The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1921-03-25
GRAIN POOLING IS Plan
WAY FOR FARMERS TO DIS
POSE OF PRODUCTS
Feature of Marketing Sugges-
ton of the Committee of
Seventeen
ASSOCIATED Press Dispatch.]


Chicago. March %, Pooling OF
farmers grain, either on a national
or local scale, constitutes the out &.
standing feature of the national CO.
operating plan proposed by the com.
mittee of seventeen, Chairman Z. H.
Gustafson said here today. explaining
it's details.
The committee, whose full name is
the Farmers Grain Marketing Com
mittee Of Seventeen, is holding. state
meetings this month preparatory to
a ratification conference in Chicago
April 6. The committee represents
cooperative organizations Of farmers
interested in grain marketing, prom
inent among them the American
Farm Bureau Federation. AS an al
tentative to the pooling plans. farm
ers may sell direct.
Calls For Central Agency
"The national pooling plan calls
for pooling grain with central
agency, selling by grade and then
distributing the profits equally to
each contributor to the pool, Mr.
Gustafson said. This would operate
to give each producer the average
which he contributed to the pool. 1t
would insure the producer the aver
age price for the year. Pooling pro-
ducts in this manner has reached its
highest development among the Cali
fornia cooperative organizations.
Products so pooled pass out of the
control of the individual producer
and the grain will be sold by the di-
rectors OF the pool at the time that
they deem most Opportune.
provision is also made for local
pool by members of a single COM
munity. In both local and national
pools the control is centralized and
the selling price averaged.
1.-THE direct sale plan allows farm
ers who so desire to bring their grain
20 the cooperative elevators and sell
on the current market quotation as
ately owned elevators. Further, they
can avail themselves of the ware
housing facilities of the cooperative
elevators and terminals and not sell
until weeks or months later. Pro-
ducers who dispose Of their grain in
this manner share equally in the
profits of the warehousing facilities
export cooperation and other national
cooperative departments on the basis
Of the number of bushels which they
deliver to the elevators.
May Consign Grain BY Carload
For those farmers who do not
wish to enter a pool or to sell direct,
there is another avenue of reaching
the markets. One farmer or several
farmers who have sufficient grain to
make up one or more carloads, may
consign grain by the carload through
the cooperative elevator to coopera
tive marketing agencies to be located
at the different terminal markets
such as Chicago and Minneapolis
The grain would then be sold at
ling his grain in this manner the
farmer will pay only the actual over
head cost of marketing it.
Altogether, we believe the new
plan is sufficiently broad to allow the
producer to use his own judgment
and market his products in the way
that he considers best. while, at the
same time, he has the benefit of a
complete national marketing machine
that has no purpose or excuse for
existence but to protect his inter
the market value to him without in
fringing upon the rights OF his con
sumer customers. OF these three al
ternatives, the method of marketing
which proves most satisfactory and
more nearly returns a price that will
make farming profitable, will be the
marketing method that will develop
and Increase in popularity.
This plan. is, in fact, we believe
but the next orderly step in coopera
undertaken r Through cooperatiTe e eIe,
vators they are handling today a
great deal of the grain they produce
but their cooperative effort stops al
the railroad track. With more than
5000 of these cooperative elevators
in operation the foundation is already
laid for a new national marketing
agency.