Bruce Dyck

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Stories by Bruce Dyck

The farm debt crisis of the 1980s was easy to spot in the March 31, 1983, issue. | Bruce Dyck photo
Opinion

Look back at March 31, 1983, 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 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
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 how much farmers paid to move their grain to port. | Bruce Dyck photo
Opinion

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
Barry Wilson, who went on to become the Producer’s long-time Ottawa bureau chief, had a front page story on March 15, 1979, about how the expected cost of the federal government’s 10-year prairie rail rehabilitation program was probably going to be $900 million or more by 1987 instead of the $600 million that had been estimated when the program was announced in 1977. | Bruce Dyck photo
Opinion

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
The March 10, 1977, issue had a headline worthy of a journalism award. | Bruce Dyck photo
Opinion

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
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 west coast and Lakehead grain workers, among other employees. | Bruce Dyck photo
Opinion

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
A front page story in a 1973 issue of the WP reads, “Meat producers in the U.S. were given another six months to meet new federal requirements for peek-a-boo windows in bacon packages and complete labelling of ingredients in hams.” | Bruce Dyck photo
Opinion

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
The House of Commons agriculture committee was holding hearings into Bill C-176, which would eventually become law and create the National Farm Products Marketing Council, or as it’s known today, the Farm Products Council of Canada. It’s this agency that authorized the establishment of national marketing agencies for farm products, setting the stage for what we now think of supply management. | Bruce Dyck photo
Opinion

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
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 the day. | Bruce Dyck photo
Opinion

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
Back in the winter of 1967, delegates to both the Dairy Farmers of Canada and Canadian Federation of Agriculture annual meetings had vented their frustration with federal agriculture minister J.J. Greene for saying no further aid would be available to the dairy industry. | Bruce Dyck photo
Opinion

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
The story that received the biggest play on this issue’s front page, oddly enough, was the death of Winston Churchill. | Bruce Dyck photo
Opinion

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

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