History of West Albion Presentat

History of West Albion
Presentation by Clem Mikkanen
to the Annandale History Club
March, 1993

West Albion History presentation by Tom Jarl, 2006

In March of 1993 Clem Mikkanen spoke to the History Club about West Albion. This community used to be a very busy place. The first settlers were French, then Irish, and then Finnish. They had a creamery, a store, a gas station and a church. The creamery was the focal point in the early 1900s. The first creamery burned down in the spring of 1913, and they built the new building by fall. All the minutes for the creamery were written in Finnish.

Most everyone had cows, and most people brought cream to the creamery every other day. Neighbors would take turns going to the creamery so that they didn't have to go as often. All their buttermilk was exceptionally good. Later the farmers sold whole milk instead of cream. Butter was the big seller. Brown's Ice Cream Company bought 500 pounds of unsalted butter a week.

After West Albion and French Lake creameries merged, the farmers brought their cream to French Lake Corners and then a truck would pick it up. In 1943 the creamery hired Bob Davidson and his truck to haul the milk for them from the farms to the creamery. He did this for 7 years and only missed 2 days.

The creamery met other needs as well. The Producers Cooperative had trucks that would take cattle to the city, and then they would bring back tools, etc. to the creamery. So the creamery built a small building next to the creamery and they used it as a store. Later they bought a store across the road. Verna Kyllonen was the bookkeeper for many years.

This year [1993] they are remembering that it was 30 years ago when they dumped 40,000 pounds of skim milk in protest for higher prices. They were connected with the N.F.O. farm organization. By 1965 the creamery went bankrupt.

The Annandale Advocate wrote up articles and had pictures about the dumping of the milk in the March 3, 1993, edition of their paper.

Respectfully submitted,
Viola Larson, Secretary

The following text appeared in the The Annandale Advocate on March 3rd, 1993.

Dumping, not selling Local farmers recall the 30^th anniversary of their 40,000 pound milk protest.

By Caroline B. H. Bull

The rush of a dove's wings disrupts the still February air in the deserted West Albion Creamery. An addition on the west covers the sign that reads, "ALBION CREAMERY 1913." Small willowy trees dot the slope that used to be a drive. The windows are without glass and the crumbling chimney is smokeless on the building south of County Road 37, one mile west of County Road 5.

The stillness is haunting, but it has not always been like this. Thirty years ago on March 7, 1963, a rally of over 1,200 people witnessed the local members of the National Farmers Organization (NFO) dump 40,000 pounds of skim milk into a ditch on the Martin Lampi farm.

The opening ceremonies and speeches given from the back of the milk truck occurred at the creamery and a nation reacted to what, according to the daily press, some called wasteful and others called prophetic symbols of the unification of the American farmer.

Clem Mikkanen, a participating NFO member, recalled the day as cold, dark and cloudy, but the mood of the members of the West Albion Creamery was cooperative, hopeful and uplifted. "They were anticipating good results of the dump. WCCO-TV, Minneapolis and St. Cloudnewspaper reporters were there, so we felt that we would make an impact," Mikkanen said.

According to old newspaper clippings, the milk dump protested Land O'Lakes' Litchfield processing plant's decision to refuse to take milk from the newly formed NFO group in West Albion. Lampi was the president of the co-op at that time and he recalls, "I'd just returned from a trip to find a processor for our milk. We had been shipping it to Isle, Minn., but they were pressured to drop us so they told us to find another place to go. I found one in Turtle Mountain, Wisc. It was difficult to run the creamery then."

Former NFO President Oren Lee Staley, out of Corning, Iowa, who attended the rally, stated that day that the little monetary loss of $300 worth of milk was worth the right for farmers to make their own prices and not be dependent on large corporation's pricing whims.

At that time local milk producers were selling their milk for approximately $3.30 for 100 pounds. As a result of the protest they believed that the Land O'Lakes official would sign a contract with the creamery that would enable the milk producers to get $5 for manufactured milk and $6.05 for hundredweight.

Mikkanen recalled that he had hoped that more farmers would have supported the NFO efforts. "The reason for the milk dump was to get better prices for our product." At the time of the dump, the West Albion French Lake Creamery was selling directly to Land O'Lakes about 200,000 pounds of butter a year. It handled about 40,000 pounds of milk daily.

"It is hard to say what was accomplished. We didn't get a better price for our product. But our message alerted the entire nation that the farmers needed more money to stay on the farm," Mikkanen stated.

All local NFO farmers had been notified that the milk of March 7, 1963, would be dumped. Farmers who were NFO supporters came from the counties of Ottertail, Scott, Dakota, Stearns, Kandiyohi, Benson, Nicollet, Carver, Rice, Sherburne, Sibley, Washington, Pine, Meeker, Olmsted and Isanti to lend their support. NFO dairymen from Wisconsin were also present.

One year later the Annandale Advocate contacted Staley. He reported that the large milk processing plants had started to sign contracts with the NFO creameries and that the West Albion French Lake Creamery had four times the amount of production as the year before.

Lampi agreed, "We got so much milk that we could hardly handle it. Big NFO milk producers in Stearns, Hennepin, Meeker and McLeod counties began shipping in to us. We needed a bigger separator. We needed bigger equipment. NFO encouraged us to put in a drying unit and we did," he said.

Lampi did not know the exact reason that the Albion French Lake Creamery began to have financial difficulties, but he speculated that it was a combination of over expansion and the isolated location, off the main road. By 1965 the creamery went bankrupt.

"There were very few small creameries left. Annandale is one," Lampi said. "The processors like Litchfield and Bongard are taking the milk directly from the farms now. They don't bother with the small creamery anymore."

The closing of the creamery marked a change in the lives of farmers not only in the four-mile radius of West Albion, but throughout the state. Although the milk processors finally did agree to take NFO producer's milk, the national economic pressures kept some of the dreams of the milk dumpers from developing.

Yet, 30 years later Mikkanen stated, "If the situation were the same, I would not hesitate to dump my milk again. We were courageous. We tried to make a difference and at least we got a nation to look at the farmer's plight."

(A photo accompanying the article pictured Lillian Rimpy, Clem Mikkanen, Ernest Hautajarvi, Earl Nelson and Howard Hokkanen sharing memories of the 30^th anniversary of the West Albion milk dumping.)

The National Farmers Organization was founded in 1955. Their greatest notoriety came in 1967 when it organized farmers to engage in holding action to drive up the price of milk.

The following text appeared in the The Annandale Advocate on March 14, 1963.

A huge crowd assembled at West Albion on March 7, only a few days after the annual meeting of the stockholders. Dumping of skim milk was scheduled and the crowd increased in size as the scheduled time drew near. Motorists had to park more than a half mile from the inland community of West Albion. It is estimated that 1,200 people were there. It is doubtful if there had been so many reporters and photographers in the vicinity in a long time.

Dispute over the milk arose because it would no longer be accepted by the processing plant at Litchfield. Farmers were willing to suffer some loss for the right to make their own prices. The original plan was to dump the milk in the Crow River, but that was vetoed by the state. Instead, it was dumped in a pasture at the Martin Lampi farm. As the liquid poured out of the tanker, many in the crowd sloshed in the foaming milk, and some drank from the hose. About 4,600 gallons were dumped.

The creamery had been criticized severely for not giving the milk to charity, but the milk was unpasteurized and was not ready for human consumption.