The King of the Wheat Belt
A Harrington farmer cashes in on a historic wheat windfall, securing the largest grain payment ever recorded in the state.
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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 Washington's dryland wheat farming, though the scale of operations has shifted dramatically since 1916. The staggering $223,844 payment—roughly $6.3 million in today's currency—highlights how the Inland Empire's agricultural output fueled the region's early economic development.
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