The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-12-12
MILkFARMERS
CHEER DEMAND
FOR PRICE HIKE
Challenge Distributors to
Show Why Consumer
Should Absorb It.
FRACTIONAL SPLIT Barred
Producers at Odds on Plan
for Complete Revision of
CIasSifiCations.

Three hundred dairy farmers
stamped their feet and whistled
their approval in the House of Rep
resentativeS chamber in the State
house today as their spokesman de-
manded more money for them.
They broke into a stampede of
noisy applause when he challenged
the distributors to show why they
would have to raise the consumer 5
price from 10 to IL cents quart to
meet the producers demands.
The spokesman was Ralph Poul-
ton, manager of the Indianapolis
Milk Producers. a producers Coop
eratiVe marketing association. He
told M. Clifford Townsend, Lieuten-
ant Governor and head of the State
Milk Control Board hearing the pc
tition, that other producers for cities
of a size comparable to Indianapolis
got more for their product and yet
milk retailed at only 10 cents a
quart.
st. Louis Is Mentioned
Asked by representative of dis
tributors to name a city and quote
prices, he SAID that milk sells in
st. Louis for 10 cents a quart, and
yet producers are paid $40 a hun
dred pounds for fluid milk, as
against $l.82 paid producers here,
The farmers are asking the board
for 1920 a hundredweight on Glass
l milk, and the distributors are
fighting the proposal.
AS the meeting opened Carl
Hedges, Indianapolis Dairymen Co.
operative, largest producers CO.
operative marketing association in
the area, introduced a series of pro-
posed amendments to the petition
of the producers which would revise
the classifications entirely.
fractional Fight Flares
Charges and counter charges split
the producers into factional units
and threatened to bring into the
open details of the underlying
marketing situation that has been a
constant source of trouble in the
field for years.
Chairman Townsend, however
tabled the proposed amendments on
motion of the attorney for the
distributors, who said they were a
surprise and he was not prepared to
discuss them.
The hearing is tc resume this
afternoon.
The hearing is on petition of the
farmer section of the Marion County
committee asking that the diStrib-
utors pay them $3.50 a hundred
weight for Glass l milk instead OF
the $l.82 they now pay.
No Profit, They Claim
The farmers have said that they
can make no money at the present
price. 1t costs, they say, too mucn
to feed the cattle and to get the
milk to market. Making no profit
they say they might be forced to let
their equipment run down to the
place where it actually would affect
the quality of the product.
The distributors say they can not
boost the price of milk to the farm
er without raising it TO the retailer
who in turn would have to raise it
cent quart to the consumer.
This, they say, would make the
price prohibitive to many customers
who would stop buying fresh milk
decreasing the demand, and begin
buying evaporated milk.
Second Crisis Here
Although, they point out, the de-
mand for fresh milk for processing
among evaporated milk manufactur-
erS would proportionately increase
the farmer would lose because he is
paid less for milk sold for processing
than for bottle trade.
This marks the second crisis in
the states administration of the
milk industry in the Indianapolis
shed since the last Legislature Gre
ated the milk board and empowered
1t with administrative authority.
Several weeks ago all Indianapolis
distributors refused to furnish A
Feeney, Marion County administra
tor, with figures on their receipts
of milk and other data necessary
for him to compute the price tc
farmers. After court action they
furnished the data.