For the next year, this column will mark The Western Producer’s 100th anniversary by taking a deep dive every week into a past issue of the paper. The farm debt crisis of the 1980s was easy to spot in the March 31, 1983, issue. First were a couple of stories about plans to pass farm […] Read more
Stories by Bruce Dyck

Look back at the March 19, 1981, issue
For the next year, this column will mark The Western Producer’s 100th anniversary by taking a deep dive every week into a past issue of the paper. The Crowsnest Freight Rate, often just called the Crow Rate, was a burning issue on the Prairies in the early 1980s as the federal government moved to increase […] Read more

Look back at the March 15, 1979, issue
For the next year, this column will mark The Western Producer’s 100th anniversary by taking a deep dive every week into a past issue of the paper. As I work my way through back issues of The Western Producer, starting in 1923, I have been waiting for the day when I began seeing bylines by […] Read more

Look back at the March 10, 1977, issue
For the next year, this column will mark The Western Producer’s 100th anniversary by taking a deep dive every week into a past issue of the paper. The March 10, 1977, issue had a headline worthy of a journalism award. The story was from the Christian Science Monitor wire service about how successful Australia had […] Read more

Look back at the Feb. 27, 1975, issue
For the next year, this column will mark The Western Producer’s 100th anniversary by taking a deep dive every week into a past issue of the paper. The Feb. 27, 1975, issue had a couple of examples of how some things never change. One was the coverage of a federal civil service strike that involved […] Read more

Look back at the Feb. 22, 1973, issue
For the next year, this column will mark The Western Producer’s 100th anniversary by taking a deep dive every week into a past issue of the paper. The Saskatchewan government’s intention to significantly increase irrigation capacity around Lake Diefenbaker has been the talk of the province the last couple years. Proponents often claim that the […] Read more

Look back at the Feb. 18, 1971, issue
For the next year, this column will mark The Western Producer’s 100th anniversary by taking a deep dive every week into a past issue of the paper. Supply management coverage continues to use up a lot of ink at The Western Producer, so it was interesting to watch in the Feb. 18, 1971, issue as […] Read more

Look back at the Feb. 6, 1969, issue
For the next year, this column will mark The Western Producer’s 100th anniversary by taking a deep dive every week into a past issue of the paper. One thing I’ve noticed while reading through old copies of The Western Producer is that the paper didn’t do a lot of practical, production-oriented on-farm stories back in […] Read more

Look back at the Feb. 2, 1967, issue
For the next year, this column will mark The Western Producer’s 100th anniversary by taking a deep dive every week into a past issue of the paper. A story in the Feb. 2, 1967, issue provided a good example of how politicians can sidestep a controversy simply by ignoring it. It’s a skill many modern […] Read more

Look back at the Jan. 28, 1965, issue
For the next year, this column will mark The Western Producer’s 100th anniversary by taking a deep dive every week into a past issue of the paper. One of the big stories in the Jan. 28, 1965, issue was about a significant wheat sale to China. The Canadian Wheat Board was reporting that the Asian […] Read more