The Harrington Wheat King
Luther P. Turner secures a record-breaking payment for his massive harvest, spotlighting the booming grain economy of the era.
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Harrington, Wash.—What is believed to be the largest grain check ever paid in this state to an individual grain grower was issued when E. E. Mayer of Spokane paid Luther P. Turner of Harrington $223,844 for approximately 153,000 bushels of wheat. This was a little more than $1.46 a bushel net, the buyer paying all storage and other charges. This makes the price better than $1.50 a bushel. The wheat comprised the 1915 and 1916 crops. Mr. Turner, by holding his last year's crop, got $40,000 over what it would have returned him last year. All of Mr. Turner’s land lies in the Harrington wheat belt, from three to seven miles from town. He owns between 13 and 14 sections, all tillable.
“What is believed to be the largest grain check ever paid in this state to an individual grain grower.”
Harrington remains a center of dryland wheat farming, though current operations are marked by sophisticated mechanization rather than the massive manual land holdings seen in 1916. The massive payout to a single individual underscores how concentrated agricultural wealth drove the development of the Inland Empire's rail and elevator infrastructure.
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