ELWYN B. ROBINSON DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
CHESTER FRITZ LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA
3051 UNIVERSITY AVENUE STOP 9000
GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA 58202-9000

RED RIVER VALLEY POTATO GROWERS ASSOCIATION RECORDS

COLLECTION: OGL #148

DATES: 1939-1946

SIZE: .25 linear feet

INTRODUCTION

ACQUISITION: The Red River Valley Potato Growers Association Records were deposited in the Orin G. Libby Manuscript Collection. The acquisition records are unavailable.

ACCESS: Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Department of Special Collections.

HISTORICAL SKETCH

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 non-profit 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 the counties in North Dakota and Minnesota adjacent to the Red River of the North, approximately 250 miles in length and covering an area equal to 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 had 2,500 members, its highest membership. With the changing economy of the 1980s and 90s, 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.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The Red River Valley Potato Growers Association Records are comprised of eight folders of material dating 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.

Included correspondence addresses 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 forwarding their membership contract for consideration as a model for the Red River Valley Potato Growers Association.

BOX AND FOLDER INVENTORY

Box 1
Folder

1. North Dakota Potato Growers and Shippers Traffic Association Constitution, Bylaws, Annual Reports, and Minutes, 1941-1946 and some undated.
2. Membership lists, records, and financial reports, 1941-1946.
3. News releases, circulars and brochures, 1943-1946.
4. Bills, receipts and financial statements, 1941-1946.
5. Correspondence, 1939-1943.
6. Correspondence, 1944-1946.
7. U.S. Postal Service stamp permit, 1946.
8. Office files with membership listings by township, undated.

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