The Strawberry War: Kennewick Growers Take Control of the Market
For the first time in regional history, Kennewick berry farmers are dictating their own prices, forcing Seattle commission merchants to pay cash or go without.
The story, cleaned up
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Commission merchants of the Northwest are being treated to a new and novel experience. For the first time in the history of the Kennewick strawberry, they are having to do business with the grower on a business basis; for the first time they are paying real money for berries instead of taking them for nothing and selling them for what they chose. An awful howl has gone up from some quarters, especially in Seattle, where the so-called steam roller methods employed by the Kennewick-Richland Marketing Union have been soundly denounced. Why, it’s the same old steam roller that has been operated for years. The only difference is that this year the growers are riding on the seat instead of furnishing a cushion for the roller. The Kennewick growers are engaged in a merry war with commission merchants who refuse to operate on a strict f.o.b. basis, and so far the growers hold the whip hand. The commission man who in the past has been in the habit of playing one grower against the other found himself checkmated this year. When he failed to find any Kennewick growers who were big enough chumps to dedicate their berries to the use in breaking the market, he immediately set out to find some Oregon growers who were. The result was that the price of the Kennewick berries was boosted, and it pulled the Oregon berries up along with it.
“The only difference is that this year the growers are riding on the seat instead of furnishing a cushion for the roller.”
This 1916 labor and ownership struggle over agricultural supply chains echoes modern-day tensions between local producers and large-scale distributors. It captures the exact moment when the Tri-Cities agricultural sector began transitioning from passive suppliers to active market stakeholders.
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