ILLINOIS, the first state to reach the 

 charmed figure of 100,000 in Farm 

 Bureau membership, became the first 

 state to reach 125,000, it was revealed 

 when membership figures as of March 

 31, 1946, were compiled early in April. 

 In fact, the state passed the 125,000 

 milestone with nearly another thousand 

 to spare. OflFicial figures put the grand 

 total at 125,954 as of March 31. 



That the fiscal year which ends Sept. 



30 will see even higher totals, in spite 

 of the fact that the summer months are 

 not so active a period in membership 

 work, is the current expectation. "Short- 

 range goals" set by a majority of the 

 counties at the recent Membership Main- 

 tenance meetings in which 78 county 

 groups participated, back up this predic- 

 tion. 



It had been predicted that the year 

 1945-1946 would be another banner one 

 in Farm Bureau growth, as it started 

 with a total membership Sept. 30, 1945, 

 of 115,651. By Jan. 1, 1946, the old 

 long-range goals totalling 118,444, were 

 surpassed, as the count on Dec. 31, 

 1945, was 118,775. A net gain of over 

 six thousand between then and March 



31 of this year brought the total past the 

 125,000 mark. 



Farm Bureau membership has been 

 constantly on the upgrade for a period 

 of seven years. Here are the totals as 

 of Sept. 30 of each of these years, and 

 the current figure: 



1939 68,470 



1940 _ 70,463 



1941 74,448 



1942 85,808 



1943 94,333 



By W. P. SANDFORD 



lAA Director of Salei Sorvk* 



(100,000 goal attained Nov. 18, 1943) 



1 944 1 05,057 



1945 1 15,651 



1946 (Mar. 31) 125,954 



■ Thus Farm Bureau membership in this 

 state has come to represent, not merely 

 a majority, but well over two-thirds of 

 the 169,000 farm families in Illinois. 



This fact carries with it not only the 

 realization that Farm Bureau is the free 

 choice of Illinois farm people to repre- 

 sent them in their legislative, educa- 

 tional and cooperative interests, but also 

 a sense of the sound, consistent growth 

 which has been made over the years. It 

 also indicates that in the remaining farm 

 families in the state there are many 

 who need only to have Farm Bureau and 

 its programs called to their attention. 



This is a good time to discuss Farm Bu- 

 reau with your non-member neighbor, 

 and to extend him a cordial invitation 

 to join his fellow-farmers in their great 

 organization. 



Southern Illinois, where J. C. Moore 

 is assistant director of organization, leads 

 the state in percentage gain in member- 

 ship with a figure of 9.1 percent; closely 

 following is eastern Illinois, under Harry 

 B. Claar, with 9 percent gain; and west- 

 ern Illinois, under L. B. Hornbeck is 

 not far behind, with an 8.7 percent gain. 



LaSalle county currently has the larg- 

 est total membership in the state, as the 

 figures on the outline map opposite this 

 article show. The figures typed in each 

 county are the total memberships as of 

 March 31, 1946. 



Experience of volunteer workers dur- 

 ing the winter and spring months of this 

 year has been that if a non-member is 

 visited by one of his neighbors, and 

 told of the 125,000 membership, and of 

 what members think of their organiza- 

 tion, he is very likely to "come along." 

 The fact that so great a majority of real 

 farmers do belong weighs heavily with 

 the average non-member. Two-thirds of 

 Illinois farmers can't be wrong. 



With great problems of production, 

 reconversion, price, soil conservation, 

 parity, rural living standards, and the 

 like now at stake, to say nothing of pur- 

 chasing supplies and marketing farm 



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