Connecticut western news., 1922-04-06
CONFERENCE BOARD
 REFUSES LEAGUE MILK
Believed to Be Last Great
 Stand Against the League

. l He e. OTSdilIZGu IIlllh uCd1SIo through their New York Milk Con- ference Board have refused to buy their supply of milk from the Dairy mems. League Cooperative Associa- tion. Dairymen believe this to be the last great effort of the organized dealers to put their Association out of business, and much excitement prevails in milk circles, particularly among farmers. In spite of the fact, however, that the dealers through their organization have not purchased through the Co-Operative Associa- tion, the Association has marketed practically all of its milk. The Bor- den's Company and the Borden's Farm Products Company, the largest buyers, and large number of small CT ones have purchased pooled milk. These outlets together with the planrs owned or operated by the Co., Operative Association have assured the poolers a practically uninter- rupted market in spite of the opposi- tion of some of the dealers,
 The immediate cause of the pres ent trouble is that this is the begin ming of new contract period and the farmers in the Co-Operative tribute the burden of caring for surplus milk so that it would not all have to be borne by the Association producers alone as has been the case during the past year. Some of those dairymen not in the Co-Operative Association have claimed that the Association was trying to discrimin- ate against them in the sale of their milk. As matter of fact, the discrimination has been the other way. The poolers have cared during the past year for all of the surplus and the non-poolers have secured the benefits of this and have failed to stand any of the cost. The Asso- citation producers have simply asked the dealers to purchase their milk on 2 more equitable basis.
 The buyers, of course, think this che right opportunity for attempting to break the Association by dealing directly with individual farmers. They are offering contracts to far mers agreeing to pay little above the pooled price, then they use their energies to injure the Association and bring down the pooled price thereby lowering the price to every producer, whether he is in the Asso- citation or not. Evidently some pro- ducers cannot see what the dealers are driving at, but if they would exercise their memories a little bit, they would remember what condi- tions prevailed in the milk market in the old days both from the consumers and the producers standpoints when the dealers dictated prices to both producers and consumers and all the terms upon which the farmers milk was sold. sf a5 .u.. "
 The pooling plan has been the 'one factor that has saved the dairymen of this section, whether they were in the Association or not, during the past year from the terrible losses and hardships which the farmers of the Middle West have suffered be- cause of the hard times. The money which in the old days went into the buyers pockets was distributed to the farmers because they were in shape through their organization to proper ly market their products. The deal CTS know this and know that if they can once put the Association out of business, they can get the business, of buying milk back to dealing with individual farmers directly and with prices determined on the old butter and cheese basis. 53
 . While this controversy will bring some temporary loss to all dairymen in lowered pooled price, it bids fair to establish once and for all the Co-Operative Association and the pooling plan on al firm basis with
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