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Show TEN YEARS OF FARM BUREAU FEDERATION Idea Spread Until Now There Is an Organization in Every County in State of Ohio. The farm bureau in Ohio was ten years old last March. It was in Portage Por-tage county that farmers first formed themselves into an organization for business, and hired a paid county agent to look after their interests. From this start the idea has spread until there is now a voluntary organization organi-zation of farmers in a farm bureau organization in every county in Ohio with a paid county agent. During this period these county organizations have federated Into a state organization, the Ohio Farm Bureau federation, which had a membership of over 100,-000 100,-000 farmers in Ohio the first of this year. In Portage county the first organization organi-zation was formed primarily to get better roads for the farmers. Later organizations, however, combined a number of ideas and projects which came primarily through the extension work of Ohio state university. This extension work started largely in agricultural ag-ricultural education work through schools and boys' and girls' clubs. It was soon found that this work could be done more efficiently through an organization in each county, and this was partly responsible for the formation for-mation of county farm bureaus and the employment of county agricultural agents. It was during the rever of war activities ac-tivities that the farm organization Idea spread the most rapidly. The largest number of counties were organized organ-ized in the years 1917, 1918, and 1919. Much of the organization work came about because of the pressing necessity neces-sity for it in connection with mer-gency mer-gency seed corn work done by the council of defense In 191S. It was at this time also that the beginnings of a state-wide federation were made, and the Ohio farm bureau federation was finally formed. The past two years have marked great activity on the part of organized fanners of Ohio. Economical produc tion and better farming are still the main interests of the county farm bureau bu-reau and the state federation. Co-operative live stock shipping companies are now at work in 53 counties with a record of saving 500,000 to th farmers in the past year.' Co-opera tlve elevators have been formed. Some work has been done In co-operative buying, more particularly in the lines where farmers could not get good service serv-ice through established channels of trade. Many other projects have been undertaken and accomplished. Now the farmers are carrying their work one step farther and are planning plan-ning to carry their efforts Into the terminal markets. A state grain sales a.ency at Cleveland is ore of the major ma-jor rirojects at tbe presort Mme. |
