Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1921-10-14
STATE FEDERATION
LEADS NATION, SAYS
MARKETING EXPERT
Farm Bureau Makes Centralized Dis
tribution Possible In Record
Time, Committee Told.
MINNESOTA FARM BUREAU
FEDERATION NEWS SERVICE
Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation
BY NEIL H. SWANSON
SarNinR

Editor News Service
ST. Paul, Oct. 12.-The Minnesota
Farm Bureau federation, with units
organized in more than 1900 town
ships, has enabled farmers of the
state to accomplish in a single sum-
mer two undertakings that normally
would have required years of work.
E. B. Heaton, member of the national
dairy marketing Committee of Eleven
told members of the committee in its
first formal hearing, held in st. Paul
this week.
The Committee of Eleven, appoint
ed by the American Farm Bureau
federation to investigate dairy mar
keting and recommend methods OF
centralizing and improving the dis
tribution of dairy products, opened
it's hearing in Minnesota in order to
study this states work in co-opera-
tive marketing.
state farm bureau declarations"
Mr.. Heaton said, are rendering ser
vice the value of which can hardly
be appreciated, and which is often
not appreciated as it should be by the
farmers. Minnesota has one of the
newer farm bureau declarations. The
farmers of this state have developed
more cooperative work than any
other state in the country in working
out their marketing problems.
"The livestock shipping assoc1a-
lions in the state began to see that
it would be a good thing if they
could federate into a state assoc1a-
ton and start a livestock commission
firm of their own on the South st.
Paul market. They found that it
would be impossible to build up this
association as quickly as they wanted
to do it, if they undertook it them
selves, so they called on the biggest
service organization in the state, the
Minnesota Farm Bureau federation,
and in a few weeks the federation
and the new association had devel-
oped a statewide organization with
some 275 local shipping associations,
and a total of nearly 10000 farmers.
The managers of this commission
firm tell me they are handling more
than twice as much stock as their
nearest competitor. This is service
worth while.
I'm Minnesota there are over 900
cooperative creameries. Some of the
leaders among these creameries con-
ceived the idea that they could make
great savings for the farmers and
could develop q better product to sell
if they could nave big, statewide
association of these cooperative
creameries. Again the farmers turn
ed to their Farm bureau federation
and asked them to develop this
creamery organization. They are
working on it with splendid success.
If it had not been for the farmers and
the organization of the Minnesota
Farm Bureau federation, permitting
it to go ahead and help do this work,
it probably would have taken a good
many years for the livestock shippers
or the creamery co-OperatOrs to de-
velop the work of which they have
seen the need.
This is not the only work the
Minnesota federation has done. It
has taken an active part in legisla-
tive matters in which the farmers
were interested; it has an organiza-
ton department used to help coop
erative marketing projects and the
county farm bureaus, and it has a
publicity department which is spread
ing the story of the farmers work,
not only to the farmers, but to the
people of the cities as we'll"