The Farmers' Alliance Grain Gamble
Facing falling prices, Washington wheat farmers looked to circumvent middlemen by storing their own grain at the Seattle docks to hold out for better market rates.
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.
The Farmers' Alliance is planning to handle the upcoming harvest on tide water to secure better profits for its members. By bypassing local middlemen and shipping directly for export, they hope to avoid selling into a glutted market. H.F. Hesse, a business agent for the Alliance, visited Seattle to negotiate the use of the Oregon Improvement Company’s city dock. The plan involves dredging a slip to 25 feet to allow ocean-going vessels to load directly from the Alliance warehouse, which would be equipped with a three-rail track connecting to the Northern Pacific, Great Northern, and Columbia & Puget Sound railroads. The storage would allow farmers to obtain loans on their warehouse receipts rather than being forced to sell at disadvantageous prices.
“They would sell direct to the Liverpool buyers and save the middlemen's profits.”
This struggle between independent agricultural cooperatives and large-scale grain exporters was the precursor to the massive logistical networks that still define the Port of Seattle. The desire to cut out 'middlemen' and store inventory locally reflects an early attempt at supply chain autonomy that mirrors current debates about economic control in the regional agricultural economy.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.