The Potato Market Slump
Despite a government quarantine on foreign imports, local potato growers are left wondering why prices remain in the dirt.
The story, cleaned up
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Something seems to be the matter with the potato market. Manager W. R. Crawford of the Fruit Exchange said he had been advised by his salesmen that California new potatoes are selling in Butte at 85 cents per hundred, while the market generally seems to be about shot to pieces. This condition is contrary to what was expected to follow the action of the U. S. government in quarantining against British Columbia potatoes because of powdery scab. District Horticultural Inspector Luke Powell wrote: 'This will make a better market for our own Washington-grown potatoes and also shows that the department of agriculture is doing good work in the way of protecting the Washington potato growers. Then, too, there is some consolation in knowing that we do not have all the troubles going.'
“Something seems to be the matter with the potato market... the market generally seems to be about shot to pieces.”
Agricultural market volatility remains a staple of the regional economy. Just as growers in 1915 were puzzled by the failure of protectionist policies to prop up their prices, modern farmers face complex global supply chain disruptions that defy local attempts at market control.
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