The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1921-04-07
FARM BUREAU HEAD WANTS
INDUSTRIES IN MARKET
SYSTEM

Usher l.. Burdick, president Of the
North Dakota Farm Bureau Fedora
ton, yesterday issued a statement in
which he emphasized the necessity, Of
completing the state mill and elevator
at Grand Forks in time for the 1921
crop and recommended that the state
lease these plants to the National
Sales agency evolved by the Commit
tee of II. In this statement Nh. Bur-
dick points to the enormous losses sus-
tanned by the people Of North Dakota
on the 1920 wheat crop, 40 times as
much as the state has invested in the
state mill and elevator" The state
ment follows: ..
Urge Completion of Plants
"In expressing my views on this
subject, l wish to be understood as
not binding in any way the North Da-
kota Farm Bureau Federation but
merely outlining what l personally
think of the matter. .. .
"The State Elevator and Mill at
Grand Forks is partly completed.
Something close to a million dollars
has already been put into the ven
ture by the State of North Dakota.
The Mill and Elevator is well planned
and if completed will be Of great val
ue to the people Of North Dakota un-
der the proposed plan of selling grain.
We cannot 90 on and leave it uncom-
pleted and thereby lose what we have
already invested. 1t should be COM
pleted and that should be done in
time to make the Mill and Elevator
available for the crop of 1921.
after the Mill and Elevator is
completed the State of North Dakota
should then lease it to the National
Sales Agency to be adopted at the
farmers conference at Chicago on
April 9Th. This institution will then
become an integral and valuable part
of the plan outlined by the Commit
tee of II for the handling of grain.
The money spent already will not then
be lost and the state can make SUCH
terms in leasing as shall be fair both
to the state and the National Sales
Agency. If this plan is followed it will
relieve the state Of North Dakota
from losing what it has already in
vested or of going into the actual
business Of handling grain and will
at the same time provide a powerful
aid to the plan of the National Sales
Agency to be conducted by the direct
orship of 81 farmers of America.
Losses on 1920 Crop
clad the National Sales Agency
plan been in operation during the
season of 1920 the cost price of grain
could have been obtained for at least
six hundred million bushels of. u
wheat. Our wheat in North Dakota for
the year 1920 was about IS million
bushels Our best available records
show wheat in 1920 to have cost $2.44
per bushel. We have sold the most
part of our 1920 crop for about $1.00
less than the cost Of production. It
is no idle statement then to say that
we have lost on our 1920 wheat crop
forty times as much money IS the
State of North Dakota now has in
vested in the State Mill and Elevator.
'"The bonds Of the State Mill and
Elevator should be sold at once and
if the people Of North Dakota will
unite in doing this the bonds can be
sold. Let US on this venture just elm
mate political differences and put the
Mill and Elevator over. On this great
big question we should not be pennv
wise and pound foolish. Every grain
grower should take off his coat and