COWICHE, Wash. — Washington’s Upper Yakima Valley provides fertile evidence that geography contributes to culture.

For starters, the intersection of Cascade lava flows and an ancient floodplain mixes volcanic and alluvial soils. Combined with higher elevations, that creates optimal growing conditions for apples, especially Honeycrisp.

But small farms also survived here due to the landscape, which prevented large operations from easily scooping up acreage, said lifelong resident Brad Newman.

“There aren’t big tracts of land. It’s more cut up among the rock buttes,” he added.

Because small orchards survived throughout the years, so did the cooperative farmers formed to pack and sell their fruit.

Cowiche Growers, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, is one of only two cooperatives remaining in Washington that pack apples, said Newman, the organization’s president and general manager.

The co-op has 220 workers at its plant.

“This used to be a much more prevalent business model,” Newman said.

As the fruit industry moved toward large enterprises, those businesses formed their own packing operations.

“The co-op gives growers an opportunity to have that vertical integration that a lot of the large family and investment-owned operations have. We give the smaller grower that same advantage,” Newman said.

Profits made by Cowiche Growers go directly to its 67 grower members.

Those family farms cover 3,500 acres and produce about 2.5 million 40-pound boxes of fruit per year.

Fruit is sold and shipped globally by Domex Superfresh Growers.

The cooperative’s traditional Hy-land Kids marketing campaign — based on 1920s comic strip the “Kelly Kids” — isn’t being used today to sell apples, but Cowiche Growers has kept its trademark.

Nothing specific is planned for the nostalgia label, but the co-op is always considering its options, Newman said.

“There are a lot of very fun older labels that are associated with the growers,” he added.

Though the cooperative is a traditional business model, Cowiche Growers has evolved with the times, implementing energy saving changes and new sustainable growing practices.

In the last decade, for example, Cowiche Growers has worked with Pacific Power on 16 projects that have saved enough electricity annually to power 200 typical Yakima Valley homes for a year, according to the utility.

The projects also have saved about $150,000 per year for Cowiche Growers, which also received about $450,000 in incentives from Pacific Power.

Among Cowiche Growers’ sustainable practices are integrated pest management programs that reduce the need for pesticides and cultivation and irrigation methods that minimize soil erosion and conserve water.

Newman said the health of the land is vital for the sustainability of operations.

“I grew up on a family farm in the Cowiche area, and our decisions were made with long-term consequences in mind,” Newman said.

Newman said the cooperative’s mission is to make Cowiche a better place, and not just for the growers.

Jan Strand, one the owners of co-op member Strand Apples, said Cowiche Growers donates to local organizations, supports sports teams and gives scholarships to high school graduates every year.

The fourth-generation farmer said the sense of community the cooperative has built — among farmers and other residents — is the reason why Cowiche Growers will survive well into the future.

For more information on Cowiche Growers, including the evolution of the cooperative, go to https://www.cowichegrowers.com/.