The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1923-07-10

Eight questions bearing on import
ant phases of cooperative marketing
were asked by the editor of the Farm
and Fireside of Aaron Sapiro, thu
noted cooperative attorney. Th'
group of questions and answers con
stitute so interesting a contribution
to the subject that the article is re
printed as follows:
Our first question: Just how car
the grain and livestock farmers ex
pect to combine successfully so as tc
influence world crop prices?
Sapiro's answer: Grain and live
stock farmers can organize co-opera-
tive marketing associations just as
well as the growers of prunes OF
raisins or cotton or oranges.
Where farmers sell individually
they dump. Where they sell through
commodity cooperative associations
they merchandise You can merchan-
disc commodity even if you control
only three or four per cent of the
American supply.
We merchandise eggs through the
poultry producers of central Califor-
mia, and are getting wonderful results
for these poultry producers, although
all California produces less than five
per cent of the eggs of the United
States.
We merchandise strawberries from
central California through an associa-
ton that handles less than three per
cent of the strawberries straight into
New York and are getting a higher
net price for our berries from Chicago
to New York City than even the straw
berry growers in Kentucky and sec
lions two thousand miles nearer to
these great markets can get.
The matter of merchandising does
not depend solely upon getting a
group viewpoint on the group problem
per cent of the annual production of
any crop, you can act as a dominant
factor in the market, and can do much
better than if you merchandise only
20 per cent of the crop. But you
can accomplish real results by CO.
operative selling even if it involves
less than five per cent of the total
American production of that commo-
dity.
1t has been pointed out that it is
easier to organize the tobacco indus
try than to organize the wheat in
1ustry. From one standpoint this is
the wheat of the United
States is only about one-fourth of the
wheat of the world; whereas in GER
-ain types of tobacco the American
is dominant.
Nevertheless, six surplus exporting
countries dominate the worlds wheat
narkets-Canada, United States, Aus
ralia, Argentina, India, and Russia
in normal times.) Of these Canada
md the United States are exporting
he greater quantities.
If the wheat growers were organ !
zed so that they could dominate the
pool of American |
Wheat alone, it would be the largest |
ingle factor in stabilizing the wheat |
rices of the world.
If, in addition, American wheat |
.rowers would create joint agency
or the sale of the expOrtable surplus |
ogether with Canada and Australia,
nd perhaps Argentina, there would
e unquestionable sterilization of the
ycrld wheat price, and both the far
Ter and the consumer would be saved
rom the wheat spectators in Liver
DOL and Chicago.
| firmly believe that there will be
cooperative marketing
ssociations organized for the pur
Csc of the joint sale of exportable
urpluses.
We do not ever have to go that
ar.
If growers are organized, it enables
hem as au organization to adjust
heir operations - the law of supply
nd demand, and to reap for them
elves some of the natural economic
nsults of fluctuations in the quantity
reduction of crops.
For example, the unorganized cot
On growers, to the extent of more
nan 80 per cent, sold their cotton in
he fall of 1922 and averaged approx
lately 20 cents a pound Even at
nat time the inherent value of cot
On was at least five cents a pound
sore. but the unorganized grower had
O conception of the absorbing power
markets, and had no means, as an
1dividual, to secure such farm Gre
its as would enable him to do orderly ;
But the cooperative associations,
rganized on this commodity plan,
the cotton delivered to I
lem. They made small sales in the