Wool Growers Face Keen Competition 



WOOL growers and their cooperatives 

 will face severe competition in mar- 

 keting their product after the war both 

 from foreign wools as well as from 

 synthetics, L. B. Mann of the Farm Credit 

 Administration declared at the annual 

 meeting of the Illinois Wool Marketing 

 Association. This meeting was held in 

 conjunction with the 30th annual sessions 

 of the lAA of Chicago. 



From the grower's standpoint, Mann 

 said, changes need to be made in reduc- 

 ing costs of production, in improving the 

 quality and quantity of wool produced, 

 in better preparation of fleeces for mar- 

 ket, in more accurate determination of 

 shrinkage, and the development of a 

 less costly and more efficient assembling, 

 transporting, warehousing and marketing 

 system. 



"Wool growers and their cooperatives 

 can take the lead in bringing about im- 

 provements in a number of these activ- 

 ities," Mann said. 



Mann stressed the need for cooper- 

 atives to be alert to the new methods of 

 determining shrinkage in wool. Experi- 

 mental results with core boring sample 

 scouring obtained by the wool division 

 of the Department of Agriculture prom- 

 ise a much more accurate method of de- 

 termining shrinkages than the present es- 

 timating practice now in common use, 

 he said. 



In addition, wool cooperatives need to 

 give serious consideration toward moving 

 into warehousing and processing in or- 

 der to return to the growers some of 

 the "in-between-margins" and thus sup- 

 plement their returns from the sale of 

 raw wool, Mann advised. 



As a means of meeting competition 

 with other fibers, improvements are also 

 needed in the manufacturing field. Ex- 

 perimental work, he said, has already ac- 

 complished a number of worthwhile im- 

 provements such as: treatment of wool 

 to avoid shrinking and to improve wear- 

 ing qualities, treatments of serges to 

 eliminate shine qualities and to improve 

 creasing qualities, and treatment of fibers 

 so they will not slip. Other develop- 

 ments include moth proofing and treat- 

 ment of lightweight garments for sum- 

 mer wear to make them cooler. 



Mann said that one. of the most prom- 

 ising of new uses of wool is its adapt- 



ability for fur garments. Experiments 

 have been carried on to produce imita- 

 tions of silver fox, Canadian lynx and 

 others. The natural beaver has been 

 closely imitated by the manufacturers of 

 "Mouton", Mann reported. 



Mann reported that we have on hand 

 today very heavy supplies of both for- 

 eign and domestic wools in this country. 

 Estimates run close to 1 1/4 billion pounds. 

 In addition to these supplies, there is the 

 competition to be faced from fibers. 

 While most of these synthetics are in- 

 ferior to wool in some respects they can 

 be used as blends to excellent advantage, 

 especially in lower priced clothing where 

 they will present tough competition with 

 wool, he pointed out. These competitors 

 are rayon, aralac from milk casein, soy- 

 bean fiber from casein, vinyon from resin, 

 redwood fiber, and zein, a by-product of 

 corn. 



A committee has been appointed to 

 develop a more comprehensive state- 

 wide wool marketing program for Il- 

 linois wool growers for the year 1945, 

 according to S. F. Russell, secretary-man- 

 ager of the Illinois Wool Marketing As- 

 .sociation. Advice will be sought by 

 this committee from all those interested 

 in improving the position and bargaining 

 power of the association. 



During the five clip years since the 

 Illinois Wool Marketing Association was 

 organized, there has been almost 2 mil- 

 lion pounds of wool marketed through 

 the state association. The 1944 tonnage 

 was 275,241 pounds, furnished by 45 

 counties. 



Dr. E. A. Logan, left. South St. loseph. 

 Mo., and K. T. Smith, lAA board member, 

 appear at the speakers' table at the Illi- 

 nois Farm Bureau Serum Association an- 

 nual meeting. 



Illinois Farm Bureau Serum 

 Gains Two Major Objectives 



Illinois Farm Bureau Serum Association 

 has accomplished the two major objec- 

 tives set up at the time of its organiza- 

 tion — to furnish a high quality prod- 

 uct at cost and to act as a stabilizer in 

 the industry. 



The records show that both of these 

 have been accomplished. In 1933 the 

 first dividends were paid to members of 

 the association. From then and up to 

 Sept. 30, 1944 some $680,597 have been 

 paid to hog producers who patronized 

 their own association. 



For the fiscal year of 1944, patron- 

 age dividends amounted to $52,555. 



Illinois Farm Bureau Serum Associ- 

 ation furnished nearly 49 million cc's of 

 anti-hog cholera serum and virus to Il- 

 linois hog raisers during the year ending 

 Sept. 30, 1944. Value of this serum and 

 virus was $420,440. 



Counties handling more than I mil- 

 lion cc's of serum and virus for the year 

 were: Henry, Knox, Warren, McLean, 

 Fulton, Peoria, Mercer, Hancock, Pike, 

 Sangamon, LaSalle, Bureau, Morgan, 

 Whiteside, McDonough, Henderson, De- 

 Kalb, and Marshall-Putnam. 



\ 



■» 





Illinois wool growers received an authen- 

 tic picture of the current wool situation 



irom L B. Mann, Farm Credit Administra- 

 tion, and were told of the problems ahead. 



32 



I. A. A. RECORD 



