The Dawn of Cooperative Banking in Benton County
Local farmers organize the first federal loan association to secure $29,000 for regional development.
The first application for money under the provisions of the Federal Farm Loan act in Benton county will come from the farmers around Benton City. At a meeting last Wednesday evening, County Agriculturalist Lee M. Lampson explained the workings of the new law and plans were perfected for organizing a loan association of ten farmers whose financial needs will amount to $29,000, the minimum for the creation of an association being $20,000.
“The first application for money under the provisions of the Federal Farm Loan act in Benton county will come from the farmers around Benton City.”
This reflects the early push for institutional agricultural credit that transformed the Columbia Basin from a region of homesteads into an industrial-scale agricultural hub. Today, while farming remains a pillar of Benton County, the consolidation of land and credit has shifted drastically, yet the need for rural infrastructure investment remains a constant in local legislative discourse.
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