The Wheat Pool Revolt
Central Washington farmers organize a massive collective bargaining effort to set their own price for the harvest.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A giant pool to control from 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 bushels of wheat is being formed by Central Washington farmers. The movement has already been favorably received at Sprague and Ritzville. At the latter point the farmers present included Ben F. Berry, owning 58,000 bushels; W. R. Cunningham, Sr., 20,000 bushels; J. F. Collier, 20,000 bushels; Fred Kembel, 17,000 bushels, and J. F. Irby, 18,000 bushels. The object of the combination is to hold an immense quantity of wheat until it can be placed on the market at a net price to the grower of 75 cents per bushel for bluestem.
“The object of the combination is to hold an immense quantity of wheat until it can be placed on the market at a net price to the grower of 75 cents per bushel.”
This 1905 move toward agricultural collective bargaining echoes the ongoing struggle for power between independent growers and global commodity markets in the Columbia Basin. While the tools of the trade have modernized, the challenge of achieving price stability for local farmers remains as relevant today as it was a century ago.
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