Hay Farmers Take a Stand Against Speculators
Driven to the brink by low prices, hay growers in the Sunnyside district form an association to secure fair returns and standardize their product.
Our hay raisers have been driven to that point where they must either dispose of their stuff at no profit or must stand together and compel consumers and speculators in hay to pay a fair price for their forage. Among the first to realize the necessity of taking steps for organization were the hay raisers in the Sunnyside district in eastern Washington. They met at Sunnyside recently and without any loss of time steps were taken to organize an association of hay growers of the entire Sunnyside country, not to corner the market, but to secure a standard product of reliable quality and get the direct patronage of the hay consumers of the state and thus secure to the producer the full value of his product.
It is intended that delegates from other places meet at Sunnyside in June and organize a large and powerful association. Perhaps the consumer will "view with alarm" this move but there need be no fear. The hay raisers simply want to put their business on a basis that will yield a reasonable profit and promote harmony and co-operation among themselves.
“They must either dispose of their stuff at no profit or must stand together and compel consumers and speculators in hay to pay a fair price for their forage.”
This early cooperative effort among Washington farmers foreshadows later agricultural organizing and the perennial tension between producers and speculators. It's a reminder that fair prices for farm goods have been a struggle for over a century.
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