Locker Co-ops Plan 

 Complete Slaughter, 

 Selling Operations 



ANEW MARKET for meat and 

 meat products is in the making 

 for Illinois farmers through 

 their cooperative frozen-food 

 locker plants. 

 This was indicated during the annual 

 meeting of the Illinois Cooperative 

 Locker Association held recently in 

 conjunction with the convention of 

 the Illinois Agricultural Association. 



The Illinois Cooperative Locker As- 

 sociation is an affiliated organization 

 of the Illinois Agricultural Association. 

 Member companies operate 104 locker 

 and 25 slaughter plants in Illinois for 

 more than 50,000 patrons. 



Several county companies are making 

 plans to wholesale meat and meat prod- 

 ucts processed at their plants to . town 

 patrons, hotels, stores and restaurants. 

 This step would cut out the shipping 

 costs to and from Chicago. 



The Williamson County Cooperative 

 Service is bne of the most advanced * 

 of the county locker companies in 

 providing a complete marketing and 

 processing service. 



At the locker and slaughtering plant 

 at Marion they are rendering lard, and 

 curing and smoking meats. They also 

 are installing a sausage department 

 where smoked sausage, pork sausage, 

 wieners, bologna, and meat loaf prod- 

 ucts will be made. 



A salesman is being employed who 

 will sell direct to retail outlets, stores, 

 and restaurants. This new venture 

 into sausage making will operate 

 somewhat as a test case, and if success- 

 ful, may be duplicated in part by other 

 county companies. Several farm groups 



Dana Crytlar, Mt, pretldent, preside* at 



locker meeting. At righf It J, t. Mau, lee 



county, a board member. 



are helping in a limited manner to 

 finance the experiment. 



Other member companies are mov- 

 ing more and more into the marketing 

 field. The McLean County Cold 

 Storage Company recently purchased 

 the Heller and Son's beef packing 

 plant at Bloomington. They may add 

 a hog slaughter line, with curing, 

 sausage making, and other facilities, 

 later. 



Another trend in the frozen food 

 locker industry has been the rapid 

 increase in the number of home freezer 

 units. J. L. Pidcock, manager of the 

 Illinois Cooperative Locker Association, 

 said that while processing of meats and 

 poultry for home freezer units is not 

 yet an important source of income 

 it may in the future become more im- 

 portant than locker rentals. 



He feels that locker plants will bene- 

 fit from the increased use of home 

 units if they provide a good processing 

 service. An experiment carried on by 

 a cooperative locker plant in New 

 York state showed an increase of 50 

 per cent in processing income due to 



{Continued on page 48) 



Co-op Will Buy 

 Wool Clip Direct 

 In Spring of '49 



MriUiom Temple, la Salle teunty, pretUunt of Illinois Wool MarkeMng Assoclafion, pre- 

 9mmt% annual rmport of the organization during annual meeting. Lett to right are Arlette 

 tmgblad, office tecretary; Oale Rouse, manager; temple; and board member J. King 



taton, Madison county. 



34 ' 



THE Illinois Wool Growers Associa- 

 tion is making plans to buy wool 

 direct from farmers at county pools 

 during the coming clipping season. 

 This was announced at the annual 

 meeting of the company held in Chicago 

 during the annual convention of the Illi- 

 nois Agricultural Association. • 



William Temple of Serena, president, 

 said the new program would be of bene- 

 fit particularly to farmers who have only 

 a small number of sheep. Most Illinois 

 farm flocks are small. 



At present the Association is handling 

 wool on a consignment basis with final 

 payment sent to wool growers after their 

 wool has been sold. 



This year the association bought its 

 own warehouse at Paris in Edgar county 

 where it receives, grades, and prepares 

 for sale all wool assembled in county 

 wool pools. 



Temple said that because of the new 

 building, the wool marketing coopera- 

 tive was able to keep its wool grading 

 on a day-to-day basis. Advance pay- 

 ments were mailed in most cases to grow- 

 ers within 24 hours after the wool had 

 been received from the country. 



It was also possible to correct errors 

 promptly and to explain to growers prob- 

 lems arising regarding the grading of 

 their wool. 



Temple said the Wool Growers 

 marketed 248,124 pounds of wool coop- 

 eratively in 1948. This was an increase 

 of 38,000 pounds over the preceding 

 year. 



The association this year made advance 

 payments beginning at 40 cents a pound. 

 Wool growers will soon receive final 

 settlement on their 1948 wool clip which 

 will bring their final payment substantial- 

 ly above this 40 cent advance. 



Dale Rouse, manager, said that Illinois 

 Wool Marketing Association has been 

 a strong factor in supporting the price 

 level of wool throughout the state. 



This was particularly true early in 

 1948, he said, when the price offered 

 for choice wool was 35 cents a pound 

 in many areas. On April 6 the Associa- 

 tion announced its schedule of advance 

 payments beginning at 40 cents a pound. 



The price level was immediately ad- 

 vanced to 42 cents in most counties and 

 to 43 cents and 44 cents in others. This 

 meant a 7 cent increase, or more, in the 

 price level throughout much of the state. 



LA. A. RECOBD 



