Hide Article Text (OCR)
A voluntary reduction in the wholesale price of milk on the part of the membership of the Iowa Dairy Marketing Association, composed of farmers furnishing the milk supply for Des Moines, is reflected in the delivery price to consumers by a decrease of two cents per quart. Milk for which the farmers have been receiving $3.30 per 100 pounds will bring them, for the next three months, commencing April 1st, $2.45, and Des Moines families will pay 13 cents instead of 15 cents per quart.This association was organized October 1, 1917. It now has 1,734 members, who own stock in it, and who contract with the association for the sale of their milk to De3 Moines distributors for 90-day periods at a time. The association receives five cents per 100 pounds as its commission, and the members receive a price for their milk, based on a 3.5 per cent fat product. The price fixed for the period from April 1st to July 1st is $2.4-5 per 100 pounds of 3.5 per cent fat and five cents additional for each tenth of 1 per cent above that amount. Also a deduction of fi e- cents per 100 pounds is made for each tenth of 1 per cent of fat below 3.5 per cent. Provision is made in the contract for tests to be made by the state dairy and food commissioner in case of complaint about distributors’ tests.The price paid farmers for milk is considerably higher in Des Moines than is prevailing in other cities. The new price undoubtedly will mean a larger profit to the farmer than when he was receiving $3.30, -owing to the lower production cost during the summer months. No formula for cost of production of milk has yet been employed by the association, it having followed the course of making short contracts in order to keep abreast of the markets. It is the intention of the secretary, J, V. Llngenfelter, to work out definite cost figures for his membership in the near future. These will be based largely upon the results obtained by the cow-testing associations.The -Iowa Dairy Marketing Association has had much to do with making milk prices what they are on the Des Moines market an' at every other point where the association is represented. It furnishes an excellent example of what can he accomplished by collective bargaining in marketing one farm product at a profit. There is an abundance of milk for the Des Moines n, .rket, due to the mild winter and the entrance of many new men into the dairy business, and the addition of many new cows to the herds already .supplying the city. Milk prices have been encouraging, and the disposition of the surplus-at prices that are satisfactory to both producers and dealers has been accomplished without great difficulty or hardship to either.The greatest advantage to members of the association is the practical assurance that they will have a continued outlet for their millc at a stable price. The a sedation does not. guarantee to secure distribution for all the milk produced. Wliat it does is to ^at-tempt to ange with a distributing company to receive a farmer’s milk. Then an agr event is entered into between the far*- Gr and the distributor for the sale of the milk for a 90-datf period at a fixed price. A member of the association, who signs a contract with a distributor for ihe April-July period knows just what he will receive lor his milk during that time.
Newspaper Details
Des Moines Iowa Homestead
Des Moines, Iowa, US
Thu, Apr 07, 1921
Page 12
Full Page
Clipped by
Wendy S.
USA 20 Apr 2025
Other Publications Near Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines Daily Leader
Des Moines Register and Leader
Des Moines Iowa State Register
Iowa Industrial Progress
Des Moines Daily News
