Kennewick and Richland Growers Form Strawberry Cooperative
Local farmers sign a new marketing agreement to stabilize the strawberry crop through a centralized cooperative.
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At a recent meeting, the local strawberry growers discussed the organization of a new cooperative marketing association. The management of the proposed association is to be in the hands of a board of seven trustees—three chosen by Richland growers, three by Kennewick growers, and these six to select their own president. They advised only one grade of berries and rigid inspection. The group agreed to join a co-operative organization for the purpose of marketing the 1916 strawberry crop, provided that 85 percent of the strawberries can be secured by said organization. The new agreement stipulates that a competent manager shall be chosen from outside Kennewick and Richland, who will market the crop independently of any local organization.
“The worst possible penalty that could be imposed upon a Hood River man was to hand him back his contract and inform him that he was no longer wanted in the organization.”
This 1916 effort to organize agricultural marketing reflects the long history of Kennewick as a fruit-producing hub. Today, agricultural cooperatives remain vital to local growers struggling with the same fundamental issues of price stabilization and market competition as their predecessors.
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