EDITORIAL 



Farmers are Indignant! 



Farmers are indignant over what they rightfully feel 

 is an indefensible situation in the hog market. The Illinois 

 Agricultural Association has time and again urged that ade- 

 quate steps be taken by the government to fulfill its com- 

 mitments to hog producers. Some adjustments have been 

 made but the fact remains that practices which are being 

 followed by the buyers of hogs are resulting in serious 

 losses to producers. 



President Earl C. Smith summed up the situation in 

 his recent address before the Illinois Bankers Association in 

 Chicago when he said: "Farmers have done a better job 

 in producing food than the government has done in meet- 

 ing its commitments to them. 



"It was in response to urgent appeals of the govern- 

 ment that farmers greatly increased hog production. They 

 were promised support prices which have not been fulfilled 

 in practice. 



"For weeks we have witnessed the purcha.se of hogs 

 outside government support weights at indefensibly cheap 

 prices, and at the same time, hogs within the support 

 weights of 180 to 27() pounds are left in the pens from 

 day to day to shrink, become stale, and in some instances, 

 die, with serious losses to hog producers. 



"Packers are not justified in driving the average 

 drove cost of hogs to the lowest level of two years, because 

 subsidies which the packers receive from the government 

 on all hogs slaughtered otfset any adjustments which were 

 made in retail price ceilings. 



"I am fearful that advantages taken bv bu\ers during 

 recent weeks, together with the neglect of government to 

 take steps in seeing that its commitments are fulfilled, will 

 result in a breakdown in production and shortages in the 

 months ahead as a result of these shortsighted and i-n- 

 justitied policies " 



Where Cooperation Has Paid 



During recent nmntlis. the lAA Ri(()Ri) has called 

 editorial attention to manv opportunities which Farm Bu- 

 reau offers its members to benefit from cooperation. Old 

 and new members alike should become familiar with and 

 support their marketing cooperatives and the cooperatives 

 set up to help them buy ccxjperatively. 



Among the Farm Bureau-sponsored cooperatives is 

 Illinois Producers' Creameries, with its ten member 

 creameries located at strategic marketing points in the 

 state. 



These cooperative creameries came into existence after 

 farmers had found that cream marketing presented prob- 

 lems that the individual could not solve — problems of 

 price, quality control, and service. 



They came into existence after an attempt to go half- 

 way, that is, to pool cream and sell it to old-line creameries, 

 had failed to produce the desired results, namely, to get a 

 price for butterfat mt)re nearly in line with the Chicago 

 90-score butter market and to stop price discriminations 

 on cream from certain parts of the state. 



A decade of operation has produced outstanding re- 

 sults. Many farmers in Illinois who have cream to sell — 

 whether or not they have been patrons of one of the Pro- 

 ducer creameries — receive from 4 to 6 cents a pound more 

 for their butterfat in the relation to the Chicago market 

 than they did before these cooperatives came into the pic- 

 ture. On 1000 fHJunds of butterfat that is a gain of from 

 S40 to $60 per year. 



Farmers have found that it pays to process and market 



their own butterfat. Prairie Farms butter has become a 

 standard of quality in the state, just as Producer prices 

 have vitally affected the price situation. Ever\- dollar put 

 into stock in the creameries is on the average worth S1.9S 

 in assets today. 



Better service — the tvvice-a-week pick-up in insulated 

 trucks, the accurate and impartial weighing and testing 

 by the farmers' own employees — these and many other 

 benefits have come as these creameries have developed. 



In the wartime market, with price control, susidies, 

 and a host of government regulations, and with the in- 

 creased demand for whole milk, the boards of Producer 

 Creameries have proved themselves able to cope with the 

 new problems. Today we have the creameries diversifying 

 operations, producing powdered milk and cheese, and 

 thus laying a foundation for a more flexible and adaptable 

 service in the future. 



Now is the time for farmers to build strong coopera- 

 tives — to give their full support to the marketing agencies 

 they own, control and operate. In the final analysis, the 

 success or failure of cooperatives depends largely upon 

 whether or not they receive the active cooperation of the 

 farmers they are set up to ser\e, providing, of course, that 

 they have proper management and are performing a 

 needed service. 



If you have cream to sell — if you believe in coopera- 

 tion, consider the record of Illinois Producers' Creameries, 

 and the advantages to you of dealing with and through 

 vour own successful marketing cooperative. 



Support the 5th War Loan Drive 



The Fifth War Loan Drive begins June 12. There is 

 hardly need at this stage in the great conflicts in which 

 our men are fighting to call attention to the fatt that huge 

 sums of money are required to properly equip them with 

 the weapons of modern warfare. There is hardly need to 

 point out that much of this money must come from loans 

 to the government in the form of War Bonds. 



Most of us know by this time that this is what war 

 means. We know we have a war to win, that millions of 

 young men and women arc fighting or preparing to fight 

 to bring about a victory which it is hoped will bring a last- 

 ing peace. 



However, it is well that we recognize that only next to 

 the importance of maintaining a substantial tax structure 

 to pay currently insofar as possible the cost of the war, is 

 the purcha.se of war Iwnds by individuals. 



From the standpoint of individual security, there- are 

 two rea.sons aside from p.itriotic duty why ever)onc should 

 subscribe for as many bonds as they are financially able to 

 buy. The first is that the larger the proportion of lx)nds 

 purchased by individuals, the less danger there is for a 

 disastrous inflation. The second is th.it bonds purchased 

 now will be a source of ready cash when they mature, or 

 before, if the need arises. 



Not a few farmers are inclined to agree with the pro- 

 fessor who, after listening to a discussion on how a post- 

 war depression was to be avioded, said dr>ly that "maybe it 

 isn't necessary to have a depression after a prolonged pe- 

 riod of inflation, but it sure is customar)." 



Maybe it's a little old fashioned to lay awav a good 

 sized nest egg for a rainy day, but the majority of farmers, 

 having gone through a score or more of pretty lean years 

 after the last war, know it's just gi)od horse sense and will 

 give the Fifth War Loan Drive their full support. 









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