^lcady one. In 1957 the organization 

 produced liybrid seed corn to plant 66,- 

 )M0 acres. By 19-18 the production had 

 •Krcased to 2,2tO acres oi seed, enough 

 ,1 plant 872,562 acres oi corn. 



i^roduction has grown from 8,385 

 ushels in 1937 to 109,069 bushels in 

 9 18 and dollar sales from $56,501.79 

 a 1937 to 5519,152.18 in 19i8. It can 

 readily be seen tliat the value ot sales 

 iocs not reflect the true picture ot prog- 

 ress, since the per bushel price of seed 

 orn in the first years was $15, declining 

 .0 S7, then during the war years gradu- 

 Uy working back to around $11.50. 



riie Producers holds die distinction of 

 viiig the tirst cooperative hybrid sc-cd 

 urn processing plant in the United 

 >tates. 



These honors were earned by tar- 

 ^ighted Farm Bureau men such as A. B. 

 Schofield, lord county, lirst president, 

 A ho promoted and organized the proj- 

 ect. Other early direttors, also of Ford 

 ounty, were L. A. Barrow, Frank Ander- 

 son, George J. Arends, F. L. Hevener, 

 (Iharles Dueringer, and Howard J. Stuck- 

 cy. Stuckey, a young progressive live- 

 stock farmer from near Piper Cit)' was 

 lected president at the second annual 

 meeting and has piloted the organization 

 'o its presen': successful status. 



The present organization was an out- 

 .;rowth of the Ford County Corn 

 Growers which prior to the advent of 

 hybrid corn, operated several seed corn 

 'esting houses in the coimty. When 

 hybrid corn came in, the seed houses were 

 ibandoned and a modern hybrid seed 

 orn processing plant was built at Piper 

 ' ity. When the plant was completed it 

 A as realized that the projects was too 

 :^ig for one county, and since it was a 

 i arm Bureau enterprise, the Livingston 

 ind Grundy county Farm Bureaus joined 

 in the setup. 



Since that time the se^^■ice of the co- 

 of^erative has been extended year by year 

 over the state, but only on the request 

 of the respective county Farm Bureaus. 

 Shaded portions in the adjoining map 

 show the counties which have a complete 

 sales organization servicing "Producers 

 Hybrids" to Farm Bureau members. 



Credit for able management of the 

 Producers is due L. R. Downs, general 

 manager, who has been with the or- 

 ganization since February, 1940. He has 



Mop (obovej shows the proposed distrlctt 

 in the reorganization of Producers' Crop 

 Improventent Assotlatlon marked off by 

 heavy lines. Shaded areas are tounties 

 haying complete sales service for Pro- 

 ducers' Hybrids, and stars Jndlcafe where 

 present directors on the board live. Towns 

 listed, with exception of Geneva, are caucus 

 sites. St. Charles Is district I caucus site 

 Instead of Geneva. 



been managing agricultural cooperatives 

 for 21 years having started with the Farm 

 Bureau cream pools in Piatt county and 

 later managed a cooperative creamer)'. 

 Prior to coming with Producers, Downs 

 was manager of Columbia Farmers Co- 

 operative Grain Company in Monroe 

 county. 



Playing an important part in the sales 

 growth of Producers is R. A. Hager, 

 sales manager, who came with the or- 

 ganization in November l')-il. A former 

 Iowa farm boy, Hager had some eight 

 years sales experience prior to joining 

 Producers. 



For the past several years, the Pro- 

 ducers has maintained a complete plant 

 breeding and research program under the 

 direction and supervision of its plant 

 breeder. R. R. Copper. Copper is a recog- 

 nized agronomist having served on the 



agronomy staff of the University ot Illi- 

 nois for five years and two years at State 

 College of Pennsylvania, prior to join- 

 ing Producers. 



In I'M's the Producers established a 

 hybrid seed corn drj'ing plant at Fair- 

 bury in Livingston county. Then on 

 liine .SO, 19 1~ the Blackhawk Hybrid 

 Seed corn Association at Polo in Ogle 

 county was merged with the Producers 

 by mutual consent of the shareholders of 

 jioth organiz.itions on .i capital stotk 

 exchange basis. 



