PfUtng at th» 75th annlveruMry maeting of Illinois Agricultural Auditing Attotlatlon 

 It Board President B. W. Heran, Mercer county. Others at tpoakert' table (Ml to 

 right) arm board members I. M. Graham, Knox; Roy V. tdwardt. Champaign; I. Y. 

 Matlzlgor, Bureau; and lAA Field Secretary George C. Metzger, Office Setretary Thelmo 

 Jansen, and Retiring Manager C. t. Strand. 



SILVER ANNIVERSARY 



Illinois Agricultural Auditing Association Marks 

 25fh Year of Service to Illinois Farmers 



THE Illinois Agricultural Auditing 

 Association celebrated its 25th an- 

 niversary this year during its annual 

 meeting held in conjunction with 

 the 34th convention of the lAA 

 in Chicago. 



The auditing cooperative started in July 

 of 1924 with 21 member clients. Its first 

 client, Farmers Grain and Lumber Com- 

 pany, Sycamore, holds membership No. 1 

 and is still a staunch member client. 

 Today its membership totals 490 member 

 clients. 



This membership consists of 94 Farm 

 Bureaus, 68 Farm Bureau subsidiaries, 37 

 cold storage lockers, 104 elevators, 28 

 livestock companies, 30 dairies and cream- 

 eries, 6 insurance companies, 87 service 

 companies, 3 Home Bureaus, and 33 mis- 

 cellaneous companies. 



"We believe that our growth and our 

 success has been brought about by our 

 frank and Sincere dealings. We know 

 that our success is linked inseparably with 

 the success of our member clients," C. E. 

 Strand, manager, said on the occasion of 

 the auditing company's 25th anniversary. 



"Twenty-five years ago," he continued, 

 "there was no such organization as ours. 

 In many instances reports were made by 

 clerks employed to work a few evenings a 

 month. 



"Their reports were often inaccurate, 

 depreciation was forgotten or overlooked, 

 liabilities were omitted, and assets were 

 grossly overvalued. 



"In many cases farmers loaned the en- 

 terprise personal funds to supply capital 

 for the cooperative of which they were 

 directors. Some of these cooperatives 

 failed. Often severe financial loss was 

 suffered by those who risked their money 



to make a success of their local coopera- 

 tive." 



The memories of many are still fresh 

 and vivid over the early and heroic strug- 

 gle for survival of the first cooperatives, 

 Strand said. 



Strand, who has been manager of the 

 auditing cooperative since 1938, resigned 

 several months ago to become comptroller 

 for the Illinois Farm Supply Company. 



President B. W. Horan, Mercer coun- 

 ty, urged patience among Farm Bureau 

 presidents and company managers in 

 seeking prompt audits. He pointed out 

 that it takes three years to train auditors 

 in the complicated auditing systems of 

 Farm Bureau-type cooperatives. 



He said that in the last two years the 

 auditing association has added a number 

 of young auditors to its payroll, and 

 that the association will soon have a reser- 

 voir of highly trained men. Many of 

 the delays in auditing are due, not to 

 the auditors, but to faulty bookkeeping 

 procedures, he said. 



Economist Says 

 Co-ops Put Curb 

 On Monopoly 



MARKETING cooperatives provide 

 one of the best means of curbing 

 monopoly in our free enterprise 

 system, particularly since the ad- 

 vent of large-scale cooperatives. 

 This belief was expressed by Kelsey 

 B. Gardner during the marketing con- 

 ference at the lAA 

 annual meeting held 

 recently in Chica- 

 go- 

 Gardner is the 

 principal agricul- 

 tural economist of 

 the Cooperative Re- 

 search and Service 

 Division of the U. S. 

 Department of Ag- 

 riculture. 



One of the great- lC»l«ey Oardnor 

 est problems large- 

 scale cooperatives face is in maintain- 

 ing a well-informed and interested 

 membership, Gardner said. 



"Large co-ops are making earnest ef- 

 forts to solve this problem," he said, 

 "but it is a challenging problem of 

 the first magnitude." 



Membership loyalty should be placed 

 upon the principles and objectives of 

 the cooperative and not upon patron- 

 age refunds, he said. 



After the address given by Gardner 

 the marketing conference was divided 

 into two sections for group discussions. 



The livestock group met under the 

 chairmanship of Sam Russell, lAA di- 

 rector of livestock marketing, and the 

 men interested in grain marketing met 

 under the chairmanship of George 

 Iftner, lAA director of grain market- 

 ing. 



CONGRATULATIONS 



On behalf of the Illinois Agricultural Association, it is a pleasure to extend 



congratulations to the Illinois Agricultural Auditing Association on the 



twenty-fifth anniversary of service to Illinois farmers. 



The work of the Auditing Association has been one of the most important 



factors contributing to the success of the hundreds of farmer cooperatives in 



the state of Illinois. It has encouraged the use of sound business principles 



and those proper accounting procedures that are so essential to the success 



of any business. 



As the cooperative movement continues to grow, the Auditing Association 



will likewise increase in scope and significance. 



Charles B. Shuman 



President 

 •.' : Illinois Agricultural Association 



JANUARY, 1949 



