■ .. '•;■'•<-•.• • ■■ .' ■ -■ •■ ». • '■ ■ 



,;-:i'^^-'^to Will File'Briefs ':.^'--:':^';^-:V:^-.' 



\ As this is written, hearings have not 

 been completed at all the markets men- 

 tioned above. - - ^ . ; / - 

 Briefs will be prepared by the variouau 

 producer groups with the aid of the 

 I. A. A. Legal and Dairy Departments at 

 the conclusion of the hearings and sent 

 to the AAA Dairy Division at Washing- 

 ton. It is believed that one market ad- 

 ministrator will be capable of supervis- 

 ing all or nearly all the downstate mar- 

 kets when licenses are issued. ■ ;/ 



.. ■ *. * f 



■':}. 



PLANT, EMPLOYEES, AND DELIVERY TRUCKS OF THE QUINCY CO-OPERATIVE MILK PRODUCERS* 

 Association. Five snow-white trucks and eight wagons drawn by grey horses deliver a full line of 

 dairy produets on each route. The Quincy Co-operative dairy has found it profitable to have clean and 

 attractive vehicles. Every employee is gi^ek». i^ : n\edica|^ examination twice a year, 



SEPTEMBER, 1934 



