East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1920-01-26
NORTHWEST GROWERS TO
JOIN GIANT MARKETING
UNION SAY WHEATMEN
Wide Range in Price Fluctua-
tion and Enormous Waste in
Distribution are Farmers Big
Problems Says Journal Man.
BY j. +. LANGNER
(Of the oregon JournaD

(Of the oregon JournaD
Wheat growers of the Northwes
are organizing the biggest coopera
tive marketing association of farm
ers ever conceived in this country.
The marketing of wheat is one OF
the great present problems of the ore
| gen farmer. 1t is subject to wide range
! In price fluctuation and enormous
waste in distribution. 1t is perhaps
| after the New York Stock Exchange
the basis OF activity for the second
largest speculative group in the entire
country.
The application OF cooperative mar
keting principles to wheat is not new,
but the so-called cooperative elevators
are strictly speaking not cooperative
at all.
Wheat Growers First
The capital stock elevator company.
farmer owned, Is in reality nothing
more or less than private corporation
organized for profit, the profit In this
case being made out of the wheat
grower who does not happen to be
stockholder in the company. The
purely cooperative association has no
interest other than to make just as
high "A profit for its wheat grower
member as possible.
The cooperative marketing associa-
tion producers are successfully mar
keting farm products all over the
world.
In California there are now over 90
state associations selling more than
s300, 100000 OF farm products every
year. Some of the associations handle
products grown almost exclusively in
California; others handle products
grown in every state in the Union. All
of them they handle successfully.
Many Problems Faced
These associations have faced every
problem in production, harvesting.
wnrehousing. packing. processing.
manufacturing. financing and market
ing.
They have solved every problem
likely to COME before an association
of wheat growers, and the soundness
of economic marketing through purely
non-profit cooperative association of
farmers of general similar type and
character 10 those OF California have
been absolutely established both in |
principle and practice.
: Wheat growers have attempted to |
market their products more or less col
lectively for a long period of time. The
fact that they are no further forward
today than they were 40 years ago is
proof positive that the local associa-
ions or local cooperative elevator
are failures.a
Locals Are Handicapped
Locals are unable to substantially
help the individual wheat grower fin
l.. 1t ]
IN marketing prospects.
First: Because the local is tco small ,
% be of any real moment in the mael- '
;trom Of wheat marketing, and, Sec I
,ndly, because as individual and in {
dependent units they have not the fin
lncfal resources to secure advance in
'ormation on market conditions as do 5
he big buyers through privately own l
"a statistical organizations all over the
world.
The grain buyer makes n shrewd
tudy of world crop conditions. He E
las advance knowledge of when to
my and when to sell. He gauges for
ign and domestic demands with con- {
iderable accuracy. Frequently he :
mploys high salaried agents to gather
Idvance information on crop condi-
ions from over the world.
Buys at Right Time
This enables him TO buy his wheat =
rom the farmer at just the right time
o assure him handsome profits even
With enormous overhead expenses To /,
he public and the farmer he discloses
,nly such information rs he pleases
The speculatcr spends all his time /,
IN marketing problems.
Tho uheat grower spends most of ,
Ills time growing wheat, part of his I
ime financing himself along and part y
# his time on marketing. Il
The wheat grower must spend all I
lis time growing wheat and employ
he best experts possible to do his fin
lncing and marketing for him. This
.pplies not only to wheat, but to everv
,ther line of agricultural production
4 is the solving of an economic prom
ON through economic sources with
,ut recourse to political revolution.