Young Farmers Approve Co-op Courses 



SURPRISE at the scope of farmer- 

 owned and operated business enter- 

 prises in Illinois was expressed by 

 young farmers attending the lAA 

 short course at the University of 

 Illinois, Jan. 30 through Feb. 3. 



Sponsored by the Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Association during Farm and 

 Home Week, the lAA Co-op Training 

 Course For Farm Youth presented a 

 highly-concentrated four-day program 

 aimed at acquainting 255 outstanding 

 farm youth with the operations of the 

 lAA's 16 farmer-owned and controlled 

 associated companies. 



"I thought farming was just know- 

 ing how to run a farm efficiently," one 

 lad confessed. "Now I can see that you 

 can be a good farmer and still lose out 



if you don't back your farm co-ops and 

 the Farm Bureau." 



Although many were surprised at the 

 extent of farmer-controlled business 

 activity in Illinois, they didn't stay otT- 

 balance for long. As lAA staffers fired 

 more and more facts at the young 

 farmers a chain reaction was set off. 

 The young men became more and more 

 curious and kept asking questions. 



An lAA officer who has spoken be- 

 fore hundreds of farm groups said "I 

 never heard anything like it. They 

 bristled with curiosity. And they ask 

 more intelligent questions than most 

 adult audiences." 



"What," they asked, "is the relation- 

 ship between the Board of Trade and 

 the Illinois Grain Corporation.^" "How 



(.an the lAA msurance company sell 

 auto insurance so cheaply.'" "How can 

 we safeguard our farm co-ops from 

 communistic influences.'" "How can we 

 educate the public to understand co- 

 operatives.''" "Why do we let city 

 people join Farm Bureau when all they 

 want is the benefit of the low-cost lar 

 insurance .•'" "Will farm co-ops lower 

 the standard of living of non-farm 

 groups.'' " What is a mutual insurance 

 company?" "Will an increase in the 

 gas tax actually help country roads or will 

 most of it go for paved highways?" 



These were some of the thought-pro- 

 voking questions asked by the young 

 farmers representing Rural Youth, 4-H 

 Club^, and Future Farmer organizations 

 from every section of the state. 



To show uhat a typical farm youth did duiifij^ the lAA Co-op 

 Training Course for Farm Youth, the lAA cameraman followed 

 Clyde Miller, 18, around from the time he registered (left) until 

 he bade his newly-made friends goodbye. Clyde is from Erie in 

 Whiteside county where he and his father farm 372 acres. He 

 plans to farm two years before entering the College of Agriculture. 

 He has a brother and two sisters, is a member of Rural Youth 

 and has served as president and secretary of his FFA chapter. 



Left: Clyde MHIer, Whiteitde county, registers with John Cox, lAA director 

 of rural school relations, for lAA Co-op Training Course. Lower toftt 

 he checks In at dormitory, unpacks bag, and chats with Hugh Wefzol, fcli 

 youth leader. Below: Miller (center) talks over the school with other ttw 

 dents. Left to right: Dale Anderson, James free, Ray Musser, all of Hon- 

 derson county; Miller, Don Hand, and Dave Stone, Whiteside; and 

 Robe, Adams. (See next two pages). 



MARCH, 1949 



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