Rotting Melons and Broken Markets
Kennewick strawberry farmers find themselves squeezed by commission men and failing cooperative distribution chains.
The story, cleaned up
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As the days go by, and the different lines of fruit ripen, the success of the strawberry growers’ organization is more strongly emphasized. The last marketing fizzle is the cantaloupes. As usual, they started off at a good price, but dropped rapidly, and very soon the dealers turned down all shippers except a few favorite customers. There are several car loads of cantaloupes rotting on the ground here now—a condition absolutely inexcusable when there are so many people in the cities who are glad to pay what, to the raisers, appear to be great big prices for them. The growers are well satisfied to get 75 cents per crate at this season, which would land them in Spokane at a little under $1.45 and in Portland at under $1.50. Now the melons are retailing at varying prices ranging from 5 cents to 3 for 25 cents, making the price to the consumer run from $2.75 to $3.00 per crate. With such a margin at the distributing end of the line, it is a ridiculous condition when local dealers can’t handle them at all. The strawberry union demonstrated very clearly that it was the commission men at the distributing end of the line who played one dealer against his neighbor and forced prices down at will while the farmer held the sack. It is a good thing for the community for us farmers to get it in the neck once in a while just as we have gotten it this year in marketing our cantaloupes, for it takes some such heroic treatment to wake us up and demand at least part of what we earn.
“It is a ridiculous condition when they can’t pay 75 cents a crate or even $1.00... while the farmer held the sack.”
The struggle for fair compensation against market middle-men remains a perennial issue in the Tri-Cities agricultural economy. While infrastructure has evolved, the core tension between local producers and the volatility of the distribution supply chain continues to define the region's labor and ownership debates.
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