NOTICE OF DISTRICT CAUCUSES 



f'ur S>'rihia:i"n of Pntrr^'ts 

 l-'or FriiJuiiTs' St\J (. ■m/'..'«V 



April 1. 1949 



Notice is hereby given lo the stockholdeis and 

 Farm Bureau patrons of the Producers' Crop Im- 

 provement Asjociation of the district caucu&es to 

 be held for the purpose of nominating a director 

 from each of the eight districts to serve on the 

 board of directors of the proposed "Producers' 

 Seed Company." 



The Producers' Crop Improvement Association 

 is being reorganized as the "Producers' Seed 

 Company". Producers' Seed Company Mvilt be 

 recognized os the Farm Bureau set-up in Illinois 

 for the acquisition, processing and cooperative 

 distribution of hybrid seed corn and small seeds. 



District No. I, consisting of the counties of 

 Boone. McKenry. Lake. DeKalb. Kane. Cook. Du- 

 Page, Kendall, Will. Grundy and Kankakee, will 

 hold its caucus April 19. 1949. a! i:30 p.m. in 

 St. Charles. 111.. Community Center. 



District No. II. consisting of the counties of 

 lo Daviess. Stephenson, Winnebago. Carroll. 

 Ogle. Whiteside. Lee and Rock Island will hold 

 its caucus April 18, 1949, at 1:30 p.m.. in Polo. 

 III., at the Polo Opera House. 



District No. III. consisting of the counties of 

 Livingston. Iroquois. McLean and Ford, will hold 

 its caucus April 23. 1949. at 1:30 p.m. in Piper 

 City, III., in conjunction with the special stock- 

 holders meeting. 



District No. IV. consisting of the counties of 

 Mercer, Henry. Bureau. La Salle, Henderson, 

 Warren. Knox. Stark, Putnam. Marsholl. Peorio. 

 Woodford and Tozewell. will hold its coucus April 

 15. 1949. at 1:30 p.m.. in Toulon. III., at the 

 Farm Bureau Hall. 



District No. V. consisting of the counties of 

 DeWitt. Piatt, Champaign. Vermilion. Macon. 

 Moultrie. Douglas. Edgar. Shelby and Coles, 

 will hold its caucus April II. 1949. at 1:30 p.m. 

 in Tuscola. III., ot the Farm Bureau Hall. 



District No. VI. consisting of the counties of 

 Hancock, McDonough. Fulton. Adams. Schuyler. 

 Mason. Brown. Cass. Menard. Logan. Pike. Mor- 

 gan. Scott. Sangamon. Calhoun. Greene and 

 Jersey, will hold its caucus April 14. 1949. at 

 1:30 p.m. in Jacksonville, at the Farm Bureau 

 Hall. 



District No. VII. consisting of the counties of 

 Cumberlond. Clark. Effingham. lasper. Crawford. 

 Clay, Richland. Lawrence. Marion. Jefferson. 

 Wayne. Edwards. Wabash. Hamilton. White. 

 Franklin. Williamson. Saline. Gallatin, Johnson. 

 Pope, Hardin and Massac, Mvill hold its caucus 

 April 12. 1949, at 1:30 p.m. in Fairliaid. III., at 

 the Farm Bureau Hall. 



District No. VIII. consisting of the counties of 

 Christion. Macoupin. Montgomery. Madison. 

 Bond. Fayette. St. Clair, Clinton, Washington, 

 Monroe. Randolph, Perry, Jackson, Union, Alex- 

 ander and Pulaski, will hold its caucus April 13. 

 1949, at 1:30 p.m.. in Belleville. III., at the Farm 

 Bureau Hall. 



Persons who are bona fide producers of agri- 

 cultural products, and who are members and 

 common shareholders and in good standing with 

 this Association, are eligible for election to the 

 boord of directors. 



Plan to attend your district caucus. 



I'riiJiKcis Crop liiipr<iM.mtnt A.ssoci-ition 



I,. R Downs 



Gfneral Man.t>;(r 



'll 



Below Is the Bfockhawlc Division Plant of the Pro- 

 ducers' Crop Improvement Association. It is located 

 at Polo, III. 



/ '■- 



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r-i P* 



.■i! 



