Discusses the practical and profitable benefits of marketing cream through cooperative creameries

Ryger, A. P.

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South Dakota State University Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange SDSU Extension Leaflets SDSU Extension 7-1-1923 Cooperative Marketing of Cream A. P. Ryger Follow this and additional works at: https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/extension_leaflets Recommended Citation Ryger, A. P., "Cooperative Marketing of Cream" (1923). SDSU Extension Leaflets. 24. https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/extension_leaflets/24 This Pamphlet is brought to you for free and open access by the SDSU Extension at Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in SDSU Extension Leaflets by an authorized administrator of Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. For more information, please contact michael.biondo@sdstate.edu. Historic, archived doculllent Do not assume content reflects current scientific knowledge, policies, or practices. SDSU ® Extension For current policies and practices, contact SDSU Extension Website: extension.sdstate.edu Phone: Email: 605-688-4 792 sdsu.extension@sdstate.edu SDSU Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer in accordance with the nondiscrimination policies of South Dakota State University, the South Dakota Board of Regents and the United States Department of Agriculture. 1111 1111111rm11~~1 ll ~ml~lill[ 1111111 3 1574 50153 6475 Extension Leaflet No. 24 July, 1923 COOPERATIVE MARKETING OF CREAM By A. P. Ryger, St.ate Dairy Expert A successful cooperative creamery churning over 300,000 pounds of butter per year. To derive the fullest benefit from cooperative marketing of cream it is necessary also to cooperate in the manufacture of butter. In order for this to be successful and advantageous to the producers, it is necessary to have a given minimum volume of cream or •butter .... fat. The minimum amount was considered 100,000 pounds of butter manufactured per year, up to a few years ago, but on account of the great increase in prices of machinery, equipment, supplies and salaries, it is now found necessary to have at least 150,000 pounds volume output for economic operation of a creamery as compared with the former 100,000 pounds. Another factor, in many instances as important as volume, is that of quality of product. In some communities where the volume might be secured to operate a cooperative creamery, the quality of Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics •, W. F. Kumli en, Dir ector . Distributed in furtherance of Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914. cream produced is so poor that the benefit from the volume of ·busi-ness would ne offset ,by inferior quality of butter that would result. Therefore, it should be undei;_stood that both volume and quality are equally essential in the sucessful operation of a cooperative local creamery. In addition, a competent management is absolutely necessary. Without this, both volume and quality would be of little benefit. Cooperative marketing of cream without cooperative manufac-ture of butter has less merit, for many reasons; the principal one being that the butterfat is still an unfinished product and the market in which it is finally to be sold is limited to the local demands and interests which compete with cooperative cream buying places in the market for cream. Their interest lies naturally in buying their raw material as cheaply as possible. To get any benefit from cooperative marketing of cream without cooperative manfacture into butter, the same essentials as mentioned in that connection are necessary, namely: volume, quality and good business management. The minimum volume may be figured at 50,000 pounds of butterfat per year. If this amount, or more, is handled, the cost of handling can be reduced considerably below what it costs under the present creamery station system, resulting in a saving to the producers. It is also possible that by a true co-operative effort of all producers in such an organization, that a much better quality cream can be marketed. In order to take advantage of the result of this, a cooperative cream station should be , fitted with cooling and cleaning facilities. Cooling facilities are necessary to retain the good quality of the cream from the time it is brought by the producer until disposed of. It then arrives at the factory in a condition and of a quality that would make a better quality butter than that which results from the average cream station bought cream. There should be cleaning fa-cilities to clean and sterilize by steam, all utensils used in the han-dling of the cream at the station, including the farmers' cans •brought with cream. One reason why butterfat prices are low in this state as com-pared with butter quotations in the principal markets is that the cream is of poor quality when it reaches the factory, owing to lack of care on the farm, at cream buying places and while in transit. This is an economic loss that necessarily must fall on the producer. Hence, it should be his business to investigate and find means and methods of marketing which would overcome this loss. It would stand to reason that cooperative marketing, if properly organized and fully understood by the producers, would go a long way toward elim-inating this loss. That in itself would be a large net profit to the producer of the cream. Cooperative marketing of dairy products is no longer an experi-ment. It has been successfully carried on for years past in this and other countries, but its success depends on how well the milk and cream producers will cooperate and work together. Successful co-J Tbe cooperative creamery at Spearfish operative marketing of butterfat through a local creamery or cream station also depends on the amount produced in the locality where established. Hence, the first thing to be considered in organizing such marketing institutions is to find out the approximate volume of business to be had. This can he done in m any ways, but we believe the best way is to send out a questionnaire something lik e this: "If you are interested in the proposition please fill in answers to the following questions, and return this at once to ... .. ... ... .... .. .... .. . "How many cows did you milki during last year? ...... ....... .... ........ .. . "Approximately how many pounds of butterfat did you sell? "Did you ship direct to a creamery or sell to a cream station? "How many cows do you expect to milk this year? ...... ....... ........ .. . "Would you encourage going ahead with the proposition of a cooperative creamery or cream station if the amount of production is available? .............. .. ..... ..... .. ... . "Will you become a member if established? ... ... ..... ............ . ''Signed ........ .. .. ... ................ ...... ...... . "Address ..... ... ....... ........ ........ ......... " This questionnaire should be sent only to the producers within the trade territory of the town or location where the , proposed cream-ery or cream station is to 'be erected. This survey can be made by or through any community organization interested in better market-ing of cream. The return of the questionnaires by the producers to whom they are sent, will indicate the amount of interest taken in the venture, and this is anothe ,r advantage of this method. In case there is not sufficient interest shown by the return of the questionnaires, an organization should not be urged on to a community. Without suf-ficient support the venture 1 would be a failure. To determine • the number of cows necessary to support such organizations, figuring at 125 pounds of butterfat production per cow, yearly, it would take not le.s,s than 400 cows for a cream sta-tion and 900 for a creamery. This estimate would hold good for the eastern part of the state where the average production per cow is somewhat greater than in th e western part. There it would take . about 20 percent more cows to have the same volume of butterfat. The minimum cost of a local creamery to handle 150,000 to 200,000 pounds of butter would be about $10,000. In sections where there is not sufficient local production to war-rant the operation of either a local cooperative creamery or a. cream station, cooperative marketing of cream and manufacture of butter is possible through a centralized, direct shipping method. This has proved both practical and profitable in South Dakota. By this meth-od it is possible to cove ,r a wide territory to insure volume and at the same time o·btain a much better quality of cream than that gen-erally received at centralizing creameries through the cream station system. The minimum cost of building and equipment to handle from 50 ,000 to 100,000 pounds of butterfat under this plan would be about $2,000. To bene,fit from coope ,rative marketing of cream through cream-eries or cream stations, the cost of handling must be reduced by the volume handled and a better quality of cream than that now gener-ally marketed is necessary. 

Cooperative Marketing of Cream

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Cooperative Marketing of Cream

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