The Western Producer takes a weekly look at some of the stories that made headlines in issues of the paper from 75, 50, 25 and 10 years ago.
75 years ago: May 30, 1940
Conservative MPs pressed the federal government for answers as to whether it intended to close the Winnipeg Grain Exchange because of the war. The Liberals said government policy in dealing with the wheat surplus and lower prices would be up for discussion in the House of Commons, but “not at this time.”
The federal government collected $2.1 million from prairie farmers and contributed $9 million to the bonus fund of the Prairie Farm Assistance Act. Under it, one percent of the value of grain delivered to elevators was deducted for the fund, which then paid acreage bonuses when farmers had exceptionally poor yields based on wheat under 12 bushels per acre.
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Crop insurance’s ability to help producers has its limitations
Farmers enrolled in crop insurance can do just as well financially when they have a horrible crop or no crop at all, compared to when they have a below average crop
As of March 31, the program had collected $307,418 from Manitoba farmers, $1,166,586 from Saskatchewan and $628,249 from Alberta.
50 years ago: May 27, 1965
A new deal with China involving 50 million bushels of wheat was announced at the same time that negotiators worked to avert a grain strike in Vancouver. The sale was part of a bigger deal that Canada and China signed in 1963, in which China agreed to buy a minimum of 112 million bu. over three years. The grain handling companies had agreed to a wage increase, but a sticking point was their reluctance to drop a damage lawsuit against the union over a week-long walkout the previous September.
Chemically treating seed right in the seed box was touted as a new approach that could avoid treated seed accidentally getting into the commercial seed supply.
25 years ago: May 31, 1990
Hard times on the farm prompted farmers, businesspeople and clergy from the Craik, Davidson and Kenaston areas of central Saskatchewan to form the Farm and Town Self-Help Movement. It was estimated that 30 percent of the 90 farmers in the Rural Municipality of Craik had been through the federal Farm Debt Review Board or its provincial equivalent by Feb. 15.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development warned that it would only be a few years before Eastern Europe became a force to be reckoned with in world grain markets. The European Union’s common agricultural policy would be one of the first casualties, it warned.
10 years ago: May 26, 2005
James Richardson International announced it was buying ConAgra’s high-throughput elevators in Yorkton, Nokomis and Corrine in Saskatchewan and Nesbitt, Man. It marked the end of the U.S. firm’s presence in Western Canada.
Willis Richford of Norquay, Sask., a long-time supporter of the port of Churchill, died May 6 just short of his 100th birthday. He became involved in the fledgling Hudson Bay Route Association during the Second World War and served as its president for a time. His letter writing in support of Churchill and the rail line to the port was described as relentless.
