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Location of Cooperative Creameries
         in Wisconsin, 1936.
Dots abow number of co-ops in a county but not exact
                location.
butter in the United States and also in
the volume manufactured coopera-
tively, Minnesota ranks first, Iowa
second, and Wisconsin third. In Wis-
consin, however, only about 32 percent
of the State milk production goes into
butter, whereas in Minnesota and Iowa
the bulk of the milk is used for this
commodity.
  The Farm Credit Administration has
records of approximately 200 coopera-
tive creameries in Wisconsin which are
engaged in the manufacture of butter,
many processing and selling other dairy
products, and some of them buying and
reselling dairy supplies to their patrons.
Almost all of these cooperatives are
local or centralized associations, with
dollar sales in 1939 ranging from $7,000
to over $1,000,000. The typical asso-
ciation did a business of less than
$100,000-there were approximately
100 in this group-while the sales of
about 50 cooperatives were $300,000 or
more. The large organizations include
the Ladysmith Milk Producers' Co.
operative Association in Rusk County,
and the Richland Cooperative Cream.
ery Co. in Richland County.
   Medford Cooperative Creamery Co.-
A considerable number of cooperative
creameries in Wisconsin have an annual
production of butter averaging around
2 million pounds or more. Eight were
in this class in 1939. The Medford
Cooperative Creamery Co. in Taylor
County produced the largest run of
butter. It manufactured almost
2,800,000 pounds of butter in 1939, and
in some prior years even larger
amounts. In 1939 it produced also
460,000 pounds of buttermilk powder.
Sales exceeded $725,000. The coop.
erative plant has a valuation of more
than $60,000. The association was
organized in 1915 on a capital-stock
basis, and after 25 years of operation
has more than 1,000 patrons.
Barron Creamery Makes
Large Sales of Cream
  Barron Cooperative Creamery Co.-
In northwest Wisconsin the Barron
Cooperative Creamery Co. has devel-
oped a variety of activities. The asso-
ciation sends its trucks to the farms of
900 patrons to collect the whole milk.
At the plant the cream is separated and
is shipped to market provided the net
return for sweet cream is favorable
compared with that for butter. If it is
not, the cream is made into sweet or
salted butter, whichever will bring the
higher return to the patrons. This
co-op prints its own butter. Skim
milk is dried into powder for use by
bakers and candy manufacturers. Or-
ganized in 1901, the business of the
association has amounted to over
$1,000,000 each year since 1923, with
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