The Lynden tribune. [volume] (Lynden, Wash.) 1908-current, 1921-01-20
COOP. DAIRY
HELPS FARMERS
WHATCOM COUNTY ORGAN.
IZATION STABILIZES PRICE
OF MILK PRODUCTS
Dairymen Collect Middlemen s
Returns. See Hope In Future
Labor Market.

The milk problem in Whatcom coun-
ty, which has gone and is going
through the same process Of readjust-
ment that is affecting the rest Of the
Puget Sound country, seems to be
solving itself through the medium Of
the Whatcom County Dairymen's AS
ISOLATION, a cooperative organization
with a membership Of 1450, or about
eighty-five per cent Of the milk pro-
ducers in the county. This associa.
ton operates two plants, one in Lyn-
den and one in Bellingham, buying the
cream from its members and supply
ing butter to the local and Seattle
markets The Lynden plant-former-
ly the Lynden Creamery Company
has been under cooperative manage
ment since the first of last March and
the Bellingham plant-formerly the
Ford Creamery-since the first of last
May, and for the period ending No
vember 80 the sales of butter have
aggregated $4,000.
At the present time the two plants
are turning out about 100000 pounds
of butter each month of which about
900 pounds is consumed by the To-
cal trade and the balance shipped to
outside markets. During the period
ending November 80 the association
has paid its members from three to
eight cents a pound more for butter
fat than has been offered by private
creameries.
A milk drying plant is being built
by the association at Lynden which
will make their holdings at that point
worth about $225,000. This plant will
open between the middle and last Of
February and will handle 10000
pounds of milk from which a product
of dry milk will be turned out OF
about 5000 pounds.
| Farmers are separating their milk
now and feeding the milk to young
stock, hens and hogs, but when the
new plant is opened the association
will buy the whole milk. The natural
conclusion following an investigation
of the present situation would be that
the farmers must be raising a good
many pigs with the extra skim milk,
but as a matter of fact there are no
more pigs being shipped to market in
Whatcom county than any other Puget
Sound county, the farmers raise what
they want for home consumption and
except in a few cases-no more.
| In speaking of the present price Of
milk Mr.. C. G. Davis, manager of the
association plants, said that he be-
lieved the farmers are absorbing their
share of the loss which the nation
must suffer in the period of readjust-
ment. The farmers, he said, are con-
sidering the present economic condi-
lions and their fellow men are in the
same fix. If business were good and
the mills and other industrial plants
operating the farmers could shut
down and go to work until the price
of the foodstuffs which they produce
goes up, but the combination never
works out that way and it will be
cheaper for the farmer in the long
run to take his losses and keep his
plant in running order.
"In December we paid the producer
IS cents net for his butterfat at his
door Any man that is producing 3.S
milk, which is considered standard
by the condenseries and for which
they are paying $1.70, netting the pro.
Queer $1.55, will receive from our as
ISOLATION on the same basis 5000, plus
the skim milk which is easily worth
80 cents per 100 lbs. This means a
matter of "a cents per 100 lbs. to the
producer in shipping to their own
plant. In other words, if a man has
produced thousand pounds Of milk a
month, he is better off $40, in ship
ping to his own business" said Mr..
l Davis.
The matter of wages, Mr.. Davis
said, was looking better. The expert
ence of one farmer was offering hope
to the others. One hired man quit
his work without notice and took
himself off to the Grays Harbor coun-
try where he said he could better his
$50 and keep. But in few weeks he
wrote begging to be taken back at
any price and the farmer took him
on at $50 month and keep. Since
then the man has shown greater in
terest in his work and a desire to
learn the finer points of the farming
and dairying business. With more
competent help the matter of few
cents more or less for milk will not
be of such importance.