The Berry Growers' Union Takes Root
After years of market chaos, Kennewick and Richland strawberry farmers move to consolidate their harvest under a single management.
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Ninety-eight per cent of the growers, controlling 85 per cent of the acreage in the Kennewick district, have pledged themselves to stand together. With the exception of a few salient features, little attention has been given to details, but Monday afternoon the organization is to be perfected and the men who are to direct its affairs chosen. The determination of the growers to put the organization movement to a successful conclusion was shown by the large attendance at Monday's meeting when the canvassing committee reported some 150 acres out of a total of 175 pledged to the new association. Six men were elected to represent Kennewick: M. N. Hudnall, W. P. Osgood, I. A. Gray, H. C. Puderbaugh, F. H. Ehlers, and J. Ross. Representative C. M. Furry of the Northwestern Fruit Exchange argued that the strawberry industry could not succeed until sound business principles were adopted, comparing the independent marketing system to a factory where every worker tried to sell the goods they manufactured individually instead of working under one central control.
“It would be just as good business for Henry Ford to take Jim Jones and Tom Smith away from their work benches in the factory and send them out to sell the Ford each had made as for the berry grower to attempt to market his crop independent of and in competition with his neighbor.”
The struggle for collective bargaining power in agriculture remains a cornerstone of the regional economy. Just as these 1916 growers sought to stabilize prices through association, modern producers in the Tri-Cities area continue to navigate the tension between independent operation and the stability of cooperative marketing.
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