PROBLEMS OF COOPERATIVE MARKETING ASSOCIATIONS 51 



tion of citrus fruits in California has increased enormously. Mar- 

 keting the crop at a profit to growers has become progressively dif- 

 ficult. Comparable increases are apparent in almost every fruit and 

 vegetable crop. (See Table 2.) 



If production is outstripping market requirements, the neces- 

 sary adjustments will be made in time even without conscious plan- 

 ning on the part of the organized growers. Such adjustments have 

 been attended in the past by financial distress to a large number of 

 producers extending over several years. If the growers, through 

 their cooperative associations, are able to modify the conditions 

 that make necessary the abandonment of orchards and truck fields 

 and the neglect of those which are kept in tillage, they will perform 

 a service at least equal in value to the improvements they may 

 be able to make in the distribution of the crops once they are 

 produced. 



Stabilization of production in the fruit and vegetable industries 

 is confessedly difficult. It is difficult to correlate the production 

 plans of a large number of growers; weather conditions affecting 

 yields may upset the most carefully made calculations. Nothing 

 can be accomplished unless the growers cooperate for the purpose 

 of marketing their products. Then, having demonstrated their 

 ability to work together and to conduct a marketing business, they 

 may hope to bring about a degree of correlation between produc- 

 tion and demand that does not exist at the present time. 



The information the associations require for such a program is 

 being collected in part by the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture and other agencies. As the need for supplemental information 

 becomes apparent it can be collected, in most instances, by these same 

 agencies. 



The basic information necessary are acreages and yields of the 

 crops handled by each association and of competing crops not only 

 in the United States but from countries selling in the same markets. 

 A knowledge of prices over long periods is necessary. Not only is 

 it necessary to have historical information regarding yields and 

 prices but it is necessary to use these and further data as a basis to 

 forecast future trends. The crop forecasts of the Department of 

 Agriculture give in advance estimates of the current crop. Acreages 

 of nonbearing fruits show the trend in the production of these crops. 

 Agricultural outlook and " intentions to plant " reports issued by 

 the department in the spring of each year are also available. 



General economic conditions are important as an index of the 

 probable purchasing power of the consumer. All this statistical 

 information must be interpreted and made available to the growers 

 by the cooperative association. Such a program on the part of even 

 a few of the cooperative associations marketing fruits and vege- 

 tables would do much to make clear to producers the close rela- 

 tionship which must exist between production and marketing. 



