CO-OPERATION

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 58, 18 September 1928, Page 14

CO-OPERATION

ORGANISED FAKM.EKS STRENGTH IN CANADA "Evening Post." 18th September. Through the good oth'ces of the Canadian Trade Commissioner lor Xew Zealand i.s ,received a review* by the Canadian Pacific Railway of the great strides made in the 1 dominion by the organisation of its farn'.'ers. Primarily the object of these coo]>erative organisations is to prevnt a soVid front of producers against those who, in the first instance, buy and distribute thuir produce. At bottom as in all other moi/ements of the kind .the object and ainn of the farmer is to "get out all there ia in' it." The role oi' the consumer appears to be a silent one, a walk-on, walkoff purt. Ostensibly lie is assured of stabilise* 1 prices and standardised quality. His eVperience, however, in general is that full aA'vantage is taken of highly protective ta riffs, to sell dear in the domestic marked i and cheap in foreign markets as to surj) l«s production. This is most conspicnoul: in Australia, where some local produeh • are sold at'prices much above those ats cepted for them in external markets. It VS conspicuous in New Zealand in respect In wheat and Hour, which are selling at 40 to 50 per cent, more than Australian export prices. The pioduiura arc organised, the buyers and distributors are organised, the carriers of Ihe produce are <irgauised, but (.he _ consumers, sometimes '• described as ultimate consumers, arc not organised and seemingly, are unorgaritaable. Theoretically their interests are. the prime concern of their respective Q overnments. In Canada, producing interests are inCreasing in- their predominance and strength. The Canadian Pacilie Kaihvay reports that the .«o-operative trend has banded farmers in ,every section for effort of all kinds and ,come to cover practically every phase of ißgricultural production in all the provinM k. THE GREUXT WHEAT POOL. While the whast growers by reason of their tremendous pool of far-reaching influence have attt acted wide attention as the leading expont 'nts of co-operative trading in Canada, tl»;ir organisation is, m a way, the pinnacle of such service to far : mers coming on to] > of the multiplicity ol effort in this direction. The first co-op-erative effort in Qanada took the form of retail stores, the first being established in 1881 in Nova- Scotia by British miners. Agricultural ico-operative societies came later, and first assumed importance between 1909 and 19\% when provincial societies were organist} 1 called the '"United Farmers," which, especially in the West, became very po».verfnl and gave a great impetus to agrieiJ tural co-operation. Gradually co-operative marketing came to be extended to include nearly all farm products, the movement in this direction in recent years being aide, d in certain cases by Government action, aid to-day Canada occupies a leading place in the field of agricultural co-operation. There are agricultural a rssoeiations and co-operative organisations national _ m scope. The Canadian Count'iil of Agriculture deals only with theoretical questions of the general organisation iof movements and their relations with the various Governments. It includes the Ul lited Farmers of four provinces and four great co-opera-tives like the United Grain t-rowers. .Lhe United Grain Growers operand a co-oper-ative chain of grain elevators covering the three Prairie provinces; conduiat; a co-oper-ative company for wheat insuri "ice, a cooperative sawmill, a terminal rleyator at Vancouver, a branch dealing with livestock, and one for the sale a V ™lms, supplies to farmers. The Canadian Wheat Pool is made up of three provind al organisations forming the central V»\- vl, 7 "' Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, which were created separately. fit makes rales through, a central agency tor the three provincial pools and market s it in the countries importing wheat. BUTTER AND CHEESE, PIGS J\ND BEES. In each of the provinces there are'large and powerful producers' co-operative, associations dealing with dairy produce, poultry, pigs, and agriculture. Prince LA varcl Island's principal crop is potatoes, Jnarketed through a growers' association, swine, sheep, and silver foxes are s»ini^ larly controlled by producers. Of the .*> creameries in this province, 32 are co-opior-ative, and the egg and poultry industj y is run on strictly co-operative lines, i n Nova Scotia co-operative agricultural associations number 80, of which 13 are butttW and cheese organisations. There are 3S cooperative societies for the shipping of livestock, mainly hogs. Fruits, one of the province's most important products, are looked after by the United Fruit. Companies, , Ltd., which in addition to shipping abroad has expanded into canning and preserving factories, a vinegar factory, an apple-dry-ing factory, and a branch for the purchase of flour, seeds, and other supplies. -New Brunswick has one hundred ami fiity-nve ;icricultural societies dealing with produce and -co-operative purchase ot supplies The Fruit Growers' Association sells and buys for members. Quebec has a large number of breeding associations and agricultural societies distribute produce. i»ere are 140 co-operative selling organisations in Ontario, and 44 of them confine tliemeelves to dairy produce, and 55 to lruit, and 55 to eggs and poultry. Manitoba, in addition to the big national grain growers organisation, has United Grain Growers, with 20 elevators and three dairy associations. Saskatchewan has its own gram growers' association, dairy produce, poultry, and swine associations. Alberta has a big dairy pool and 300 egg circles. British Columbia has 10 co-operative creameries and 80 per cent, of its fvnit is handled co-operatively, and 70 organisations handle earden produce and small fruits. . g The Canadian Pacific Railway reports "Some time ago it was estimated that about 60 per cenf. of Canadian farmers marketed about 30 per cent, ot their produce in co-operative manner, ll«s was before the wheat pool had fully gotten underway, and to-day with the progress made in this manner o disposing of other farm produce a much larger percentage of Dominion farmers is marketing a larger proportion pi its products through co-operative agencies."