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Notwithstanding these and other prob- 

 lems and difficulties with which the or- 

 ganization has been confronted, it is with 

 both pleasure and much satisfaction that 

 I can report steady progress in the affairs 

 of the organization, and that the financial 

 position of the Association and all of its 

 associated companies has been improsed. 



A year ago I reported a membership 

 of 94,333 as of the close of the Associa- 

 tion's fiscal year, September 30, which 

 was then the highest paid membership in 

 the history of the organization. During 

 the annual meeting last year, we were all 

 thrilled when a beautiful banner was un- 

 furled disclosing a membership of 100,- 



000 Farm Bureau members in Illinois. 

 Enthusiasm created by this announce- 

 ment was naturally tempered by a feeling 

 of greater institutional responsibility to 

 provide and render service worthy of such 

 outstanding confidence. We all recog- 

 nized that as the membership grows, the 

 natural or normal turnover in member- 

 ship likewise increases, and that it would 

 be increasingly difficult to continue the 

 healthy growth the organization has en- 

 joyed for many years. It is, therefore, 

 with added pride and satisfaction that 



1 can report a membership of 105,057 

 at the close of the fiscal year, September 

 30. 



Organization Forges Ahead 



Certainly this is an attainment of which 

 we can all be proud. Credit for this 

 splendid business and membership rec- 

 ord, particularly under present day con- 

 ditions and limitations, goes rightly to 

 an understanding and loyal membership 

 and to one of the finest and most capable 

 groups of men and women on the Board 

 of Directors and on the staff that ever 

 surrounded a leader of an organization. 

 It is with a great deal of personal pleas- 

 ure and official satisfaction that I ex- 

 press to them publicly, my deep apprecia- 

 tion of their conscientious service and 

 their loyal cooperation. 



Neither time nor present day respon- 

 sibilities permit me to make other than 

 brief mention of the problems and ac- 

 complishments of the several business 

 service corporations affiliated with the 

 Association. Many of these problems 

 have been difficult to solve. Some re- 

 main unsolved, but in every case, accom- 

 plishments have been outstanding. How- 

 ever, we recognize that the associated 

 companies held their annual meetings this 

 week where opportunity was afforded for 

 complete reports and the consideration of 

 their respective affairs. 



Illinois Agricultural Auditing 

 Association 



The Illinois Agricultural Auditing As- 

 sociation completed 437 audits for 409 

 members. This work required 37,876 



hours of auditing time, and 58,191 miles 

 of travel. The Association filed 188 in- 

 come tax and capital stock tax returns, 

 110 information returns, and secured 

 three letters of tax exemption for its 

 members. The taxes paid by these co- 

 operatives approximated $226,000. When 

 measured from the standpoint of avail- 

 able, experienced manpower and the lim- 

 itations of travel, the record of the Audit- 

 ing Association is not only commendable, 

 but very outstanding. 



Farmers Mutual Reinsurance Company 



The Farmers Mutual Reinsurance Com- 

 pany had $339,663,235.00 of insurance 

 in force at the close of its fiscal year, 

 September 30, — a net gain for the year 

 of $68,633,760.00. It paid loss claims 

 totaling $838,366.10, paid dividends to 

 its policyholders in the amount of $467,- 

 693.29, and added $242,009.89 to its 

 surplus, which at the slose of the year 

 was $1,840,598.56. 



Illinois Farm Bureau Serum 

 Association 



The Illinois Farm Bureau Serum Asso- 

 ciation purchased for its members 48,- 

 820,435 cubic centimeters of serum and 

 virus during the year. In addition to 

 dividends of $3,500.00 upon its capital 

 stock, the Association returned to its 

 members cash patronage dividends of 

 $52,555.02, and added $1,480.10 to its 

 surplus. 



Illinois Agricultural Mutual 

 Insurance Company 



The Illinois Agricultural Mutual Insur- 

 ance Company had one of its most suc- 

 cessful years. At the close of business 

 September 30, a total of 135,738 policies 

 were in force — an increase of 16,206 

 for the year. Its total incurred losses for 

 the year were $1,489,320.33, and the 

 Company paid $1,117,311.66 in regular 

 and special dividends to its policyholders. 



Illinois Farm Supply Company 



Although forced to meet serious cur- 

 tailment of available merchandise, the 

 sales of the Illinois Farm Supply Com- 

 pany were the highest of record. It pur- 

 chased and distributed 124,000,000 gal- 

 lons of petroleum products, and seventy- 

 eight percent (78%) of this total was 

 handled by its own transp>ortation sys- 

 tem. Its feed division distributed 39,- 

 337 tons of Blue Seal feeds and in- 

 gredients. The Company had a net in- 

 come of $922,559.89, and of this amount 

 paid $749,810.00 in cash patronage div- 

 idends to its 152 member companies. 

 The records disclose that from the opera- 

 tions of this Company and its member 

 companies, $2,009,986.45 was paid to 

 Farm Bureau members of Illinois in the 

 form of patronage dividends. 



Country Life Insurance Company 



When measured from any standpoint, 

 the Country Life Insurance Company had 

 its most successful year. 12,372 new 

 policies of life insurance totaling $30,- 

 595,915.00 were issued. At the close of 

 its fiscal year, 129,336 policies were in 

 force, covering $22,059,698.00 of life 

 insurance. At the close of its fiscal year 

 the Company had total assets of $24,- 

 226,886.86, an increase for the year of 

 eighteen percent (18%). During the 

 year claims totaling $598,915.31 were 

 paid, and $396,090.41 was paid in divi- 

 dends to policyholders. $164,088.64 was 

 added to the unassigned surplus of the 

 Company, which on September 30 

 totalled $2,587,504.28. Fifty-two per- 

 cent (52%) of the investments of the 

 Company's funds during the past year 

 were made in government bonds. Its 

 holdings on September 30 of this class 

 of securities aggregated $8,670,481.56. 

 On that date its entire bond portfolio had 

 a market value of $19,949,396.66, which 

 was $821,053.42 in excess of the amount 

 at which these securities are being carried 

 on the books of the Company. 



Illinois Agricultural Holding Company 



The Illinois Agricultural Holding 

 Company, which owns all of the stock 

 of Country Life Insurance Company, and 

 which is controlled by a directorate in- 

 terlocking with that of the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association, received $150.- 

 000.00 in dividends on this stock in 

 1944. After the payment of all dividend 

 requirements on its stock, the Holding 

 Company distributed $126,000.00 to 

 holders of special policies and to Farm 

 Bureau member policyholders of Country 

 Life Insurance Company. 



Illinois Livestock Marketing 

 Association 



The volume of livestock handled by 

 Illinois Livestock Marketing Association 

 was substantially less than the volume of 

 the previous year. This drop in volume 

 was occasioned largely by the unfavorable 

 position in which government price ceil- 

 ings and floors placed the Association, at 

 its points of operation. This loss in 

 volume could have been a\oided, at least 

 in substantial part, had the Association 

 been willing to adopt practices used by 

 some others during periods of both gluts 

 and shortages of hogs as related to mar- 

 ket demand. Notwithstanding this loss 

 in volume, after paying the regular six 

 percent (6%) dividends on its out- 

 standing capital stock, a patronage divi- 

 dend of se%'enteen percent (17%) was 

 paid to its member companies and a sub- 

 stantial amount placed in the surplus of 



DECEMBER. 1944 



