The Sauk Centre herald., 1921-09-08
Bureaus Are Planning
Own Farm Credit Firms
Farmers of Middle West Working on
Finance Corporations Along
State Lines

St. Paul, Sept. 6-Farm bureau
federations including several hund-
red thousand farmers in the principal
grain producing states of the middle
west are taking steps toward launch
ing a cooperative finance corporation
and cooperative grain marketing CO.
operations along state lines, as the
best means of advancing the Ameri-
can Farm Bureau federation's nation
al marketing program, according to
C. E. Gunnels, treasurer of the ma
tional federation, who has been tour
ing Minnesota.
"The National grain marketing plan
worked out by the Committee Of II
after eight months of investigation
is absolutely sound and practicable,
in the opion of the American Farm
Bureau federation" Mr.. Gunnels
said. "The Farm Bureaus of the
grain producing states are determin-
ed that the farmer shall have his own
corporation through which he can put
his grain on the national and world
markets in an orderly manner, at the
lowest possible expense. The ~. S.
Grain Growers, Inc, established as
the first step toward putting into op
Grafton the recommendations Of the
Committee of Seventeen, has been
confronted with tremendous obstacles.
The organization of a finance corpor-
alton to provide credit for the mar
keting of the farmers grain has fac
ed even greater obstacles. Few states
have passed legislation to put coop
erativee enterprises on an equal foot
ing with other business projects. .
"Many state farm bureau feder-
ations are taking steps to form their
own farm credit corporations to pro
vide better means Of financing the
production and marketing of farm
products. Several are seriously con-
sidering the organization of the grain
producers of their states into coop
erative associations, so that these
state organizations will be ready to
fit into the national marketing pro-
gram of the Committee of Seventeen
as soon as it can be put into opera
tion on a nationwide scale.
"The cooperative marketing en-
terprise has been built from the bot
tom up. First came the local Coop
erative elevator, the local shipping
association of livestock raisers, the
local cooperative creamery. Then
came state federations of these local
units, such as the Minnesota Farm
Bureau federation has just launched
for the marketing of livestock and
dairy products.
'The farm bureaus of the grain
producing states take the unalterable
position that they have a grave obli-
cation to the farmers. They are de-
termined that the farmer shall not
be asked to invest his money nor con-
tract his grain in any project until
the farm bureau, the organization
which launched and financed the Com
mittee of Seventeen and is response
BILE for its plans, knows that those
plans are being put into operation on
sane, sound business basis. It is
better to go slowly, and be absolute
ly right, than to rush into any pro-
ject blindly. The farm bureau is the
farmers business representative. Its
duty is to protect his interests. When
we go before the farmers of Mime
sofa with a grain marketing plan, we
intend to be sure it is right, and has
a fair chance of success"
There will be no attempt to organ
ize Minnesota farmers to market
their 1921 crop under the plan Of the
Committee of Seventeen, Mr.. Gun
nels said. Some grain will be NOV
ed through existing organizations
which co-operated in the formation
of the U. S. Grain Growers, he said,
but farmers will not be asked to con-
tract their 1921 crop to the national