Red River Valley Potato Growers Association Records

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: OGLMC-148

Scope and Contents

The Red River Valley Potato Growers Association Records are composed of eight folders of material (1939-1946), when the organization was known as the North Dakota Potato Growers and Shippers Traffic Association. Official business of the organization is documented in this collection, including an undated constitution, minutes, membership rosters, annual reports and financial records. Correspondence files contain notices for meetings and problems with overdue accounts. Later correspondence addresses concerns of the wartime economy on the region's agriculture and requests for government relief. Also included is a letter from the Texas Citrus and Vegetable Growers and Shippers for consideration of their membership contract as a model for the Red River Valley Potato Growers Association.

Dates

created: 1939-1946

Creator

North Dakota Potato Growers and Shippers Traffic Association (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections.

Biographical or Historical Information

See more See less

The Red River Valley Potato Growers Association is the forerunner to what is currently known as the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association. It was first known as the North Dakota Potato Growers and Shippers Traffic Association. The association was founded to "foster and promote the interests and welfare of all those in North Dakota who are engaged in the growing, distribution or shipment of potatoes," according to an undated constitution in this collection. It is a nonprofit organization that serves as a cooperative among area potato farmers and refrains from entering into commercial functions. The area comprising the Red River Valley of the North includes counties in North Dakota and Minnesota adjacent to the Red River of the North, approximately 250 miles in length and 190 miles in width. This fertile valley produced the nation's third largest potato crop in 1945 with an estimated 43,020,000 bushels. In 1960, the association reached its peak with 2,500 members. With the changing economy of the 1980s and 1990s, membership decreased but acreages for those farmers increased. As of 2006, the association had 330 grower members. It continues to promote the products of potato farmers in the Red River Valley. The organization's offices are in East Grand Forks, Minnesota.

Note written by