Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-02-24
NEW MARKET IDEA
IN SELLING WHEAT
Cooperative Companies May
Soon Merge Interests on
Nationwide Scale.
BY j. C. ROYLE.
Special Dispatch to The Star.


erative marketing of wheat on a
nationwide scale is being actively
planned by the farmers of the Nation.
The first concrete steps toward that
end have involved the formation of Il
S1,l00.000 cooperative grain market
ing company to handle the wheat of
North Dakota, South Dakota, Mon
tana and Minnesota.
1t is planned to form similar as
sociations to handle the. crops OF Ok
lahoma and Texas in one group. and
those of Colorado. Nebraska, Missouri
'and Kansas in another. Other groups
may later be formed. These district
cooperative marketing companies
then would work together to market
the wheat of the Nation
The first action planned by the
Northwestern Co. is the acquisition by
lease or purchase of terminal facilities
in Minneapolis and possibly Duluth.
The plan of organization entails the
sale of 100 900 shares of preferred
stock at $40 par without voting rights,
and 100000 shares of the par value
of 81, which will have full voting
rights and which will be sold only to
farmers.
World Farley Possible.
a conference now is in progress in
1ives of pooling organizations in
Australia, Canada and the United
States 1t is possible that the delibera-
tons now i'll progress may lead TO
the formation of a world wheat con-
ference.
In view of the actions recently
started under the antitrust laws
against the formation of huge con-
solicitations handling food products. it
Inv of hot 70, ~
seem to menace cooperative market
ing organizations. An investigation
of the subject by the James j. Hill
reference Library shows thatthere are
81 cooperative marketing laws now
effective in Al States, and that the So
called stan dard act has been adopted
IN % States permitting business to
be done by cooperative associations
in much the same manner i'll all of
them.
There Is little probability that State
antitrust laws will be invoked against
he associations since the decisions of
State courts have been almost
universally favorable TO the farmers.
Enormous Business Done.
The volume of business done by CO.
operative associations in agricultural
products throughout the nation is
placed at So 500, 900 900 annually. The
amount transacted by such organiza-
lions in Minnesota increased 80 per
cent In the last year to $50, 425, 900
The creamery and live stock co-opera-
tives were responsible for large part
of this gain.
In fact, the National Dairy Council
estimates that farmers the country
over realized nearly as much from
dairy cows in 1925 as from corn and
wheat combined The council puts
the total Of dairy products at So
7d0,000,000, or about 5000 200, 900 less
than the farm value of wheat and
corn.
No. Surplus Accumulated.
THE important fact" NJ d. Mum,
president OF the council said, lis that
farmers marketed their dairy prod
ucts day by day without accommodating
surplus and thus received funds on
which they were able to live and help
finance their other farm operations.
This vast sum OF nearly two and three
quarter billions has relieved agri-
culture of what otherwise would have
been unsurmountable difficulties
The greatest danger to the co-opera-
tives, according to former Gov. Frank
q. Lowden Of Illinois, is that tho bene-
fits from marketing surplus products
In an orderly way in foreign markets
would accrue to non-members as we'll
as those who do the work, making il
difficult for the cooperative organiza-
tons to hold their membership intact.