VAIRY CO-OPS BREAK RECORDS ^ 



PRAIRIE FARMS CREAMERIES MAY SOON NEED NEW 

 PLANTS TO PROCESS EXPANDING VOLUME OF MILK 



M 1 OU ARE going to need new 

 ■/ plants and creameries to do the 

 I job for your members, R. W. 

 I Bartlett, agricultural marketing 

 expert from the University of Il- 

 linois, told members at the annual 

 meeting of Prairie Farms Creameries 

 held in St. Louis during the conven- 

 tion of the Illinois Agricultural Asso- 

 •ciation. 



"Most of the plants of Prairie Farms 

 Creameries already are operating at 

 over capacity and some areas of Illinois 

 are not bein^ served," Bartlett said he 

 had observed. 



Build Local Sales 



This was substantiated by reports 

 made available at the meeting which 

 showed that an irrtrrease of more than 

 28 per cent of dairy products were 

 processed or manufactured by the 10 

 member plants of the statewide dairy 

 cooperative. 



Bartlett also urged dairymen to con- 

 sider a Grade A milk program. He 

 said that at the present time demand 

 is great for Grade A milk, and many 

 city markets are not fully supplied. 

 Grade A milk returns the highest 

 prices to producers. 



Bartlett suggested that Prairie Farms 

 Creameries should build sales through 

 their present local outlets and by add- 



ing a more complete line of dairy 

 products. 



"Local sales," he said, "are your best 

 sales. Sell in the home county where 

 the quality of the Prairie Farms brand 

 is best known." Selling in home mar- 

 kets also saves unnecessary transporta- 

 tion costs. 



At the dairymen's banquet spon- 

 sored by Prairie Farms Creamery and 

 the Illinois Milk Producers Association 

 during the lAA convention. President 

 Charles B. Shuman, addressing the 

 group, urged all dairymen to work 

 closely together. 



"We have to realize that milk is 

 milk," Shuman said. "Surplus milk in 

 one area is competing with all milk in 

 the state. We can't just say this area 

 is a cheese area and that area makes 

 butter. 



Urges Strong Loyalty 



"Although I am not a dairy farmer," 

 Shuman concluded, "I know how im- 

 portant volume is to dairy cooperatives. 

 We need to carry over into dairy mar- 

 keting a strong loyalty to our coop- 

 eratives." 



During 1947 the 10 Prairie Farms 

 Creameries have spent about $300,000 

 to improve their plants and manufac- 

 turing equipment, Dave Henry, mana- 

 ger, said during the meeting. 



GUMM ENTERTAINS WITH TENOR VOICE 



Referring to other activities, Henry 

 said, "Prairie Farms have a reputation 

 to uphold as producers of superior 

 quality products. We have taken steps 

 to safeguard this reputation. 



"During the year we have built a 

 new laboratory and completely equipped 

 it to control the composition and quality 

 of all Prairie Farms dairy products." 



The new laboratory, located in Chi- 

 cago, was built and equipped at a cost 

 of $12,000 and is managed by Elmer 

 Anderson, hired recently as a qualified 

 dairy technologist. 



Seek Quality 



As a second step in quality control, 

 Henry said that the state office had 

 hired M. R. Johnson of Galesburg 

 who is working with fieldmen and 

 farmers at member plants to develop 

 programs for more and better milk. 



This year the state company has also 

 employed C. M. Johnson as its produc- 

 tion engineer to work with member 

 plants to help and advise on plant lay- 

 out, manufacturing methods, service to 

 equipment and utilization of labor, all 

 of which result in lower manufacturing 

 costs. 



Referring to changes in marketing, 

 Henry said that local sales of butter 

 downstate have increased to the point 

 where there is very little surplus at 

 each plant throughout the year. 



Because of this it is no longer profit- 

 able to operate a central cutting plant 

 in Chicago. In March the Chicago but- 

 ter cutting plant was closed, Henry 

 reported, and the small amount com- 

 ing into the city was sold in bulk. 



During the year Prairie Farms 

 Creamery at Carlinville moved into its 

 new building which was described as 

 the most modern in construction and 

 equipment. More than 4,000 persons 

 attended its grand opening Aug. 4. 



n 



Whh a imie help from lAA PresWsnt Shuman (toft) and Hi* accordtonitt. Id Gvimn, 

 Knox county, retiring president of the IINneis Milk Producer* Association, sings « 

 . „. solo with his eyes closed. , 



Unite Now 



20 



I. A. A. RECORD 



