Hop Farmers Organize to Escape Middleman Monopoly
King County farmers gather in Kent to establish their own banking association, aiming to break the grip of speculators on the regional hop market.
At a meeting in Slaughter (now Auburn), hop growers discussed the need for organization to combat middleman control. Mr. Van Bokkelen argued that producers were at the mercy of speculators. A scheme was proposed to incorporate the Hop Growers' Banking Association of Washington with a capital of $100,000, with headquarters to be decided later. The growers agreed to subscribe and pay 50 percent of their share into the Bank of Kent as trustee. A committee was appointed to visit growers and urge them to join the system. The meeting adjourned to reconvene on February 28 at Odd Fellows Hall in Kent to formalize the articles of incorporation.
“The producers are at the mercy of middlemen and speculators. This should not be.”
This movement for a producer-owned bank demonstrates the early power of the agricultural cooperatives in the Green River Valley. It echoes today's ongoing tensions between local food producers and global supply chain speculators.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.