As Ezra Taft Benson made his journey from Idaho farm boy to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, he had more than a few colleagues in Utah who cheered him along and helped shape his influence.
A yet-to-be-published history of the Utah Poultry Producers Cooperative Association, with research funded by Intermountain Farmers Association, sheds a little more light on the man who led the agricultural industry before he led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Utah Poultry Producers was an agricultural cooperative with its roots in the Gunnison Valley, where successful poultry farmers joined forces in the 1920s to market a new fad of white eggs to quality-conscious consumers from coast to coast. As the cooperative grew and rail links connected small towns throughout Utah and southeastern Idaho, chicken coops dotted the landscape and weekly egg money provided critical cash flow to local families through times of economic turmoil during the Depression and war years.
The Capper-Volstead Act of 1922 opened the door for agricultural cooperatives across the country to succeed. Most farmers with diversified operations were members of several cooperatives that helped purchase supplies and commodities in bulk and marketed their harvests as a group.
When Benson became a county agricultural agent in 1928 and an agricultural economist for the University of Idaho from 1930-1939, he was a strong advocate for cooperatives and encouraged farmers to join forces in order to succeed.
The first time Benson’s name was recorded in a Utah Poultry Producers board meeting, the board was discussing the resignation of Mr. Robin Hood as executive secretary of the National Cooperative Council, “causing quite a strain to the Association.” The board members agreed that Hood’s work had been commendable and he needed a suitable replacement, so they nominated Benson to take his post. A few months later, after Benson was indeed named to fill the vacancy and moved his family to Maryland, the president of Utah Poultry’s board, William A. Shuldberg of Preston, Idaho, expressed his belief that “Mr. Benson is going to build the council up to a greater degree of efficiency than ever before.”
In July 1940, Utah Poultry general manager Clyde Edmonds visited Benson in Washington, D.C., and reported on the “excellent work being done by Mr. Benson in whipping the National Council into shape, and it was never stronger than it is at the present time.”
When Benson left his post on the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives in 1943 to accept President David O. McKay's call to the apostleship, Edmonds was approached and asked to fill the vacancy. After much deliberation, Edmonds declined the offer and stayed with Utah Poultry Producers.
Edmonds and the now-Elder Benson regularly exchanged personal letters discussing their careers, families and church service. Several letters found in Edmonds' personal papers that were donated to BYU and stored in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections at the Harold B. Lee Library were written when Edmonds was a member of the first LDS Welfare Committee and Elder Benson was assigned to Europe to distribute welfare supplies and food.
In a July 19, 1946, letter, Edmonds responds to Elder Benson’s correspondence dated June 11, 1946. After discussing the federal government’s price ceilings on commodities, Edmonds spoke of family and complimented Elder Benson’s sons.
Throughout the years, Elder Benson was a frequent guest speaker at the annual conventions of Utah Poultry Producers, where an average of 600 poultry producers from across the state would gather at the Hotel Utah for cooperative financial reports, industry instruction and socializing. In 1950, Elder Benson was joined on the program by Utah Gov. J. Bracken Lee and the general manager of the Deseret News, Mark E. Petersen.
In a 1953 issue of Utah Poultry’s Cooperator magazine, Edmonds' congratulatory message was published after Elder Benson was named U.S. Secretary of Agriculture:
“We were thrilled and delighted when our friend, neighbor and fellow citizen, Ezra Taft Benson, was so greatly honored by being chosen to the high and responsible position of Secretary of Agriculture of the United States of America. We sense only slightly, the magnitude of the task that is his, but we express explicit confidence in his ability to become the master of his weighty assignment and we pledge to him our full support and good will.”
Edmonds also wrote, “Mr. Benson is tackling an extremely difficult task when he undertakes to direct the thinking and planning of farm groups away from the line of least resistance and toward the goal of self-help and industry organization through which to meet and master problems of production and distribution under their own power. If we believe in a policy that will bring strength and virility and ultimate self-sufficiency back to the ranks of the agriculture producers, we should not only be proud of Mr. Benson, we should also give him our active and vigorous support and confidence and good will.”
During his eight years as Secretary of Agriculture, Elder Benson received unwavering support from the leadership of Utah Poultry Producers, even when individuals were discouraged with how the politics and national policy affected them individually.
In a 1958 address at the annual meeting of American Institute of Cooperation, Elder Benson said, “But if you will forgive a long-time cooperative supporter — one who has never for a moment lost his faith in cooperatives — if you will forgive such a person for speaking boldly and bluntly, then I would suggest to you this four-point program for the future. 1. Build your cooperatives bigger — bigger in membership, bigger in resources, bigger in research, bigger in the services you render. 2. Be satisfied with nothing less than top-notch leadership — top-notch directors, top-notch management. 3. Bring about more cooperation between cooperatives. 4. Build a better press, a better public relations, for the entire cooperative movement.”
“Benson’s advice back in 1958 in many ways still applies to the mission statement of IFA today,” said Layne Anderson, current president and CEO of Intermountain Farmers Association. “We want to protect the family values of the agricultural industry by providing member-owned cooperative services and continue to build on the foundation of our parent co-op Utah Poultry Producers. The founders and first members were children of pioneers. They knew the importance of diligence, ingenuity and dedication in providing for their families, and we continue those traditions today at every branch of IFA.”
Readers with historical ties to Utah Poultry Producers are invited to submit photos and/or stories for possible inclusion in IFA’s 400-plus page book full of photos, stories and member biographies. Submissions can be mailed to Intermountain Farmers Association, attention: IFA History Project P.O. Box 30168 SLC, UT 84130. Electronic submissions can be emailed to cooperatoreditor@gmail.com.
Stacie Lloyd Duce is a columnist and editor of IFA's quarterly "Cooperator" magazine. She has compiled the history of IFA and Utah Poultry Producers, which will be published at a future date. Email: duceswild7@gmail.com