This is tha Havana River Grain Company elevator shewn In the last stages of completion 

 during the first annual meeting of the organization In October. Meeting was held in 



tent at base of elevator. 



Havana River Company 



pa&MA TnUa&Jbjisi in 



Cooperative Grain Marketing 



ITH an impressive record for a 

 year-old baby, the Havana River 

 Grain Company marked its first 

 anniversary in October full of 

 confidence for the years ahead. 

 Credit for the success of the new river 

 company at Havana goes to the farmers 

 loyal to the Farm Bureau-type coopera- 

 tive tradition and with firm faith in the 

 company's eventual success. 



An indication of this success is shown 

 in the records of grain handled by the 

 company since its organization to Oct. 

 1, 1947 — corn, 568,839 bu.; wheat, 

 486,921 bu.; soybeans, 54,319 bu.; oats, 

 38,906 bu.; rye, 102,629 bu. for a total 

 of 1,251,614 bushels of grain. 



Elevator Finished June 20 



Much of this was handled by the old 

 elevator, taken over by the new company, 

 until the new 70,000 bushel elevator on 

 the Illinois river bank was finished June 

 20, 1947. 



' For their cooperation and help in the 

 organization of the Havana River Grain 

 Company, President Howard Stone com- 

 mended George E. Metzger, secretary of 

 the lAA division of organization and in- 

 formation, and George H. Iftner, acting 

 director of Illinois Grain Terminals Inc., 

 with which the Havana company is af- 

 filiated. 



Pointing to the massive elevator struc- 

 ture outside the tent where he gave the 

 principal address, Metzger said: "I ap- 

 preciate these fine structures and I know 

 they will function well, but if they do 

 not help raise the standard of living out 

 on your farm, then I would say they are 

 not worth while. 



"You feel they are worth while. But 

 you must go further. You must take 

 fuller advantage of the corporate struc- 

 ture to carry on in scope as wide as your 

 competition or you will get into diffi- 

 culty. 



"Now where do we go from here?" 

 he asked. "You have a tremendous in- 

 vestment here. It calls for large terminal 

 outlets. We must proceed to push that 

 program now." 



Outlines History 



Iftner outlined the history of the 

 Havana River Grain Company from the 

 time it was first discussed in 1936 

 through the meetings in 1940 and in 

 1941 when the project was abandoned 

 for lack of adequate financial support. 



In 1944, Iftner continued, a meeting 

 was held with representatives of the Illi- 

 nois Agricultural Association, Illinois 

 Grain Corporation, Indiana Grain Co- 

 operative and surrounding County Farm 

 Bureaus. At that time it was agreed 

 that Indiana Grain would undertake to 

 build a terminal elevator on the river at 

 Decatur, Ala., when the Havana group 

 was ready to erect a new elevator and 

 equip it with barge-loading facilities. 

 Organization of the Havana River Grain 

 Company followed a few months later. 



Manager Fred Watts Jr., addressed the 

 annual meeting and reflected the con- 

 fidence of the elevator membership in 

 its future and asked for full support of 

 Farm Bureau people. 



Full Board Reelected 



All members of the board of directors 

 were reelected. They are: Howard 

 Stone, president, Mason county; Andrew 

 Larson, Mason; Leo Walters, McDon- 

 ough; Alex Howe, Mason; Clarence 

 Fulks, Fulton; W. Irving Brown, Men- 

 ard; J. P. Armstrong, Cass and F. C. 

 Sparks, Logan. 



The Havana River Grain Company is 

 one of the strong links in the chain of 

 river houses being constructed along the 

 Illinois and Mississippi rivers for co- 

 ordinated terminal marketing operations 

 under the direction of the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association's Illinois Grain 

 Terminals, Inc. 



SEE A DREAM COME TRUE 



Standing before the 

 gray walls of the 

 Havana River Grain 

 Company elevator 

 are three who hove 

 done much to make 

 the company a suc- 

 cess. Left to right: 

 George Metiger, lAA; 

 Howard Stone, Ha- 

 vana company presi- 

 dent; and George 

 Iftner, lAA. 



8 



L A. A. RECORD 



