

A LL grain co-ops in the Midwest will 

 ** be strengthened through our newly 

 organized Illinois Grain Terminals Com- 

 pany," George Iftner of Pekin, acting 

 manager, told delegates at the grain mar- 

 keting conference at the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association annual meeting. 



"We will soon be able to enter the 

 field of grain merchandising," Iftner 

 said, pointing out that principal efforts 

 this year have been directed toward or- 

 ganizing elevators into a giant merchan- 

 dising cooperative. 



Plans to organize Illinois Grain Ter- 

 minals Company were approved last year 

 after a two year study of needs and trends 

 in cooperative grain marketing. 



Local elevators, county companies and 

 subterminal river companies were enlisted 

 or organized into the company this year, 

 Iftner reported. 



Discussing the purpose of Illinois 

 Grain Terminals and reason for its forma- 

 tion, Iftner said: "Under this new set- 

 up the farmer will be able to channel 

 his grain directly to the consumer. Grain 

 will move from his local elevator and 

 will be sold to Illinois Grain Terminals, 

 which in turn will sell to millers, proces- 

 sors and other users. 



"Illinois Grains will effect savings not 

 now realized by acquiring elevator fa- 

 cilities at terminal markets and barge 

 equipment to move grain on the Illinois 

 and Mississippi waterways." 



Illinois Grain Corporation, the lAA's 

 state-wide commission company, will con- 

 tinue to serve as a commission and broker- 

 age service to its member elevators, to 

 the Farmers Grain Dealers Association 

 of Iowa, and the Indiana Grain Coopera- 

 tive, Inc. 



A summary of various organizational 

 activities was presented by Iftner as fol- 

 lows. 



Hancock Grain Company on Sept. 1 

 purchased the four elevators of the Den- 

 ver Farmers Cooperative Company at 

 Denver, Basco, Bowen and West Point. 



Bureau County Grain Company was 

 organized and on July 1 bought the orig- 

 inal farmers elevator at Princeton to serve 

 as a nucleus of a grain and feed pro- 

 gram. 



Local farmers elevators reorganizing 

 under the 1923 Co-operative Act were 

 Jamaica, Meridan, Rees, Arenzville, 

 Guthrie, and Bath. 



Southern Illinois Grain Company was 

 organized by the Illinois Farm Supply 

 Company as a subsidiary to market wheat 

 at the Benton mill. This new company 

 this year handled about 70,000 bushels 

 of wheat and served parts of five south- 

 ern Illinois counties. 



Backbone of the business of the Illinois ' 

 Grain Terminals Company will probably 

 come from river operations that are be- 

 ing organized by county Farm Bureaus 

 on or near the Illinois and Mississippi 

 rivers. 



Here a system of barges and towboats, 

 operating between river subterminal 

 points, and possibly trucking systems, are 

 contemplated. It will help realize for 

 farmers full savings of water transporta- 

 tion. 



Three river operating companies have 

 been organized and are in various stages 

 of operations. A summary of their ac- 

 tivities for the year follows. 



Western Illinois Grain Company, or- 

 ganized late in 1945, purchased the river 

 elevator at Dallas City and three county 

 elevators at Adrian, McCall and Ferris. 



Operations started Feb. 1, when Fred 

 Watt, manager, shipped the first barge 

 of grain in May at a time when little 

 old corn was left in the country. About 

 $100,000 of stock was issued to sub- 

 scribers in four counties the company 

 will serve — Hancock, Henderson, Mc- 

 Donough, and Warren. 



Havana River Grain Company made 

 rapid progress during the summer as the 

 stock raising campaign resulted in sub- 

 scriptions totaling nearly $100,000 from 

 Mason, Logan, Menard, Cass, Schuyler, 

 McDonough, and Fulton counties. 



On July 1 Havana Grains bought the 

 land and properties of the Havana Co- 

 operative Grain Company. Oscar Athey 

 was employed as manager. A 60,000 

 bushel river elevator is being constructed. 



Prairie Grain Company will serve 

 La Salle, Lee, Henry, Marshall-Putnam, 

 Stark, Woodford, Bureau and Peoria 

 counties by buying or building river 

 houses on the Illinois River between 

 Peoria and Morris. 



This company bought three land sites 

 at Lacon, Hennepin, and Ottawa and 

 elevators will be built on these three sites 

 as soon as supplies are available. Some 

 $200,000 have been raised by stock sub- 

 scriptions to finance the operations. 



ILLINOIS GRAIN TERMINALS BOARD 



Left to right: C. J. Diehl, Monroe county; Andrew Larson, Mason, who resigned 

 In favor of J. Howard Stone, Mason City; Homer Curtiss, Jo Daviess, president; 

 Charles Schmitt, Logan, vice president; Milton Warren, Piatt, secretary; James 

 Holderman, Grundy; Marion Herzog, McDonough; Wesley Attig, Lee. Arthur 

 Burwash, Champaign, is also a member of the board. 



48 



I. A. A. RECORD 



