..; AS FARMERS 

 FORWARD GO 



ORGANIZATION NOTES 



n 



By O. D. Brisfenden 



"T IFE has afforded me no greater 



" satisfaction than the joy I have 

 darived from the slow, steady, and sus- 

 tained gain in prestige which agricul- 

 ture has made as our farm organiza- 

 tions have grown and developed.' 



"Yet, anyone who studies modern 

 trends must be impressed with the fact 

 that as the country grows, farmers are 

 destined to become a smaller and 

 smaller segment of the total popula- 

 tion. 



"That must inevitably mean that the 

 impact of the pressure of other organ- 

 ized groups upon agriculture will be 

 intensified. T.hat pressure may not be 

 by design, or out of hostility, but it 

 will be there, nevertheless. Let us 

 never forget the lessons of history 

 which show that the downfall of many 

 a nation was begun when the rulers 

 yielded to the demands of consumers • 

 for cheap food. 



"Farmers can protect agriculture's 

 historic tradition of freedom and in- 

 dependence, and they can bring about 

 national farm policies that will pre- 

 serve the Nation's greatest source of 

 wealth, the soil, for the welfare of 

 future generations — they can do these 

 things, I say, if they will join together 

 to form organizations as strong, rela- 

 tively, as the organization of other 

 groups. There is no other way." 

 (Statement by. Edward A. O'Neal, 

 AFBF president, in the pamphlet, "Will 

 A Million Members Be Enough?") 



After 45 sessions, serving 65 counties, the 

 series of M-M meetings neared its scheduled 

 close March 31. 



However, counties where meetings had to 

 be postponed, or in which they were not 

 scheduled, may get some April or May dates. 

 Contact Claar, Hombeck or Moore. 



Results are beginning to be apparent as 

 counties set out on the programs adopted at 

 M-M meetings. One outstanding fact is that 

 county directors or organization committees 

 have set challenging membership goals — 

 higher than estimated in advance by lAA field- 

 men in many instances. This indicates that 

 farmers realize keenly that now is the time 

 to build their organizations strong to meet 

 the problems of war and post-war. 



Employees, both of Farm Bureaus and the 

 subsidiaries, have had excellent attendance rec- 

 ords and have shown by their discussions that 

 they fully realize their opportunity and re- 

 sponsibility in maintaining lAA membership 

 above the 100,000 mark. 



County Farm Bureau assembled 165 strong for 

 an enthusiastic organization school. Member- 

 ship reports from that county since that date 

 indicate a most successful drive. Forty-nine new 

 members were reported during the week the 

 meeting was held. 



Livingston County Farm Bureau held its 

 new member meeting March 14 with 310 

 in attendance. Lee Fillingham Seaman 1/C, 

 who has been in the Navy for two years, was 

 present. He has continued to pay his mem- 

 bership dues during that time, and expects 

 to return to the farm as an enthusiastic Farm 

 Bureau member at the close of the war. G. 

 H. Iftner, director of grain marketing for 

 the lAA, was the speaker at the meeting. 



Early reports from Richland County Farm 

 Bureau's membership drive indicate 46 new 

 members signed. 



Lt. Gene StadeL right, iormer COD in 

 Mcmihall-Putnam county, attended the 

 organization conierence at Farm and 

 Home Week. At left is I. Clint Miller. 

 Winnebago COD. 



Emmett Keim, St. Clair COD, completed 

 his 105% dues income quota during the first 

 week of February. St. Qair county can be 

 proud of this attainment and the splendid 

 increase in membership experienced in recent 

 months. 



J. Walker Robbins, Champaign COD, re- 

 f)orts that during the first 10 work days of 

 March, 20 new members were signed and 

 paid the full $15 in every case. Full dues 

 were collected from 128 old members, and 

 one-half dues from three others. 



Greene, Macoupin, Randolph, Qinton, 

 Washington, Coles, Kane, White, Lawrence, 

 and many other counties staged special mem- 

 bership activity during March. 



Will County Farm Bureau membership has 

 increased more than 250% during the past 

 10 years, and now stands at more than 2000. 



Negotiations have been completed by 

 the board of directors of the Rock Island 

 County Farm Bureau to purchase a two- 

 story, red brick building in Moline as a 

 new home for the Farm Bureau and its 

 affiliates. 



Braving icy winds on one of the worst 

 nights this winter, the workers of Kankakee 



Board of the Ford County Farm Bu- 

 reau also has bought a building four 

 doors west of its present location in 

 Melvin. 





lockers 



By Frank Gougler 



THE COOPERATIVE LOCKER SERV- 

 ICE OF MT. CARMEL has recently let the 

 contract for the construction of a new 

 locker building 55 x 60 feet, to be con- 

 structed of glazed hollow tile. This build- 

 ing will accommodate 726 lockers and pro- 

 vide ample chill room space and a special 

 room for lard rendering and curing and 

 smoking of meat. The cost of the building 

 will be approximately $15,000 and a like 

 amount will be expended for equipment. 

 On a locker basis this will be approximately 

 $45 per locker when completed. 



KENDALL COUNTY COLD STORAGE 



LOCKER COMPANY has completed its 

 expansion program and patrons now have 

 the use of their lockers. This expansion 

 program has provided for enlarging the 

 plant at Yorkville, so that additional lock- 

 ers could be installed, and provides for a 

 larger chill room, as well as a larger and 

 more complete room for rendering lard, cur- 

 ing and smoking meat. 



Another unit of the association has been 

 established at Oswego which provides for 

 250 lockers. This small county of nine 

 townships has two complete plants, one at 

 Yorkville and one at Newark, with branch 

 plants at Plattville, Piano and Oswego. 

 Total number of lockers in all plants now 

 exceeds 1200. 



RICHLAND AND COLES COUNTY 



FARM BUREAUS have under consideration 

 the setting up of a locker plant in each 

 county. If there is sufficient interest in 

 Coles county, a plant will be located at 

 Charleston. A committee of the Farm Bu- 

 reau board has been named to make a sur- 

 vey of membership interest in this project. 

 Richland county's interest centers around 

 Noble. Here, too, the Farm Bureau has 

 named a committee to work with local lead- 

 ers in carrying the project forward. 



STARK COUNTY operates three com- 

 plete locker plants at Bradford, Wyoming 

 and Toulon. Because of the great demand 

 for lockers, the plants at Toulon and Wyo- 

 ming have been enlarged and approval has 

 been had from WPB for enlarging the Brad- 

 ford plant. After expanding, each plant has 

 over 600 lockers, making a total of more 

 than 1800 for the county. All three plants 

 are complete plants, including lard render- 

 ing and curing and smoking. All plants are 

 governed by a board of directors of nine 

 members, all of whom are Farm Bureau 

 members, and Miss Kathryn Craig is county 

 manager and bookkeeper. The locker as- 

 sociation has issued 2000 shares of "B" 

 stock to the Stark County Farm Bureau. 



About 65 leaders from Illinois ccx>perattve 



locker plants met in Chicago in March 

 to discuss problems confronting locker 

 boards and managers. The following major 

 subjects were discussed: 



George E. Metzger, lAA field secretary, 

 outlined relationship policies which had 



I. A. A. RECORD 



