Published every Thursday at palmer, Alaska, for the Matanuslca Valley Farmers’
Cooperating Association for the purpose of giving news of the Associations Work,
Problems and Accomplishments,
SUBSCRIPTION BY- MAIL $1.75 BOX $1.00 ■ SINGLE COPY 100
CO-CPERATORS or JUST MEMBERS.
"The act of a nan joining a farmers’ Cooperative does not make him a Cooperator,We’ve
lost the neighborliness and the cooperative spirit that characterized pioneer days.
So we must have meetings and constant effort"to work together in an endeavor to build
this spirit and sift out our common problems. We’ve got to make ourselves big enough
to work together without stumbling over personal issues and differences."
B, E. Stallones, Executive Secretary Texas Federation Cooperatives, Austin* Texas
Cooperatives all ovor the country realize that they are going through a period of ,
testing. During the past twenty-five years the nation has witnessed the rapid devel
opment of Farmers’ Cooperatives in every field of Production. Can they meet the *
challenge of the Post-war years or will we wind up in over-production in a few years?_
The American farmer is gradually improving his lot. His living conditions are bettor.
His tools are bettor. And—how has ho come by this? To a groat extent through tho
development of Farmers' Cooperatives which have brought tho farmer bettor prices for
his produco, raised the quality standards of farm produce, and onablod him' to buy
his oquipmont at a lowor cost. Quentin Reynolds, General Manager of the Eastern '»
States Farmers Exc^go says this: "Through their Cooperatives, farmers have establish
ed a mechanism to enable them to better caiTy their share of the national responsi
bility for the continuance of tho .American way—survival, _ conversion end prosperity
through safe guarding and strengthening opnortunity. Our'cooperative sorvico agencies
aro no ends in themsolvcs but tools through which farmers, working together voluntar
ily find that they accomplish more than they can by going it alone."
How can the farmers make more effective use of their cooperatives? There is ono big
problem that Cooperatives have not effectively solved and that is a better control of
production. It is not an easy ono to handlo because thorc'ftre too many factors which
enter into the picture and are out'of the farmers' control. For oxaraple—Ono year we
have an overproduction of.potatoes. Potatoes can't bo hold for more than a year—so
what? The farmer loses. The next year tho potato crop is drastically cut and the
result—a potato shortago. Thi3 is true in all porishable products produced on a
farm.to a groat extent. Some stand storage over longer periods and some can bo canned
or dohydratod, but those facilities arc not always available.
Now suppose your produco manager could get all tho farmers togethor and after sizing
up the scope of the markot, make plans accordingly and agroo on the acrcago.' This
sounds like the solution and under normal conditions it should work out fine, but
other factors can enter into the picture and change'it considerably. The weather is
no small factor, in some areas hail wipes out crops, grasshoppors take wheat crops,
cutworms (as we woll know) wip6 out gardens, and many other disasters assail tho
farmers' fields. Nevertheless, some sort of planned production is still preferable
to tho oldor method of "hit or mis3." Industry hasn't always hit tho nail on tho
head'eithor. Likewise, farmers must expect that they may not always come out on tho
mark, but tboy cortainly con, by bettor planning, improve the situation a groat deal.
This requiros cooperation; Only through this moans can farmers hope to improve thdir
lot. Agriculture in the past has failed in many ways, and this failure con be laid at
the farmers* own door. Again quoting from Quentin Reynolds, "Our agricultural program
has failed to make tho general public roalizo how dosirable aro the product® of tho
farm. It'has failed to provido consumers with what they might have in the way of food
and f ibef*. It has failed to provido fafm operators and their fomilios with the living
the faim, through its potential markots, affords. It has failod to provido those em
ployed by fnrmors the living and the purchasing power they night have enjoyed. It has
tended to discourage farming and to encourago tho "mining" of agricultural land,"
What doos the future hold through Cooperative offort?
Wo night say that through cooperative planning as well as cooperative marketing and
buying that tho farms of the nation con do all the things that they havo failed to do
in the past. No bettor method of solving the farmers1 probloms has yot been devised,
and until such timo, the wise farmer will work toward a better cooperative, Janhors
can through cooperative effort control their own dostinics in a constructive way.
Demand for products of tho farm cm bo increased—by advertising and by supplying tho
market with top quality at all times, Dopohdability is equally important,'
De we havo a job to do?" Yes—and a big one. Cooperative s’,as never before, need to
stick to thoir knitting. Wo cannot afford to do othorwiso.