Richland Dairymen Weigh Business Gamble
Local farmers consider a co-operative plan to stabilize the regional cream market by partnering with the Kennewick Fruit Produce Company.
The story, cleaned up
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Heretofore, the dairymen of the Richland and Fruitvale districts have been divided as to the shipping point of their cream for butter making. The majority of the cream is being shipped now to Tacoma, although some of it goes to the Kennewick creamery. Other points have been tried at times, as Portland and Walla Walla, but the fact remains that there has always been a feeling of uncertainty and dissatisfaction. The Kennewick Fruit Produce Co. has formulated a plan by which they thought conflicting interests could be so centered and controlled that it would make the dairy interests of the whole valley a co-operative proposition. Manager E. M. Sly proposed that his company would buy the Kennewick Creamery for $2100, providing the Richland dairymen took $1200 worth of stock in the produce company. In exchange, the dairymen would commit to shipping all their cream to the new facility. At a meeting in Amon Hall, between 30 and 40 producers voted almost unanimously in favor of the proposition.
“Not only have the dairymen themselves deplored the situation... but merchants of the valley have had it called to their attention that this state of affairs did not tend to increase their own prosperity.”
This 1915 struggle for control over regional supply chains mirrors the ongoing tension between small-scale Washington producers and the logistics of global distribution. Localized co-operative attempts continue to be a primary tool for farmers fighting for the 'square deal' mentioned in this report over a century ago.
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