8/14/2019 Co Op Marketing Farm Products by Carlyle Thorpe General Manager California Walnut Growers' Association

1/4

The ReoJtuBhLeBook ol Cailornia

CARLYLE THoRPEGetuetuaMotaser oalilotuia watftutAtobss' Associdtion

8/14/2019 Co Op Marketing Farm Products by Carlyle Thorpe General Manager California Walnut Growers' Association

2/4

264 Tke Redtv BIap Book of Colilornin

Co-OperativeMarketingof FarmProduct.sB? CARLYLE HoRPE

Chaatic Cokditiorls Prior to Orgmriz&tin .-Good, Mdn-a-genLent Essential-"Marketing" Em,braces Alt Steps-Cr eatiflg T miLe Cotufidcnce-C o-oT)ertLtion.

HERE is no other state in the Unio[ which can match Californiain the value of lands devoted to agricultural and horticultumlGovernmentappraiserswho are sent out from Washington romtime to time have madesearching inquides into prices asled for farmlarlds n Califomia,and in general hey have found that pdceshavebeenbasedupon air valueswhich havebeenstablished y the eaxn-ing power of the land.Thesevalueshave, o a considerable egree, eenbuitt up by thesuccessful rganizationand opelstionof the justly famous co-opera-tive marketing systemswlich ar maintained n this state for thpurpose f packing ndmarketing widevarietyof agricultural ndhorticulturalDroducts.

CHAOTIC CONDITIONS PRIOR TO ORCANIZATIONBeiore these co-operativemarketing associations ere organizealthe agricultural nterestsof Californiawere n a moreor less chaoticcoDdit ion.eingeasyprey or sppculalivpuyerswho often manipu-lated he markelsandvirtually orced he ranchpIs-o ell heir croDsfor whatever hey choseo pay lor the various omhodit ies.Before the fa.rmers and fruit growers of California formed co-operativemarketingorganizations here wereno systematicmethodsof production. The ranchersplanted heir cropsor tended heir or-chardswith no alefinite im in vierr other than ihat of growing some-thing which they hoped o b able o sell for enough o pay runningexpenses nd perhapsa little more.they neverknew at the beginningof a seasonwhetherCaliforniawouldthat yeargrow too muchor too itUe of that padicular product,or whether hy wouldbe able o get it to marketor fird a miket foiit at harvesl Lime. They knpw ol no $ay in which they couldoffsetthe depressingfleclof seriousoreigr comperit ionn lhe fruii andnut ousmess.Therewere no quality standaldseither at homeor abroad. Thestuff was all dumpcdonlo the market for whalever the market was\pilling1opay for it. Grading was poorlydone. Thp eulls requen y

8/14/2019 Co Op Marketing Farm Products by Carlyle Thorpe General Manager California Walnut Growers' Association

3/4

TheRealtaBtueBook of Cdl/iforntu 266ivntwith the bestproducts hat the harvestafiorded. Little attemptwasmade o classifyproductsaccordingo their respective alues, nalthe consumerwas, as a result, rather indifierent tolvard $;hat Cali-fonia had to offer.

As time went on someof the best fruit and vegetablegrowersundertook o do their o\'!npackingand shipping. A fe'w madenote-worthy successesf their ventures,becausehey were unusualbusinessmen as well asproducers, ut most of themmadedismal ailuresof their ventures,beingeither financiallyunable o frnanceheir activ-itiesor unable o copewith market manipulation r consumerndiffel-If the productsof the soil were gladed at all they were gradedin a,careless nd nefficientmanner. Therewere counUess iddlemenstanding between he producerand the corsumer, o absorbwhatprofit there was left after the carriers }ad taken out their iransporta-

tion charges. Twenty to twenty-five years ago more fruit shipmentsfrom Californiashowedup in red i}1k han in black nk, on the ledger.The consumerwas at a loss or someway in wlich to increaseleconsumption f suchproductsas he had to ofer. IIe was a long wayfrom the market places,he hadn't the capital to finance advertisiiicannpaigns,nalafter tuming his productsover to the independentbuyer and shipper he lost touch with them and didn't lany knowt}leir ultimate destination.

8/14/2019 Co Op Marketing Farm Products by Carlyle Thorpe General Manager California Walnut Growers' Association

4/4